How to Get From Keflavík Airport To/From Reykjavík (Shared Transfer Option)
The reality is that traveling in Iceland is expensive. And that is further compounded when traveling solo as there is no one else to split costs with. For example, the updated 2025 costs for taxis from Keflavík Airport to Reykjavík are between $170-200, if you are traveling between 8:00 – 16:00 on a weekday (and can go up from there for holidays, evening, weekends)! And private transportation is typically nearly as expensive.
On my this recent solo trip to Iceland, I booked what has become my standard: the shared transportation option from/to Keflavík Airport to/from Reykjavík and realized I needed to write a post about it since I get a lot of questions about it!
Before we dive in, I wanted to highlight that one of the reasons why costs are so high for this trip and the one that seems to catch many visitors by surprise is that flying internationally will bring you to Keflavík Airport which is 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from Reykjavík! Petrol/gas as well as labor costs are super high in Iceland.
BEAUTIFUL TIPS: Want to go to the Blue Lagoon? Save time and money by going on the way from or to the airport as it is located on the same peninsula as the airport (but is still almost 23 kilometers away)!
This is the Blue Lagoon Admission with Transfers excursion I have done – read about my experience with my family and how convenient it was to get to the Blue Lagoon here.
Another reason to consider doing it from the airport is that flights from the US arrive in the morning so you likely wouldn’t be able to check into your accommodations plus really this is such a perfect and gorgeous introduction to Iceland!
Please note: this post contains affiliate links which means if you buy something following a link on this page, I may get a small commission. There is no additional cost to you and helps reduce the ever-increasing costs of keeping this site active. Thanks for supporting my blog (AKA feeding my ice cream addiction around the world!) Rosemary
Shared Transfer Keflavík to/from Reykjavík
Share Transportation Details
- Overview: Shared transportation via minibuses (if booking that option) and shuttle buses between Keflavík Airport and Reykjavík
- Details: Time can be 1 hour (drop off at BSI) and up to 1 hour 30 mins between waiting at the airport and drop off to nearest bus stop/hotel
- Important Notes:
- Recently, Flybus/Reykjavik Excursions became the only provider for the shared transportation route between Keflavík Airport and Reykjavík – there might still be options available to book with Airport direct – which will be honored but you will use Flybus/Reykjavik Excursions (I have heard that this isn’t typically conveyed so thought I would share here!)
- As with all shared transportation services – because you are waiting on + dropping off others, this is not the speediest way to travel and that you are beholden to Flybus’s schedule. For some, that inconvenience may be enough of an annoyance to consider booking private transportation between Keflavík Airport and Reykjavík – book here. Which is actually cost effective if you are traveling with a group of four, pricing would be similar to what you would be paying for this shared transport.
TWO Options and Prices for Dropoff / Pickup
Another thing first time visitors are caught off guard by: By law, access to Reykjavík downtown hotels is limited with private buses/mini-buses so you will be dropped off at a nearby bus stop! You may get some assistance loading your luggage when at the airport but the driver does not help unload
- Drop off at BSI Bus Terminal in Reykjavík: 3999 ISK (~$33.06 USD)
- Drop off at Reykjavík Hotel: 5199 ISK (~$42.09 USD) – for many hotels (especially those in the downtown Reykjavík area), this will be the closest bus stop – see note above
- Most hotels will list which bus stop is closest on their website or you can reach out to them directly to find which one. Just remember to update your booking if you booked without this information (this is important if you are going from Reykjavík to Keflavík)
Shared Transportation FROM Keflavík TO Reykjavík Hotels
- Book HERE
- Meet up location: Outside of the arrivals terminal at Keflavík
- IMPORTANT NOTES: There are no scheduled times for departure from the airport – the buses are coordinated with arrival times (including delays) so waits are fairly minimal.
- Your booking confirmation will list your arrival date and time of 0:00 / 12:00 AM with this
Shared Transportation FROM Reykjavík Hotels TO Keflavík
- Book HERE
- NOTE: Unlike the buses going from Keflavík, there are scheduled pick up times for those heading to lobby
- Meet up location: Either hotel/bus stop pick up or BSI Bus Terminal
- For hotel/bus stops those begin 30 minutes before with smaller mini buses doing those pick-ups. You do need to be ready and waiting during that time as the buses will not wait long for you
- Travel time to Keflavík from the BSI bus terminal is ~45 minutes (I have taken this bus many times and it has been within 5 minutes of airport estimated arrival time
- At the BSI terminal, you board a larger bus for the drive to the airport
My Experience of the Shared Transfer from Keflavík Airport to Reykjavík Hotels Was Like
After passing through passport control, the duty free shop (beautiful tip: buy your alcohol here!) and collecting your luggage, you will head towards this counter. Since you have already purchased your tickets, you will exit the doors to the left of this counter!
I made my way from the plane to the bus in a very short period of time (another way to know how safe Iceland is happens during this time: unlike everywhere else in the world, you are not separated from the rest of the airport upon getting off the plane – you are in the same secured area departing passengers are before going through passport control but I digress!)
There were multiple buses waiting here and I missed the cutoff for the one ahead of this bus. But I only had to wait 5-8 minutes for this bus to fill up – the nice thing is that they did not wait for the bus to be completely full before heading off. Note: that there was someone that was helping load luggage onto the bus here
When you board the bus, the driver will check your ticket and also ask you which bus stop/hotel if you have paid for that option. You are given a colored ticket at that time which serves as your transfer ticket to the designated bus stop.
The buses are clean and relatively new with charging ports available on every row (with USB and USB-C plugs).
Everyone will get off the larger bus at the BSI terminal pictured here. You are dropped off in the back of the building and typically head to the front of the building if you have chosen/paid for being transported to the nearest bus stop. Pictured in the top left of the photo with the color coordinated transfer tickets (two photos above) is what the sign will look like on your mini-bus.
WHAT I REALLY SPENT
- Shared Transportation: $40 Booking via Viator was interestingly cheaper than booking directly on the Reykjavik Excursions website (by a couple of dollars)
- Savings: $7.20
- $3.20: Chase Offer- Viator 8% cash back
- $4: Viator Rewards that I had in my account from previous bookings
- TOTAL SPENT: $32.80
OVERALL RATING
I loved Cabo Nature and highly recommend this whale watching tour! One reason why I use Viator is that I am can look at the different offerings from multiple tour companies in one space and also use the ratings to help me narrow down which company to choose (or avoid). It was such an incredible experience.
AND MORE TRAVEL HACKING ADVICE…
Why I Choose to Book Via Viator
Because I like to maximize my spending as much as I can and this is the perfect example of how!
What is Viator?
Viator is a platform that allows you to book tours, excursions, museum passes and much more around the world – they are similar to Etsy in which they host the tour companies that provide these services or goods (but they do not directly provide the tours as Etsy does not directly sell the handcrafted items on its site). I love that I can see reviews to help me choose the right company and love that there are double/triple travel hacking stacking opportunities (more on that of this post). For more info on Viator, check out this post.
Viator Rewards
Viator has their own loyalty program called Viator Rewards that allows you to earn 5% and becomes available ~24 hours after your activity/experience. At that time, you are able to redeem the rewards towards a future booking. How it works in real life: I earned money on the excursions that I have done in the past + continue to book (the family cruise was epic for this) and allows me to spend only $1 on epic activities like Whale Watching in Cabo or Silfra Snorkeling in Iceland!
Use a Shopping Portal to Double/Triple/Quadruple Stack
PS I have used op Cashback! before and was successful in getting my cashback so I can recommend using them – sign up here.
It’s a double stack when you are getting Viator rewards and earning miles/points or cashback by using a shopping portal! I will typically use the American Airline eshopping portal – read my explanation for why here but for many, their choice is to earn cashback or Amex MR points via Rakuten – here’s all you need to know about Rakuten here. Even better is that if you have never used Rakuten before, you can sign up via my referral link and earn $30 once you have spent $30!
It’s a triple stack when you use a credit card that earns points/miles/cashback since you would be getting Viator Rewards plus cashback/points/miles from the shopping portal plus cashback/points/milesyour credit card!
AND THE big daddy of them all is a quadruple stack when you do all of the above from the triple stack but also use a credit card offer like I did with the Chase offer of 8% cash back on Viator!
Note: that this deal shows up periodically on Chase Offers as the one shown expired August 30 but I received another one right after that expired September 29 AND the best part of Chase Offers is that they can be used on ALL cards that you have the offer on versus Amex when you can only redeem once! For this Iceland trip, this will be a very nice bonus for me =)
See how easy it is to make your money work harder for you?
