Iceland’s currency is the króna, abbreviated ISK. Visit Iceland’s practical-information page says so, and it says the country stays on Greenwich Mean Time all year. This page does not print an exchange rate. None of the sources that were read published one, and a rate would be stale the day after it was typed.
Cards, not a wallet of cash
Visit Iceland’s driving article says payment at most fuel stations is by debit or credit card with a PIN, not cash. The airport’s taxi page says taxis accept card payments and commonly used phone payments, and that you should ask for an estimate and take a receipt. Strætó’s airport-bus page says route 55 can be paid by debit or credit card, by cash, or with a countryside bus card. Cash is not useless. It is also not what the fuel article tells you to rely on.
Prices in this guide, where they appear at all, are copied from a named page: Strætó’s fare table, customs allowances in krónur, and a Flybus “from” price that two airport news posts stated in 2024 and 2025. They are not a live quote. The taxi page itself does not print a fare to Reykjavík. Airport news posts do, and they are not treated here as the current price. See the transport page for that disagreement.
VAT refund at the airport
Visit Iceland’s arrival article says people who live permanently outside Iceland can reclaim value-added tax on goods they bought in Iceland. The refund has to be claimed before luggage is checked, at the Arion Bank desk near the check-in desks. That is a desk inside the departure flow. It is not a currency exchange, and this site does not process it.
What customs counts in krónur
Ísland.is, for Skatturinn, sets several allowances in ISK rather than in liters. Gifts sent for a specific occasion are exempt up to 13,500 ISK, with wedding gifts allowed to be worth more if customs finds them reasonable, and they must arrive within six months of the wedding. Food in luggage is described up to 25,000 ISK and 10 kilograms. Travelers who live in Iceland may bring shopping up to 88,000 ISK for an adult and 44,000 ISK for a child under 12, at the retail price where it was bought. Travelers who live abroad are pointed at the gift rules instead. Anything over the allowance is dutiable. The red-channel payment page named there is rautthlid.is, for people with an Icelandic electronic ID. Alcohol and tobacco units are on the arriving page, because they are measured in liters and grams, not only in krónur.
None of this is tax advice. It is a reading of one government page and one tourism page. If the allowance matters to a particular bag, read Skatturinn before you fly, not this summary after you land.
Sources
- Visit Iceland, Practical information
- Visit Iceland, Driving in Iceland
- Visit Iceland, Keflavik International Airport
- Keflavík Airport, Taxi
- Strætó, route 55 fares
- Ísland.is, What you can bring to Iceland