Iceland 2020
Tommy
The land of ice and fire… I am a big Game of Thrones fan and I have seen the pictures and heard the stories about how amazing Iceland is. Even though there is only a population of about 365,000 people, Iceland’s tourism has skyrocketed over the past 5 years and overcrowding is becoming an issue.
So in August 2019, I decided to book a flight to Reykjavik, Iceland with layovers in Helsinki, Finland and London, United Kingdom for February 2020. I would end up spending a Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Iceland.
Iceland was the halfway point of my 6-day adventure after my 3.5 hour flight from Helsinki. I arrived around 10:30am in the morning and the first order of business was to get to Reykjavik from Keflavik International Airport (KEF) as it’s about a 45 minute drive away. Being the frugal person I am, I decided to buy a $7 Strato bus ticket as it takes about an hour and a half to get to Reykjavik via bus. So not that much longer than driving. The other options would be to rent a car or use Uber/taxi. I would not recommend using an Uber/taxi as it will cost about $100 for one way. Yes, Reykjavik is notoriously expensive… Rental cars aren’t too expensive at about $80/day, but gas can be very expensive as Europe uses liters instead of gallons. I chose not to rent a car because I was worried about being sleepy from jet lag and I was solo traveling.
Reykjavik Day 1
I arrived at the bus stop in Reykjavik around noon and I decided that I would go eat lunch and go sightseeing until I could check into my hotel room. My first stop was the iconic church, Hallgrimskirkja, which was spectacular. You can pay about $10 for a ride to the top to see the city views, but I decided not to go up.
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Hallgrimskirkja -
After Hallgrimskirkja, I went right across the street to Cafe Loki for lunch. It was a nice, quaint little cafe that served breakfast and lunch. I found Cafe Loki after watching a YouTube video on the Flying the Nest channel and I did some Google research. I wanted to truly experience the Icelandic culture so I ordered the Icelandic Plate Baldur and the fermented shark, which are Icelandic staples. The Icelandic Plate had two rye bread slices, one with mashed fish and the other with eggs & herring, and Loki’s Rye Bread ice cream. The rye bread was delicious and it was very sweet! The best part was the Rye Bread ice cream, which was very sweet and it tasted like Cookies n Cream ice cream. The fermented shark was interesting to say the least… The smell is worst than it tastes so you may want to hold your nostrils. I thought the texture was the worst part as it was super chewy and I have a bad gag relax. The flavor didn’t really hit until about 15 seconds later. It was bad, but it wasn’t as bad as a shot of Malort (a Chicago staple) or the smell. The fermented shark also came with a shot of Iceland’s Brennivin Shot, which is like a black licorice schnapp. The shot was pretty refreshing after the fermented shark.
After Cafe Loki, I ended up walking around Reykjavik. Reykjavik is pretty small and you can walk the entire city within 30 minutes to an hour. I walked down to the piers to pick up some Lobster Soup from Seabarron (also found in the Flying the Nest video) and I checked out the Harpa Concert Hall.
After exploring the city, I was able to check into my hotel around 2pm. I stayed at the Canopy by Hilton Reykjavik City Centre. The hotel is fairly new and is right in the middle of downtown. Everything was within walking distance, which was great! The hotel was very modern and very nice, but the room was very very small. It was maybe 400 SF and the King sized bed could barely fit into the room. Breakfast was included, which is always a plus. After getting settled in, I decided to take a 2 hour nap to help with the jet lag and I knew I would be up late for my Northern Lights tour that night.
After my nap, I ended up going to Bonus to go grocery shopping around 4pm. Again Reykjavik is very expensive and grocery shopping is a way to save some money. Meals were about $30/person, beers were about $12/person, and cocktails were about $20/person. I ended up buying some sandwiches, Skyr yogurt, Applsin soda, Pristur (chocolate covered black licorice), and some other snacks/beverages. Also, I’m pretty sure I accidentally stole a grocery bag accident so hopefully I am not banned in Iceland.
After grocery shopping, I called up some bars to see if they would show the Purdue/OSU basketball game that I wanted to watch at 5:30pm. I called a sports bar called American Bar and they told me they would try to find it. So I put on my Liverpool jersey and headed over. They couldn’t get the game on for me, but lo and behold they turned on the sound of the Liverpool vs. Norwich City game that just started. I look around and there were people with Liverpool jerseys all around me. So I stumbled into a Liverpool bar! I stayed for the entire game and I met a couple about my age from London sitting next to me at the bar visiting a friend and the guy was a huge Liverpool fan like me. We ended up doing a round of shots to celebrate the W. After those shots, I had to stumble back to my hotel room to get ready for my Northern Lights Tour.
Northern Lights Tour
The Northern Lights have been on my bucket list since I listened to the song “Farmhouse” by Phish. I booked the Iceland Northern Lights Super Jeep Tour with Arctic Adventures. I decided to go with the Super Jeep tour as the Jeep could go off roads and that would give me a better opportunity for viewing. The tour was a smaller group of about 10-15 people.
I didn’t realize that seeing the Northern Lights is such a rare occurrence. It all depends on the weather and making sure that there are limited clouds. You have be make sure there is little light pollution with dark skies. And it depends on the solar weather, which is researched by astronomers. If you want to learn more about the Northern Lights then click here. So the tour organizations will notify you whether your tour is scheduled or if they have to cancel it at around 1-2 days before the tour. Luckily, my tour was on schedule.
The nice thing about most tours in Reykjavik, including the Blue Lagoon, is that they will pick you up and there are a ton of pickup locations around Reykjavik. So you don’t have to worry about getting to one specific spot for your tour and the pickup is included in the price.
My tour was scheduled to pick me up at 8:30pm in front of the Culture House bus stop, which was right across the street from my hotel. When I got arrived, there were a ton of people, easily 100+ people all waiting for their buses to pick them up. It was hard to locate the buses as most of them only had a small flyer in the front window and it was chaotic. Some of the tour drivers called out your name and some didn’t. If you missed the pickup, then you wouldn’t get a refund so it was quite stressful as I didn’t want to miss my pickup. Luckily the Super Jeep was massive and easily noticeable and the tour driver called out my name so I was easily able to locate the Jeep.
My tour driver was Russian and he wasn’t the most sociable person, but he did give us a little bit of history about the Northern Lights and Iceland. The drive to the viewing spot took about an hour to get to and it was closer to KEF. The last road that we took was a rocky road and quite bumpy so you definitely needed the Super Jeep. 3 other Jeeps also joined us so there were about 40-60 people. The experience was absolutely freezing and we had 40+ mph winds.
We waited and waited and waited. The tour guides served us Hot Chocolate and Brennivin to keep us warm. We were about to go home, but then the Northern Lights appeared around 11:30pm. The tour guides had their cameras set up and they started taking pictures of all of us.
In order to capture the Northern Lights with a smartphone, you can’t use your standard portrait mode. You have to change your camera settings to Pro mode using these instructions. Having a tri-pod in hand is very helpful for taking high quality pictures.
After getting pictures of the Northern Lights, we headed back to Reykjavik and I got back to my hotel around 1am. The pictures were posted about 4 days later. Again, seeing the Northern Lights is a natural occurrence and cannot be guaranteed. If the tour ends up being cancelled, then they will refund your money. If you don’t see the Northern Lights, then you can join the basic Northern Lights tour scheduled for the next night for free. I would definitely recommend the Iceland Northern Lights Super Jeep Tour with Arctic Adventures.
South Coast & Vik Tour (Day 2)
For Day 2 in Iceland, I booked a tour of the South Coast of Iceland. I narrowed my choices down to full day tours of either the Golden Circle or the South Coast. After talking with some friends, I chose the South Coast as it had Game of Thrones filming locations and it had more nature. I booked the South Shore Adventure Tour with Reykjavik Excursions.
The tour was scheduled to leave the bus terminal in Reykjavik at 9am. I got about 6 hours of sleep, showered, ate the breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant, Geiri Smart, and then walked over the bus terminal. The tour highlights were the Lava Centre, Skógafoss Waterfall, Sólheimajökull Glacier, Vik, Reynisfjara (Black Sand Beach), and Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. We visited each stop for about 30 minutes with the exception of Sólheimajökull Glacier and Vik, which were for about an hour.
Our first stop was the Lava Centre, which was a 1.5 hour drive away in Hvolsvöllur. The Lava Centre was an exhibit about volcanos and had a scenic view of the mountains. This was probably the worst part of the tour so I just killed some time walking around and I ate a snack.
The next stop was the Skógafoss Waterfall pictured below, which was about a 40 minute drive from the Lava Centre. Skógafoss has been in many films and on TV. It was featured in Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We arrived around 11am and there were a lot of people there. This was in February and Summer is Iceland’s peak season. I can’t even imagine how crowded the tourist sights in Iceland would be during summer. If you want to avoid the crowds, then your best option would be to rent a car and be at popular tourist sights before 9am.
The next stop was Sólheimajökull Glacier, which was about a 10 minute drive from Skógafoss. We spent about an hour here as we were able to hike up to the glacier. The hike had some elevation and was about 20 minutes to the glacier, but it was very easy for me. For older folks, the hike could be moderate to difficult due to the elevation, snow, and rocks. You definitely needed waterproof boots for this hike as some parts of the snow were deeper than shin high. There were a good amount of people here too. A lot of people were hiking on Sólheimajökull as they were equipped with wet gear, helmets, and ice picks. Unfortunately, we did not have time to hike the glacier. But the views here were spectacular and showed the true colors of Iceland!
After Sólheimajökull, it was onto Vik, which was about a 30 minute drive. We spent an hour in the town and this was our lunch break. I ended up spending a little bit of time walking around the town. Then walked over to an Icelandic restaurant, called Halldorskaffi, which was a friend’s recommendation. I ordered the Lamb Sandwich and chips, which hit the spot! Iceland is known for their Lamb.
After lunch, we would turn around and make our way to Reynisfjara, which is the Black Sand Beach. This location was Eastwatch in Game of Thrones. Again there were a ton of people here, but it was worth it. I have never seen a black sand beach before and the beach was breathtaking. The black sand is due to volcanic minerals and lava fragments. The waves were massive here and it was awesome watching them.
Even though this is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, it is also one of the most dangerous beaches in the world. A few people have died over the years by sneaker waves knocking them down and washing them out to sea. So you have to be careful and watch the waves at all times.
The last stop was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, which was a 50 minute drive from Reynisfjara. Seljalandsfoss is well known and you can actually walk behind the waterfall. I took a pass… There were a lot of people here too, but I was able to take some good pictures.
After Seljalandsfoss, we drove back to Reykjavik. I definitely lucked out with the amazing weather. It was about 40-50 degrees on a cloudless day. It was so sunny that I ended up getting sunburned on my face. The tour started at 9am and we returned to Reykjavik around 7:30pm so the tour was about 10 hours and 30 minutes. The drive from Reykjavik to Vik took about 2.5 hours. I thought the tour was well worth the price, which was under $100. I thought all of the stops were very cool, except for the Lava Centre, and I got some amazing pictures! My two favorite stops were definitely the Sólheimajökull Glacier and Reynisfjara.
If you do this tour or a similar tour, I would highly recommend sitting on the left side of the bus. You travel east for half of the trip and go back west. The majority of daylight will be at the beginning of the trip and the return trip is during sunset. The right side of the bus has southern views, which is only the Atlantic Ocean. The left side of the bus has northern views, which is where all of the sights are like mountains, glaciers, and volcanoes.
If you are looking into tours of Iceland, then I highly recommend doing the South Shore Adventure Tour with Reykjavik Excursions! Reykjavik Excursions, Arctic Adventures, and Gray Line are the big three tour companies in Iceland. The Golden Circle, Ring Road, and hiking will be on my to-do list the next time I visit Iceland.
Blue Lagoon (Day 3)
Day 3 started before dawn with me waking up at 5am. I woke up, showered, ate my remaining food from grocery shopping, and checked out of my hotel room. The bus picked me up outside the Culture House at 6:30am in the morning to take me to the Blue Lagoon.
Since the Blue Lagoon is about a 20 minute drive from KEF, it’s best to visit when you first arrive in Iceland or when you leave Iceland. I chose to check out the Blue Lagoon before my flight to London so I could relax. I was on the first bus from Reykjavik and I was maybe the 15th person in the queue. I visited on a Monday so there really weren’t many people, but when I was walking out around 10am, there a ton of people as all of the tour buses arrived.
The Blue Lagoon was very cool and worth visiting even though it is a tourist trap. It was the most expensive part of my trip besides my flight and hotel rooms at about $145. I chose the Comfort package with transportation, which included entrance Silica Mud Mask, use of towel/locker, 1 drink of choice, and transportation from Reykjavik and to KEF. You can also book the premium and luxury packages along with massages.
The facility was very modern and luxurious. I was barely able to fit my backpack into the locker. I used the Osprey Farpoint 40 and it was packed to the brim. You can pay for a bigger locker or use the baggage room at the entrance before registration. You have to take a shower before you go into the lagoon. Pro tip: bring a ziplock bag for your phone when you go into the lagoon. If you want a waterproof bag, then they will charge you for one if you don’t bring one.
The lagoon was awesome and it was very relaxing! The water was very warm and the silica mask instantly healed my sunburn on my face. I spent about 2.5 hours at the lagoon and felt like I got my money’s worth. I didn’t have time to eat at the Lava Restaurant as I had to catch my bus to KEF, but the menu looked good. I would recommend going to the Blue Lagoon during off-peak hours like mornings or nights as I can see why the place draws big crowds. If you come at night, then you have the opportunity to see the Northern Lights too!
