Iceland - The land of fire and ice
On arrival at the main airport, we took a shuttle to Reykjavik centre which took around 45 mins. You are taken to a main bus terminus (the terminus is the suburbs of Reykjavik which is where most tours leave and depart from) and smaller coaches drop you off at your chosen hotel. The FossHotel was a 10min walk from the city centre. After arriving in the evening, we stayed in the hotel bar which speciality hot dogs and beers with other foods on offer.
I always like to orientate myself in a new city, so we walked along the sea front into. We visited the Hallfrimskirkja Church, which is the largest church in Iceland standing 74.5 metres tall and looked around the National Iceland museum to understand about the country’s history from its medieval past to its current contemporary culture we know today. After, we found a lovely restaurant and enjoyed a meal there. White beetroot featured in both our dishes and seemed to be the ingredient of choice for the weekend! We chose to have soft drinks as alcohol is on the expensive side.
Top Tip! Take snacks and look out for happy hours in local establishments. There were many restaurants on offer from wood fired pizzas to a la carte dining so catered for all budgets. Fermented shark is a local delicacy there, but I shied away from trying it, would you? In the afternoon, we ventured to the harbour to do a whale watching and puffin tour. Puffins migrate to the open seas in Iceland to nest and breed. We saw many of these adorable north Atlantic puffins and got quite close due to the small drought of our boat. We saw pods of whales, porpoises and dolphins on our trip, capturing some fab photos and it was an experience I won’t ever forget.
We knew the second day of the tour would be a full day, so it was nice to have a relaxing day on the first day. We booked the Golden Circle tour which is an absolute must. We visited Thingvellir National Park which sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of two tectonic plates. It has a breath-taking landscape and every time I turned the corner or climbed some of the rocks, I got some amazing photos of the area. Gulfoss waterfall was our next stop and we were in for an adventure. Just the walk down to the natural viewing platform was hair raising enough for me! The Strokkur Geyser was our final stop and if like me, you love to see these amazing sights, you’re in for a treat. In comparison this is not in a large thermal area like Rotorua in New Zealand but still impressive none the less. The whole day tour lasted approx. 10hrs so excellent value for money.
Our last day was spent at the famous Blue Lagoon Spa. There are many regular shuttles to the spa from the bus terminus, so it was very easy to get to and from. Top Tip! You must pre-book your day there along with any treatments or lunch reservations as it is so popular. You can buy snacks and refreshments from the café, hire towels, dressing gowns, flip flops along with a locker for safe keeping but you could bring your own items to save pennies. After leaving all your items in your locker, you have a wristband so that you free of your belongings and any purchases of drinks can be charged to this. This day was one of the highlights of our trip. Once changed, we stepped outside and walked around the walkway. It certainly is surreal. The water looked lush and warm, the steam rose from the water and the volcanic rocks surrounded the spa. We had a token for a free drink whilst in the lagoon and used the silica mud face mask which is known for its rejuvenating properties. You can find inlets and fountains dotted around the lagoon to experience. There are people on hand taking complimentary photos which they email to you, but you could take your own waterproof camera.
Unfortunately, our final day came all too quickly, and I know that I would certainly return for a longer break. I would perhaps look to do a cruise around the island or hire a car in the summer months to explore further afield. The ice caves, dog sledding and snowmobiling would be straight on my list. Reykjavik was a lovely and easy city to navigate around but found that as it was an exposed city, it was very windy. We wrapped up with a snood, layers of clothing and walking boots for our trip so felt prepared. The locals were friendly and found that shuttles, tours and boat trips ran on time.
It is such an exciting country, but I know I would like to experience more. I would go back for at least 1-2 weeks. Contact me for further information about your visit to Iceland. With a two and half hour flight time, it’s so easy to get too and it has so much to see and explore.