When visiting Iceland there are a few things that are must see/must do. Iceland is not known for their nightlife or even gastronomy for that matter. It is known however for some beautiful scenery, lagoons, glaciers, and waterfalls. Whether you visit in the summer or the colder months there’s cool experiences to be had in each season.
My personal bucket list included the traditional Golden Circle, Chasing waterfalls, a stop in Vik, and a Glacier hike. It wasn’t until doing my research on this country that I found other cool adventures such as snorkeling in two degree glacier water and an active volcano hike. Unfortunately, the volcano was no longer erupting and after getting more information from locals (Thank you Instagram) paying for a hike tour was a waste of money as we would have not enjoy seeing the hot red bubbling lava. Definitely something I would have loved to experienced in the land of Fire & Ice but I guess the timing was bad. I’ll have to keep an ear open for the next eruption and now that I know how easy it is to get there maybe I can go again for a weekend and compete my checklist 😊. Hopefully that occurs in the summer months where I can also check off the midnight Sun ☀️.
Now don’t get me wrong, Iceland does have certain foods that they are known for such as fermented shark, skyr -an Icelandic yogurt, dark rye bread from a hot spring, a few lamb dishes, their famous hot dot dog and so on. They even have food tours in ReykjavÃk that seemed to be very promising, however for us it wasn’t the main attraction for this short trip. Maybe next time.
Silfra Snorkeling: this five star rated tour was voted top ten excursion in the world on Tripadvisor. The Silfra Fissure is the only place in the world where you can snorkel between two continents. It’s located in the Thingviller National Park between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plate which was caused by an earthquake in 1789. Don’t expect to see fishes here, it is known more the rock formation, algae, and its amazing colors.
Fun Facts:
•This water maintains a temperature of 2 degree Celsius year round due to its underground travels.
•It takes a century for the water to filter through the porous lava fields
•Silfra gets it’s filtered water from the nearby Langjokull Glacier 60 kilometers north.
•It has the best underwater visibility in the world, over 100 meters visibility
•The water is drinkable! Yes I drank some 😊
•It has been voted one of the top five spot to snorkel in the world.
There are many companies that you can book this tour with great reviews. We used Troll Expeditions and had a great time! We even showed up late, well not late late but also not early enough to get set up for our departure time. Thankfully they had other groups and we were put on with the following group. We were instructed to wear thermal suits and thick socks and they provided everything else, another thick layer of thermal suit, the dry suit, fins, snorkel mask, go pro pics, a chocolate bar and hot chocolate at the end. We drove about 50 minutes outside of ReykjavÃk to meet the tour guides/group. They kept our belongings secured while we were away snorkeling.
Personally, I was worried that it would feel too cold underwater and that I wouldn’t float because they didn’t provide life vests 😆. You don’t need life vest. Upon entering the water the pressure makes your dry suit stick to your body and the air goes up to your shoulders allowing you to stay afloat at all times. As long as you wear your personal thermal layer and thick socks your body does stay pretty warm. If I recall I felt cold for about 10 seconds after entering the water. Water does get inside your gloves though. They tell you not to squeeze it out because it’ll warm up to your body temp and it’ll become tolerable. They also told us to keep our hands on our back while we were in the water and to not use it for swimming as the movement will make your hands feel colder. Honestly, there is no need to use your hands. There’s a slight current that takes you down stream and at the end of the fissure you swim agains it for a few minutes (less than 5) to turn into the Bay Area where you technically end the tour. I used my hands a few times to swim faster and be close to the guide or if I felt that I was staying behind. Other than that it was a gentle floating almost all the way down.
Overall I give this experience a 5/5. Cold hands for a few hours after was worth the once in a lifetime experience 😜.
The open area of my face also felt cold for a while when first getting in the water. Honestly the first few minutes in I didn’t think I was going to make it for the next 30-45 minutes hahaha. But I got used to it. My hair did end up getting wet, there was no avoiding that even with the head covering. But it was mainly on my neck area. I didn’t feel cold there though. My only complain was my hands. Boy were they cold. They told us not to take off our gloves until we reached the starting point, where our belongings were, as the cold air would make it worse and I’m so glad I listened. My hands were cold for hours after changing back into my regular clothes. Another tip I didn’t read on anywhere was to pee before getting in the dry suit. Common sense I know but it didn’t even crossed my mind until I was getting ready. Just because you’ll be in the water doesn’t mean you want to pee in it. Remember you’ll have several layers and you’ll only be wet inside the suit if you do 🤣. They had us use the bathroom prior of getting dress and that’s how that talk went down lol.
Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon
Crystal Blue Ice Cave & Glacier Hike
This tour we also booked with Trolls Expeditions. It required us to drive 2 hours past Vik to Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon to the meeting point because of where this ice cave is located. I had made reservations in this cute place that I was looking forward to a beautiful photo shoot 😜. Unfortunately we never made it to it because of bad weather and road closures. Instead we drove as far as we could, about an hour past Vik and we made last minute reservations at Fosshotel Nupar. The roads opened back up at some point over night and we woke up early, ate breakfast and drove the hour and fifteen minutes to the lagoon. Weather was still not the greatest and some parts of the roads were icy but thankfully we made it save and sound.
Why the fuss on this particular glacier? This glacier is Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajokull, and it has the bluest ice in the country. If it’s an adventure of a lifetime, sign me right up!
Vatnajokull Glacier covers 10% of Iceland with a surface area of over 3,000 miles. It reached its peaked in 1930 and since then it has decreased its size in thickness about 3 feet a year for the past 15 years. Beneath this glacier sits the tallest mountain in Iceland and several active volcanoes that according to some geologist, some eruptions are way overdue. Established in June of 2008, Vatnajokull National Park is the second largest national park in Europe. It is said that with the increased of global warming, this glacier could see its end by the end of the next century leaving only a white tip top over the mountain 🥺.
We met our group at Jokulsarlon Lagoon parking lot and we took about a 20-30 minutes bumpy monster jeep drive to our starting point where we hiked about another 30 minutes to get to the entrance of the ice cave. The hike was not extraneous at all. Very doable. We even stopped for a drink of water at a stream coming from the glacier 😆. Y’all, I swear Iceland has the best tasting water in the world! Be it in a hotel room faucet, a restaurant self serve station, or a hidden stream underneath snow.
Our tour guide was awesome and very knowledgeable. He gave us a lot of interesting information and he was funny. Entering the ice cave and walking around inside admiring its ice formation and color was everything I had hoped it would be. Every year the ice caves change so there’s no two alike, each visit is a new experience. They provided us with helmets and crampons. Although there were many groups rotating in and out of the cave it didn’t feel rushed at all. We probably spend a total of one hour inside the cave learning about it, admiring it, talking pictures, etc.
At the end we hiked back to the hero and drive back to the parking lot. Again, another amazing, must do, once in a lifetime experience. Don’t think about it. Just do it! There are other glaciers closer to ReykjavÃk and in Vik that are an option as well. There’s also the option to hike on top of the glacier for 3 hours. That would have been pretty cool too but timing didn’t allowed for it.
Tip: there’s no place to eat nearby. There were several food trucks in the parking lot which were closed due to the snowstorm the day before. So make sure that if you plan on doing this tour it drive all w the way here you have a plan for accommodation and food as you will not find anything to it for miles.
Diamond Beach
After the tour we drive across the street to the Diamond beach. I was not impressed. At all. Not what I was expecting so I have to admit that I was disappointed. I’m not sure if it was due to the time of year or the snow or maybe we drive to the wrong part of the beach… 🤔. Either way I don’t have much to say but we’ve been there 😆.
We started our 5 hours drive back to ReykjavÃk only to get caught in a middle of a storm. It was scary y’all. Husband was a trooper getting through it. I guess it paid off that he’s a driver in real life. We saw many accidents. Winds were insane. Cars and big vans flipped over and into ditches. Two hours later we stopped at a gas station to fill up and grab snacks and realized that the road was closed and we were just stuck in the middle of the storm. What an experience!
As I mentioned before, I truly love Iceland. Take away the cold, extreme wind, unpredictable weather, and the lack of nightlife and Iceland would be perfect in every way.
After many nights of research and watching Vlogs on YouTube I thought adding the Blue Lagoon at the start of the trip and the Sky Lagoon at the end of the trip was the best way to go for us. Many people will tell you that these are tourist traps and that there are many other inexpensive geothermal spas with less crowds that are just as good. Believe them. There are many places to choose from. But as a tourist you just have to experience it for yourself and have your own opinions about them. I love to hear about others experiences and their recommendations but I don’t base my entire trip on someone else’s opinions. Some things are better off experiencing yourself 😉.
Our flight was a direct flight from Newark, NJ that landed at 6:10am in KeflavÃk. Our hotel check in time was not till 2pm and from our Dubai and Paris experience I knew I wanted to do two things right this time. Not pack the day with many things to do (epic fail on this trip too) and not take a nap too late in the day to prevent oversleeping and not adjusting to the new time zone (success).
We decided to start our day at the blue lagoon. We made reservations ahead of time, well a couple of weeks out. It is true that the earlier you book the better price you get. In a two weeks period the price went up almost $20. So definitely book as soon as you know which day you want to go, in true Pam fashion I did not do so and paid $100 instead of $70 😅. Our reservation was for 0800 and we had more than enough time to leave the airport, get our car, and drive there. I calculated the drive from the airport to be about 44 mins. However, from the Lotus car rental office it was about 30 minutes.
I absolutely loved the Blue Lagoon!!!
And it is considered one of the Wonders of the World so there's another check on my list.
Known for its milky blue steamy mineral rich water and white silica mud both containing healing properties and located in a lava field. It truly was a great way to start the trip. We were the earliest group to get in and we had a lot of time to explore around in the water before it become more crowded. I believe we lasted about 2.5-3 hours here but there is no time limit. You also don’t need that much time there but being that it was so early and we didn’t have much to do before checking into our hotel at 2pm we stayed as long as possible.
They encourage you to drink water to prevent dehydration and they have water stations throughout that were very convenient. They also say to condition your hair as the silica in the water will make it stiff and hard to manage afterwards but thankfully I had no issues since I decided to keep my hair up and not go under water. Hubby didn’t complain about his hair either. I do recommend you take ear muffs or ear warmers to keep your ears warm. I did and it made a big difference, hubby's ear however looked like they were about to fall off 😩.
This place is a lot bigger than I expected. As we explored and went farther in we kept finding different areas to hang out at, even when it became more crowded it felt like there was enough space between the crowds. Our ticket included a drink and we opted for a green smoothie being that it was way too early and we were exhausted! The silica mask did leave my skin feeling super soft so no complains. There was a sulfur smell occasionally but not like I expected it to be and it was only in certain areas. And I had no issues with my gel polish melting or turning rusty or with my contacts either. I did wish I had brought out my sunglasses as it was early and the sun was very bright. Also my face could not hide the lack of sleep/jet lagged I was feeling 😅.
Overall, we loved the Blue Lagoon and I would personally recommend it.
The Sky Lagoon in the other hand was not as big as the Blue Lagoon. Beautiful yes, as it is newer with a simple yet modern design and it is also man-made. The ocean view was nice to see but the cloudy sky and crazy wind we had on our visit didn’t make it as pretty as I expected it to be. I also felt that the water wasn’t as hot as the Blue Lagoon.
It was less expensive, I believe we paid $70 each. Although it did not include a drink it did uncle the 7 step ritual which in my opinion was worth every penny and worth the visit on its own.
The 7 steps ritual includes the lagoon, cold plunge, sauna, cool mist, body scrub, steam room, and shower then back to the lagoon if you choose to. The views from the sauna was beautiful as you’re able to see the ocean. But be warned it was so hot in there. Dear Lord! I thought my nostril’s hair had fallen off. The cool mist was pretty cool but cool 😆 which wasn’t a good feeling after the sauna so we didn’t last long there. Going into the steam room with the body scrub on was the key of this whole experience. It was very relaxing being in there and coming out to shower was refreshing. Not to mention how smooth our skins felt afterwards. I kid you not, my skin was soft for a week after we got home. I will visit this lagoon any day just for this feeling.
Now don’t get me wrong. Although not as big as the Blue Lagoon, The Sky Lagoon was worth it for me as well. I loved the modern design. The locker rooms/shower area were nicer in my opinion. Maybe because it felt more spacious. And the waterfall outdoor was awesome. So glad I left this for the end and was able to go under it. I wouldn’t have done it if we had gone here first because I wanted to preserve my straight hair as long as possible.
I think these two lagoons need to meet up, get marry, and have a baby 😊. Both are unique in their own way and you can’t go wrong with visiting either one. Or both 😆.
They both had restaurants or at least a cafe area to grab a quick bite or coffee, a waterfall in the water where you can submerge yourself, saunas, and a swim up bar offering alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. Sky Lagoon is closer to Reykjavik, about 15 minutes, while the Blue Lagoon is about 40 minutes give or take depending where you're staying. Both are man-made, in case you were wondering.
Have you been to Iceland and visited these lagoons? If so which one did you like best and why?
I am so glad I kept going back to it as my first option. And I am beyond happy that despite the storm we encountered during our time there we were able to do everything I had on my wish list. But before we talk about those things let me just say that March was a great time to go. We had more than enough daylight each day to get things done. This was a big concern for me. I feared the lack of sunlight more than anything as well as cloudy gloomy skies and the closer it got to the travel dates and the longer the sunlight lasted it just set the mood for the perfect trip.
Time of year. According to my research, March was also a great month to see the northern lights. Of course that because it is a natural phenomenon it will always be unpredictable on whether you see it or not so my expectations were realistic. I hoped for the northern lights and had said that seeing them would be the cherry on top but I was not going to base this trip strictly on seeing them. Fortunately for me, which also set the mood for a great trip, I was able to see them from the plane on our way there. Y’all, this was amazing! The feeling I felt as they appeared through my window is truly indescribable. For two hours I could not close my eyes. It was perfect! A dream come true. Tip: lower your expectations. The northern lights are not what people make them out to be like on those beautiful photographs. Yes they dance and take on different look whether it a crown look with a tail or one to multiple stripes and yes they dance around but color wise… it’s more like a fog. The color issue is that with a good camera (as simple as a phone) and the simplest edit features a couple of clicks will let you see this beautiful natural phenomenon. The view from the plane however was perfect. It truly was.
Our first night there we did an excursion to see the northern lights. I was skeptical because of everything I had read prior to the trip but decided to give it a go anyways. What I did do was not spend too much money on this excursion because of the probability of not seeing them. Iceland is expensive enough and after seeing them from the airplane I had gotten my fix. We did end up seeing them that night but it was definitely NOT what anyone was expecting and definitely not as vibrant as the view from the plane. Even with editing the color it was not as nice as it was from the airplane window. The reason for that was that there were too many clouds in the the sky. Would we have gone to a better location had we paid more money? Not sure, it's something to consider.
Weather in Iceland is 100 percent unpredictable. That is something you have to be okay with before booking your flight. Another reason I had booked in March, the end of March to be exact, was because I was trying to minimize the likelihood of bad weather. Well jokes' on me. From the second to the last day in Iceland there was a snow storm with very bad winds. We were fortunate that the way our itinerary was set up we missed every storm except for the last one. The more South East we drove the more snow we encountered. To the point that we never made it to our accommodation on the third night due to road closures. I was afraid we were going to have to cancel our glacier and ice cave excursion on day four however, that night roads opened up and we drove the hour and twenty minutes to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. On our way back we encountered another storm that made the 5 hours drive back to ReykjavÃk last 6 hours. We had bad weather for about 2-3 hours during our drive then we came out of it as we got closer to the city thankfully. The winds were so bad y’all. Definitely don’t underestimate the weather or wind there. I will say however, if you come from a location with winter weather and you feel comfortable driving in the snow you will be just fine. Just take proper driving precautions, get yourself a 4WD with spikes on the tires, and good insurance.
Price. Iceland is very pricey. Hotels. Gas. Food. All of it! Personally I had a budget I wanted to stay within and I think we did pretty good without having to sacrifice much. We ate out daily. We stayed in nice hotels. We did all the excursions we wanted to do and rented a car. You can make Iceland reasonable by staying in hostels or going with a larger crowd and splitting Airbnb, car, and gas prices but I personally thought it was reasonable for Iceland prices. Considering other places we'd travel to. We even went to a hookah lounge and ordered a few drinks (dejavú to our trip to Paris and Barcelona 😂). I guess I could say our budget was not too strict and after having an idea of what hotels, car, and excursions would be, I decided on a budget around that instead of making reservations based on a pre decided budget.
Food. I think eating in Iceland made me appreciate family dinner outings in the states hahaha. How bad are the prices? $15 for a regular bowl of soup. $20-30 burgers. $30-60 meals. We never spent less than $50 on food stops. We didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary either. Honestly, food was not a top priority for us. As long as we ate daily we were happy. Tip: book hotels that include breakfast. This saved us a lot, maybe around $200 in 4 days. Our last hotel didn’t include breakfast and we went in search of breakfast. I feel like Iceland breakfast is more like pastries and coffee. And that’ll run up to $50+ if u order 2+ coffees or to many croissants/pastries. We stopped at this cute spot around the corner from our hotel and it was so good. The service won us over. We stopped at Brauo & Co because it was recommended everywhere online but honestly. It was a tourist trap with cold pastries and service. I liked the more personal warm and welcoming experience we had at the Kaktus Espressobar. And of course the food, they had some delicious healthy sandwiches and pastries. I asked if they had breakfast sandwiches and she said, what is this breakfast sandwich you are looking for? What does it have in it? I said, Is with eggs and she just laughed. Silly me. Only Americans. 😂
Winter clothing. Layer layer layer. It saved us and set for a great experience with the cold. I don’t know about others in America or other countries with winters but I have never layer my clothing during winter. Ever! So for Iceland I bought thermal sets. Fleece lined leggings. Vest. Sweaters. Wool socks. Earmuffs, waterproof boots and coats and let me tell you. Best advice I got from all my research. Layering will make or break your Iceland experience. Especially since you can encounter all four seasons in one day. Don’t even question it. Just layer up your clothing. Not once did we feel cold and removing layers as necessary was a big plus as the weather changed over the day. I’m actually going to start doing that back here for future winters 😆.
Do download the apps that will help you with knowing the weather and road info. The regular weather app on the iPhone does not tell you the right information for Iceland weather. And knowing if there’s a big storm coming would be helpful, as well as knowing road closure etc. They also have several apps for the aurora forecast. I wasn’t the greatest figuring those out. I always checked on the Icelandic Met Office, Safetravel, and Road.is and that helped a lot. Just don't forget that it is not always the case that you’ll see the northern lights so don’t hold your breath.
Car insurance plans. Don’t cheap out on this. Car rental I’d say is reasonable. There’s different options for insurances too and I’d say those are reasonable as well. You never know what the weather will be like or the wind so you’ll never know if you will benefit from a good plan until it's too late. We rented our car from Lotus car rental and got the Gold package. No specific reason for going with this company, just reviews. There are a few that had great reviews too, I simple picked the one with the better price.
Miscellaneous Tips: tipping at restaurants is not necessary. There's no tipping at all. They do have their own currency but accept debit & credit cards and apple pay. For pumping gas you do need a card with a pin number otherwise you must pay inside or buy a fuel card inside the gas stations which can sometimes be closed. We didn't have an issue with this either. Do keep your fuel tank full unless you are in the city or more populated areas as gas stations are far and few in between when you leave out of the towns. Yes, gas is a lot more expensive here than in the States.
Overall, Iceland is a beautiful country. Clean and well maintained. Picturesque scenery at every turn, so many unique experiences that you won't find in other countries. The air felt pure and clean. Almost everyone speaks English and many speak Spanish. We had no issues communicating with the locals. They were nice and welcoming. The water tasted amazing! Literally the best water I have ever had. FYI, you can drink tap water in Iceland and they don't really sell water bottles. At least every where we stopped and I asked for water they had self serve stations. I'm sure you'll find water bottles for sell but it's not as common unless is flavored water or carbonated water.
I truly do recommend a trip to Iceland. It doesn't have to be long, it'll depend on the purpose of your trip and your must do/see. We went for 5 full days and we did a lot. Just remember to have realistic expectations depending the time of year you go as you never know what the weather will be like the amount of daylight they'll be. I'd love to return during their summer months when the sun doesn't set and the weather is a little nicer.
Why Iceland? Is what I kept hearing from everyone I told about my plans.
My response, why not? Why not Iceland.
You see, over the years I have learned that my desire to travel is not just to get away. I love to travel for the experience, for the culture, to see the many unique wonders the world has to offer. And boy does Iceland have many wonders.
Many years ago I had several people in my Instagram feed traveling to Iceland and many other parts of the world. At that point in my like I couldn’t really afford to travel. I was a broke nursing student who worked 8-16 hrs per week. But I told myself that once I was able to afford it I would be traveling the world. That is a personal goal of mine. Will I ever truly travel the world? I don’t know that for sure. But I’m not going to limit myself to think of the possibility of being able to do that. Why? Because why not? Why not travel the world? Why not me?
Just 5 year ago, what started as a birthday trip getaway to Mexico led to our travels adventures to 10 different countries, not counting our native lands, others states in North America, and multiple trips to the same country. This may be nothing in comparison to what others have traveled to, but it is also a lot compared to where many will travel to in their lifetime. So why not? If you can dream it you can make it happen.
I never finished my posts on our Dubai and Egypt trip for my 35th birthday, or on Hawaii, or every other place we've visited, but they’re on the works I promise 😆.
This year I was stuck on Iceland. You won’t believe how much I went back and forth deciding if that was the right move. It was completely different from what we’ve ever done. We’ve have never taken a vacation to a cold and unpredictable weather location. I had several other, warmer, locations in mind but for some reason I kept going back to Iceland. I was intrigued on how different this trip would be compared to past trips. The many cool adventures we would be able to experience. Another big factor was the ability to go for just a few days. We had taken a very long trip last year and I had told the husband that this year I would plan something short so that he can splurge for his birthday.
And so taking many things into consideration Iceland won. I booked our flights for five days and got to actually booking hotel, car rental, and excursions. Up until the moment the plane took off I couldn’t believe I was going through with it. We were really going to Iceland after 7 years of dreaming about it.
Y’all. If you want something never lose hope. At that right time God will provide a means and a way. Trust the process and the journey!!!
The adventures to look forward to about this trip include the Blue and Sky Lagoon, snorkeling in 2 degree Celsius water, chasing waterfalls, glacier and ice cave hikes, a south east road trip with unpredictable weather, experiencing the northern lights, and of course Reykjavik.
I truly feel in love with Iceland. I can't see myself living there like I can see myself living in Mexico 😆, but I would return in a heartbeat and I 100% think is a country you should experience even for a day as a layover.
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