This weekend I travelled to Reykjavik, Iceland for a nature-filled getaway with my friends Sophie, Lexi and Zoë. We flew out of Copenhagen at 11:45am and landed in Reykjavik at 2:30pm. For the first time since going abroad I had time to open a book that I started at the end of summer, People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry.
When we arrived in Iceland it seemed like we were landing in the middle of nowhere and there was uninhabited land as far as we could see. We took a 45 minute taxi to get into the city center were dropped off at our Airbnb. Along the route our driver was pointing out the scenery in the distance and told us that the rock surrounding us was left by volcanic activity.
When we got to the apartment we were pleasantly surprised because it was a brand new apartment complex and it was spacious, clean and perfect for our group. We had a double bed and a large pull-out couch.
After dropping off our bags, we walked about 20 minutes into the center city. We stopped at some cute shops and made it to the Hallgrimskirkja, a famous Lutheran church.
Then we decided on restaurant for dinner called Kol, but we had an hour before it reopened for dinner. We spent that time continuing to explore the inner city and doing some shopping since this was our only time to stop at gift shops for the whole trip. The stores were all FULL of wool products and clothing, some vikings and trolls, and a lot of pictures of the northern lights. We stopped at a book store because Zoë wanted to find a historical fiction book about Iceland and an employee gave her some recommendations.
Then we went back to the restaurant for dinner, and it was definitely worth the wait. We got a round of drinks, (I had a winter sour which had warm spices and was delicious) truffle tries, and our entrees. Lexi and I both ordered a BBQ eggplant dish that was amazing, Sophie got a fish of the day, and Zoë had steak.
While we were sitting at dinner we found out that our Northern lights tour for that evening was cancelled due to bad conditions. We had scheduled a bus tour that would drive us to the best spots to see them on a three hour exhibition. While we were disappointed, we were able to reschedule for the next evening and hoped that the conditions would be better. This also gave us a free night to go into the town and explore their nightlife.
After dinner we walked down the street to get crepes and see the rainbow road. We also saw the Hallgrimskirkja lit up since the sun had gone down.
We walked back to the airbnb, changed for the night and headed back to the city center to go to a bar we had spotted on our walk home. It was called Lebowski, and it was themed after The Big Lebowski movie. There was a giant wheel behind the bar that you can pay to spin and you get whatever it lands on. You can get nothing, 10 beers, 6 shots, or anything in between. It was very popular so it was fun watching everyone test their fate. We ended up not having to buy drinks because people were spinning it and winning more beers than they could drink so they were passing them out.
There was a great crowd coming from all over the world, and we even met two American girls who were from New York. One of them is doing grad school where Lexi is doing her undergrad. There was a dance floor and they were playing funny American music that was great for dancing and we had a great time. After a while we decided to check out a couple other places but we didn’t love any of them so we stopped at a market for some snacks and walked back to our apartment.
The next morning we woke up bright and early and walked to a bus stop where we were picked up by our tour bus. We had scheduled a full day trip with stops all around the Golden Circle, a tourist route in southern Iceland, covering about 300 kilometres looping from Reykjavík into the southern uplands of Iceland and back. Along the way we stopped at Thingvellir National Park, a geothermal field and geyser, a waterfall, Gullfoss Waterfall, and the Blue Lagoon.
First up, Þingvellir National Park, the only UNESCO Heritage site on the Icelandic mainland. It is an incredible destination located divided between the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate. This spot is the only place in the world where this divide is above sea-level.
After some exploring and pictures, we headed back to the bus and headed to our next stop: Haukadalur Geothermal Field. This was a huge valley with geysers and hot springs. The tour guide warned us before getting off the bus that we cannot touch the water because it is 80-100 degrees Celcius, so over 200 degrees Fahrenheit! She said that in the past she has had people touch it, and the ambulance had to come because of their burn injuries. The geyser erupts every 4-8 minutes and out of nowhere it shoots water 50 feet into the air. We watched it erupt a few times before continuing on.
The water was crystal clear and beautiful even though it smelled very strongly of sulfur. The landscape around us was yellowish-green mountains which really contrasted the bright blue of the water.
We stopped in the Cafe for lunch and I got a pizza which was really good and definitely needed after being out in the cold. I saw a van that had massive tires on it that I thought was funny.
We got back into the bus and headed to the Gullfoss Waterfall. None of us had done much research about the stops so we were all shocked at how amazing the waterfall was. The snow made it even more beautiful and we were impressed with the incredible size of it.
We boarded the bus again and this time I was exhausted so I took a little nap on Sophies shoulder. When I woke up we were making a stop so we ran into a liquor store and grabbed a couple bottles of wine for that night. The tour company we were using for this Golden Circle tour was the same company as our Northern Lights tour. The tour guide told us over the microphone that all Northern Lights tours were being cancelled for the night because conditions were still bad and there was almost no chance of seeing them. We were sad, but also so tired already that we knew we would have been exhausted doing a second tour that night.
Our bus returned to where we had been picked up from and we transferred to the next bus that was bringing us to the Blue Lagoon. It was about a 30 minute drive to the lagoon. When we arrived we checked in and received wrist bands that connect to the lockers and allow us to get face masks and drinks at the swim-up bar. We showered, put on swim suits, and headed down to the lagoon. There was an entrance where you enter the water and open a door into the outdoor lagoon.
The water in the blue lagoon is heated with geothermal energy as underground lava flows and natural hot springs heat the lagoon’s mix of sea and freshwater. Two thousand meters within the earth, ocean water and freshwater converge in a tectonic realm of searing heat and extreme pressure, creating geothermal seawater. Drawn to the surface through geothermal extraction wells, the water emerges enriched with silica, algae, and minerals—the bioactive elements that endow this unique fluid with its healing, rejuvenating, nourishing abilities.
It was amazingly warm and felt like walking through a hot tub. It was also so much bigger than I was expecting, and since this is not the main season for tourists it was relatively quiet which made for an amazing experience. Our ticket came with a complimentary face mask and drink so after taking some pictures we swam over to the bar. They serve beer, wine, cider, and non-alcoholic drinks. Lexi and I enjoyed Somersby apple ciders while Zoë and Sophie had Gull (Icelandic beer.) Then we headed over to the other side of the lagoon to get Silica face masks. They scoop it from a bowl right into your hand so you can apply it to your face. When it is time to wash it off, you just dip your face in the water to clean off!
We stayed at the lagoon for over three hours, exploring the different areas of it and relaxing. It was a great way to end an action-packed and freezing cold day. When we got out of the water we showered, changed, packed up and headed to catch out tour bus back to the bus station. We were starving and stopped at a restaurant called Grillhúsið for dinner. It was exactly what we needed and we shared a platter of mozzerella sticks, nachos, jalepeno poppers, buffalo cauliflower and onion rings as our appetizer and I got a beyond burger.
After dinner we walked home, watched the Hannah Montana movie, and drank the wine we bought earlier in the day. We slept for a couple of hours and woke up at 3:30am and got in our taxi at 4:00am to head to the airport. We were totally exhausted but we were really happy with how our whole trip went. Besides not seeing the Northern Lights, it was an excellent trip that we all really enjoyed.
In the airport there was a random photo station where we took this photo. I think it is so funny and really shows how tired we were at this point, and the fact that Lexi was carrying a box of Honey Nut Cheerios is awesome. She had found them at the supermarket when we were buying snacks the first night and bought them because we don’t have them in Denmark!
That’s all for Iceland! Next weekend is an early-birthday trip to Amsterdam with Sophie!
