FIRST, THE BASICS
How long did we go for? Matt and I are big on making sure we utilize a long weekend. People can really underestimate the power of a long weekend! We left on the Wednesday night before Labor Day weekend (and so arrived on Thursday morning) and we left on Tuesday morning post-Labor Day.
Could we have stayed longer? Definitely! Iceland has so many landscapes–geysers. volcanos, waterfalls–and we were right outside of Reykjavik. And on top of all that this is just a very small part of the country. Unless you are *very* outdoorsy, more than a week might be a lot, but with five to seven days you will definitely not get bored.
What’s the weather like? Cold, windy, rainy. Definitely rainy. One second the sun was out and the next it was pouring. Definitely pack a raincoat and boots. Even though it was the end of August winter gloves and hats came in handy.
Language? Icelandic and English – Since there are only 350,000 people in the world that speak Icelandic, everyone is required to learn English in school. So, you are in luck, everyone speaks English, which in this case is good because even though we always try to speak the language when traveling, Iceland even telling people which sites we traveled to, we were nowhere close to pronouncing anything correctly.
Currency? The Icelandic currency is called the krona. The krona trumps the good ‘ol dollar these days, so just be conscious of what you’re buying especially while shopping. Most places take credit card and lucky for us most even took AMEX (woohoo!).
Car Rental? we rented a car from Blue Car Rental at the airport. We waited for the shuttle to take us there, but it’s really a stones throw away. We got opted to get the Wi-Fi for the car for an additional $14/day which I think was well worth it.
THE SCOOP ON THE BLUE LAGOON!
Make sure to book it in advance since they can’t guarantee you a spot without advanced booking. We booked the comfort package which includes a towel, a face mask, and drink. They had lots of drink options from prosecco to beer and smoothies -fruit juices. We got ginger mango smoothies, which were delicious. The premium package also includes a robe, which we would have sprung for had it been any colder (it’s an extra $20/person).
Our flight was delayed 4 hours getting out of JFK due to some mechanical problems, so I was in panic mode about missing the Blue Lagoon. When you book your ticket, they give you an hour window to get checked in. We were scheduled for the Blue Lagoon at 10 am and we didn’t arrive until noon. Luckily they were able to squeeze us in. Whew!
Biggest tip for the Blue Lagoon? – conditioner is your best friend! They have free conditioner so don’t be afraid to use it! Lather your hair before and after the lagoon and try to avoid getting your hair wet at all costs unless you like the scarecrow look!
Where can I store my luggage? – we drove directly to the blue lagoon from the airport, however they do have buses that will bring you from the airport to the blue lagoon and they have a luggage storage center right up front.
Where can I put my stuff while I swim?– the blue lagoon does a great job of providing locks that are connected to wristbands you can wear in the water. You can go back there as many times as you need to get things out of your locker worry free.
IPhones in the water? lots of people had water free cases or pouches and had their phones in the water. I was afraid my phone would get messed up, so I made Matt run through the cold to his locker to get a few water shots.
Cafe Bryggjan (Lunch) After the Blue Lagoon, we were hungry and a little jet lagged and drove about 10 minutes to Cafe Bryggjan for their famous soup. In Iceland, especially out in the countryside they are big on refillable soup bowls and bread that you serve yourself. We both got the lobster soup, which was creamy, peppery, and delicious and served with fresh bread. It was delicious, but in retrospect, since it was refillable, maybe only one of us had to get it and we could have shared a grilled cheese too. FYI… in Iceland, what they call lobster are what we in the US would call langoustine (basically big shrimp). Still delicious though.
Btw, can I drink the water? Umm, not the blue lagoon water, no. But everywhere else in Iceland they have the purest water on earth, so you definitely don’t need to buy bottled water. At almost all of the restaurants we went to they had large glass bottles of water and glasses, so you didn’t need to worry about being thirsty.
Ok, but did someone lay a rotten egg? Yeah…that’s one thing no one told me about visiting Iceland; it can be a real stinker. Their sulfur levels are a lot higher than in other places and well the water and the air can sometimes be stinky. At least you don’t have to worry about what happens if your stomach doesn’t like something you ate!
THEN, THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Frost & Fire Hotel, Hveragerdi – As a home base for the Golden Circle, we stayed in this hotel which overlooked hot springs and the river. It was lovely hearing the water run by us as we were laying in bed at night. The hotel offered a complimentary Icelandic-style continental breakfast that included smoked fish, veggies and the bread they make on site. They also offered skyr, Icelandic yogurt and flat Icelandic waffles you could make yourself. Every day they make their own rye bread in a hot spring in the ground.
Geysir – Golden Circle stop #1 for us. Although it’s pretty touristy, it’s still pretty cool! It’s pretty amazing to see what nature can do. It starts off just looking like a pool of water and then kaboom, the water shoots 150 feet in the air, only a few feet away from you. Plus it’s free and we didn’t even have to pay for parking at this stop.
Thingvellir National Park – Golden Circle stop #2 is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a gorgeous park that really shows off all that Iceland has to offer in one spot. There are plenty of hiking trails, waterfalls, it overlooks a picturesque church and cottages.
Gullfoss – We actually skipped Golden Circle stop #3 because it’s a good distance farther than the other two and frankly it’s just a big waterfall. Having already seen a few of those (Seljalandsfoss, Oxarafoss) we figured we wouldn’t die if we didn’t get to see it.
Restaurant Varma (Dinner) Is the restaurant at the Frost & Fire hotel. We enjoyed their tasting menu which really highlighted rustic, Icelandic cuisine. Matt had the lamb and licorice to start (they love anything and everything licorice in Iceland) this dish might sound strange, but it was delicious). It tasted almost like a lamb jerky with pickled fennel, onions, fresh blueberries, and croutons made out of the bread from the hot springs out front. I had the lobster soup, which was cooked in the hot spring, it was an amazing, perfectly seasoned soup, but I knew what I was getting into a little more than with Matt’s first course.
For the entree Matt had the lamb once again (lamby night!). His lamb was cooked for 12 hours in the hot spring and was served along with potatoes and a thyme sauce. While his was delicious, it was much heavier than my entree of lightly cured cod that was served with Jerusalem artichoke puree, picked Jerusalem artichokes, and a lemon dill sauce.
Lamb Shank 
Cured Cod
WHAT ABOUT NOT-GOLDEN-CIRCLE STUFF?
Solhestar – One of the highlights of the trip for me was riding the Icelandic horses at Solhestar. Icelandic horses are adorable, they have shorter legs then regular horses and absolutely gorgeous manes. We took a two hour tour in the red lava fields on horseback which overlooked Reykjavik. We were paired up with a family with three little girls that actually live on the Upper East Side. We had two guides that were both personable and informative. Note there are 2 locations, one out in the Golden Circle and one fairly close to Reykjavik. I thought I had booked the one close to our hotel, but I actually booked the one that overlooks Reykjavik. Oops…that’s what happens when you can’t read or pronounce anything : )
Seljalandsfoss – Don’t Listen to TLC; chase those waterfalls! This one is particularly cool because you can walk behind it. Just to be clear you might get soaked. But the view is awesome. Make sure to check out a small path off of the right and apparently there are some hidden waterfalls. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear about this secret path until after we visited the site. There is a cute drink and snack cart near the parking lot in case your get hungry. Fyi, parking is a bit madness at peak times and you will have to pay for it. 750 ISK if I remember correctly.
Seljalandsfoss
Mt. Esja – Mt. Esja is the dark and brooding mountain that can be seen towering above Reykjavik. Awesomely, it is not only possible but surprisingly easy to take the bus out from Reykjavik to the Mt. Esja Hiking Center at the bottom of the mountain. From downtown Reykjavik you can take bus No. 5 (eastbound) to Ártún. At Ártún, take bus No. 57 (eastbound) which takes you straight to the mountain. Going by bus to Mt. Esja from downtown Reykjavík takes 45 minutes.
There are many different trails you can take and although Matt told me the trail we were doing was easy, ugh… not so much. Even though I work out 4-5 days/week I must be honest, i was huffing and puffing a lot on this vertical trek up mountain. We took a 3 1/2 hour hike straight up the mountain at the peak the mountain is 914m (2,999 ft). Even though it was a tough slog, the view from the top was breathtaking. On the way up we saw lambs climbing the mountain as well as little surprise waterfalls. I don’t think I have ever been surrounded by such lush greenery.
There is really no shortage of amazing things to do and see in just this one little corner of Iceland. Hopefully this article will give you a good head start on planning your own amazing outdoor adventure in Iceland!