Exploring Iceland

As the country in Europe with the least amount of population, Iceland has some of the most beautiful landscapes that we have seen. From waterfalls, volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, lava fields, and glaciers, this country blew us away. We visited in August of 2021 for our birthday (we share the same birthday)!

Transportation

• Iceland Air: To get to Iceland, we flew on a nonstop flight from Portland, OR to Reykjavik. It was a nice change for us, since we don’t often get to take a nonstop flight from where we live. The flight was 7.5 hours and left in the afternoon, with us arriving in Iceland in the early morning the following day.

• Destination Blue Lagoon: Upon arriving into Reykjavik, we found the spot where the bus picked us up to take us to the Blue Lagoon. Tickets cost us 13,980 ISK (about $100). This bus also took us to Reykjavik after our time at the Blue Lagoon so we felt the cost was more than worth it.

• Bus Travel Iceland: This bus company took us all around Iceland, to so many incredible places! The buses were nice and comfortable. We booked the tours through Viator, but they can also be directly booked on their website.

Accommodations

• Hotel Cabin: This hotel was located within walking distance to the middle of Reykjavik. It was a basic hotel and considered cheap for Icelandic prices ($368 for 3 nights).

The room was definitely on the small side and it was an internal room, meaning we had no window to the outside, just a window facing another hallway that they had covered with a see-through picture panel. It was clean though and got the job done. Honestly, we were so exhausted from our daily excursions that we passed out the moment our heads hit the pillows.

Breakfast was included and the buffet was a traditional European breakfast, with meats, cheeses, yogurt and bread. The hotel staff was very kind to make us a breakfast bag each day of our tours since we had to be up earlier than breakfast started. We were able to fully enjoy the entirety of the buffet on the last morning, before we headed to the airport.

To-Do

• Blue Lagoon: This geothermal spa was about a 50 minute bus ride from the airport. We were able to pay a small fee for them to store our luggage while we spent our time here.

The entrance fee was 21,980 ISK (about $155) for both of us. This was for the premium package, which included entrance to the blue lagoon, silica mud mask, towel to use, an alcoholic drink of our choice, 2 additional masks of our choice and a bathrobe to use. This was the middle package and there is a cheaper one that does not include the 2 additional masks and the bathrobe and a more expensive one which is the retreat spa. For us we felt like the package was perfect for us and the higher one would have been too much considering the amount of time we had to spend there.

The lagoon was very relaxing and not overly crowded when we first arrived, since this was shortly after they opened. After spending some time exploring the lagoon, we swam over to the bar to claim our included drinks.

Jonah got a Gull beer (one of Iceland’s best known brands) and Sierra got a cider. They were refreshing drinks to enjoy  while in the lagoon.

To make sure everyone was hydrated, there were small water fountains placed around with fresh Icelandic water to drink. It tasted so fresh!

• Active Volcano Hike Tour from Reykjavik: A big part of the reason for our trip to Iceland was to hike to the Fagradalsfjall Volcano, which was active at the time. We started off the tour by getting picked up by our guide at the pickup point, located about a mile walk from our hotel. Before we went to the Volcano site, we stopped by a hot springs to have a quick look around.

We were then driven about another 30 minutes to the base of the mountain. When we arrived, we were given headlamps and the option of using hiking sticks, which we took them up on. In hindsight, we should have brought our own hiking sticks so we could have both had a pair of them (they only had enough for each person to have one). Once the rules and plan for the hike were explained, we set off as a group (12 people).

We made several stops along the way to take in the breathtaking scenery (as well as catch our breath). It was incredibly steep and rocky, but the thing that made it the hardest for us was how strong the winds were. We felt as if we were going to be blown away at any given moment! There were a couple of people who did not make it the entirety of the hike and had to turn around and go back to the van.

Finally the moment had come where we climbed down to where the lava was. It was surreal to be right next to the crusty black substance, knowing that underneath, it was hundreds of degrees hot. We could feel the heat and welcomed it since it was getting colder outside.

Although it was not spewing lava actively when we were there, the volcano was smoking quite a bit and we would be lying if we said we weren’t a little nervous about it erupting while we were so close to it. That being said, it was a very cool thing to experience.

We could have spent hours marveling at the sight before us, but we were tired and had seen everything we came for so we decided to head back to the van. The group continued on for who knows how much longer. Altogether, the two of us hiked  8.5 miles. The tour was $158 for both of us. This was a once in a lifetime thing for us and although we were absolutely exhausted, it was an exhilarating experience. This particular volcano isn’t erupting anymore, but there is a tour to hike the Meradalir Volcano!

• Golden Circle Day Trip with Kerid Volcanic Crater from Reykjavik: The day after our intense hike, we jumped right into another full day of exploring with an early start to the day. The tour bus picked us up at the same spot as the volcano excursion.

It was about a 45 minute drive to arrive at our first stop of the day, Thingvellir National Park. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs. We walked through the Almannagjá, which  is a beautiful narrow valley that marks the boundary of the mid-Atlantic rift.

As we walked through the park, something our guide mentioned is that the Althing, the first parliament of Iceland started meeting in this park starting in 930, for 2 weeks a year. They created laws and settled disagreements for the whole country and this continued until 1798. The Althing has a deep meaning for the people of Iceland.

Also in this park is the Thingvellir Church and the ruins of old stone shelters. We saw the church from a distance but didn’t spend enough time there to explore up close. We had about 40 minutes to spend here before getting back on the bus.

Our next stop was about an hour away, to Gullfoss Waterfall. Gullfoss, translated to Golden Falls is one of Iceland’s most iconic waterfalls and is located in the Hvítá river canyon. The water is sourced from the glacier Langjökull and falls down 105 feet.

From where the bus stopped, we walked the short distance down to view the waterfall up closer. We were allotted 40 minutes to take in the beauty of this grand waterfall before eating lunch at a nearby restaurant in which we could spend an additional hour.

Only a 10 minute drive away, our next stop along the Golden Circle was the Geysir hot springs. It is a well known high-temperature geothermal area and Geysir is one of the best known geysers in the world. It is no longer active but still very beautiful.

Once we arrived, we made our way over to see Geysir’s little brother, Strokkur. Strokkur is still very active  and blows water up into the air every 7 to 10 minutes.

Before we left, we made one more discovery of Blesi hot springs. With 2 different pools of water that connected together, the northern hot springs was milky blue and reminded us of the waters at the Blue Lagoon.

The water in the southern hot springs however, was crystal clear and we could see down into the hole where the boiling hot water comes from which was very cool! We were given about 40 minutes to explore this area.

Our final stop was Kerid Crater, which was about a 45 minute trip from the hot springs. This is an iconic volcanic crater with a depth of 55 meters, known for its blueish-green waters and surrounded by red rocks with vegetation. Rather than hiking down the trail to the edge of the water, we sat down on one of the benches and just enjoyed overlooking the crater.

This day tour was $106 for both of us, what we think is an absolutely incredible value.

• South Iceland Glaciers, Waterfalls and Black Sand Beach Day Tour from Reykjavik: Our final day of excursions was also through BusTravel Iceland and was another full day of adventures. The bus picked us up at the same spot as the previous excursion.

After an almost 2 hour drive from Reykjavik, we arrived at the first stop, Seljalandsfoss. This 200 feet waterfall is one of the country’s most famous and visited falls and we can see why.

After taking in its beauty from the front, we climbed up the trail that fully encircles the waterfall. It was a little slippery with the wet rocks so we were definitely glad to have worn our hiking shoes on this excursion.

We had just 20 minutes to take everything in before we had to head onto the next stop.

On the way back to the bus, our group spotted some horses and we went over to try and feed them. We love horses so this was cool to do.

The next stop on our trip was another waterfall, Skogafoss. It was a short 25 minute drive and then we arrived to one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland. With a drop of some 200 feet and a width of 80 feet, we felt so small standing next to it. There are steps to climb to the top of the waterfall but we just wanted to enjoy it from the ground so opted not to do this.

Our tour guide made sure to suggest to us all that we fill our water bottles with the water in the river next to the waterfall. It was very fresh and tasted amazing. In total we had 30 minutes to spend here.

After a 30 minute drive, we then stopped at Reynisfjara Beach, which is located beside the small fishing village of Vik I Myrdal.

This black sand beach is famous for it’s basalt formations and beautiful view of the Reynisdrangar (basalt sea cliffs). There were hundreds of puffins flying around the sea cliffs and nesting on them as well.

We felt very lucky to have visited during the time when the puffins come to Iceland for nesting (late April or May through late August).

Iceland is the breeding home for about 60% of the world’s Atlantic puffins. The time allotted to visit here was 30 minutes and we wish we could’ve stayed for longer. Upon leaving, we had lunch in the nearby town of Vik I Myrdal before heading to our last site.

Our final stop on this tour was to Solheimajokull Glacier, a 30 minute drive from Vik I Myrdal. This glacier is part of a larger glacier, Mýrdalsjökull, the country’s 4th largest ice cap. Since we could only go so far in the bus, we walked the trail to the glacier from the parking lot.

It took us about 10 minutes or so and then we were up close and personal with the glacier, able to reach out and touch it.

The last thing that the tour guide pointed out before heading back to the bus, was the gashes on this rock. These were caused from the movement of the glacier, which just shows how powerful and incredible it is!

We spent about a total of 30 minutes here before heading back to Reykjavik. This day tour cost only $169 for both of us, which was well worth it and such a good deal!

• Explore Reykjavik: After each excursion was over, we would explore the city. Compared to the countryside of Iceland, there wasn’t a terribly large amount of things to do in the city but definitely was worth taking the time to explore and you should not skip it.

• Höfði House: This house in Reykjavík has a very remarkable history after its establishment in 1909. It was built for a French consul, Jean-Paul Brillouin. After him, there were numerous other consuls, ambassadors, poets and artists that lived there. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the singer and actress Marlene Dietrich even visited the house during the war years! In 1958, the city of Reykjavík bought the house and began the process of renovating and restoring it to its former glory. It is famous for being the location for the 1986 Reykjavík Summit meeting of United States President, Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union’s General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev. This meeting was an important step towards the ending of the Cold War. Another important event happened in this house in August of 1991. Here a declaration was signed that recognized the restoration of the independence of the Baltic States. Iceland was the first nation to do this. Today, this historical building is used as the mayor’s reception hall.

• Rainbow Street: While walking in downtown Reykjavík, we came across this beautifully painted road, which is one of the main streets in downtown.  This road goes from the church (see below) to the main shopping street of Laugavegur. There are a ton of different shops, cafes, restaurants, and galleries to see along the way, making this the perfect place to do some sightseeing! It is painted to celebrate Reykjavík Pride, which has been held every year since 1999. This festival attracts up to 100 thousand people from all over the world and is held in August. This street is a wonderful sign of joy and support of diversity.

• Hallgrimskirkja (the church of Hallgrimur): This Lutheran Church was built by the Icelandic Parliament.  Construction started in 1945 and was finally consecrated in 1986, the same year that Reykjavík celebrated 200 years as a town and city. The church has 2 organs; the concert organ is the largest in the country and it’s world renowned for its quality of tone. We weren’t able to go inside but just admired it from the outside.

Food

• Lava Cafe: After spending time in the Blue Lagoon, we wanted a light lunch to hold us over until we ate later. This was our first taste of how expensive food was in Iceland. We shared a fruit and cheese platter along with a ham and cheese sandwich. These items alone cost us 6,200 kr (about $45).

• Hamborgarafabrikkan: Before we headed out on our volcano adventure, we found this restaurant. We needed something with some good protein that would fuel us for our long journey ahead and we are glad we stopped here.

Surprisingly, we were able to save a little bit of room for dessert and we shared the “grown up’s ice cream”, which consisted of 3 scoops of ice cream, topped with chocolate chips, caramel sauce, whipped cream and a kókosbolla (chocolate covered marshmallow). It was a perfect end to our meal! Altogether our meal was 8,097 kr (about $60).

• Gullfoss – Panorama Restaurant: On our first full day of excursions, the tour bus stopped here for a opportunity for us to eat some lunch. It was a clean grab and go cafe with comfortable seating and it was nice to take a break from the outing.

We shared a smoked salmon bagel as well as a ham and cheese sandwich, along with orange Fanta sodas. Both sandwiches weren’t anything to write home about but they were generous with the amount of meat/fish and it filled us up. Also, we are always a fan of orange Fanta in other countries. There’s just something about the lack of all that extra artificial junk that the US adds which makes it taste so much better. Altogether it cost us 3,780 kr (about $28).

• Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur: Located in downtown Reykjavík, this signature hot dog stand has been around since 1937 so we figured that we needed to give it a try. It started becoming very popular after August of 2004 when Bill Clinton bought a hot dog at the downtown stand during his visit to Iceland. He ordered it with only mustard and it then became known as ‘The Clinton’.

We each got a hotdog, Jonah had his with onions on it and Sierra had one without. The ketchup is made with apples making it extra sweet. The mustard is also sweeter than we were used to. We had differing opinion s on these hotdogs, Jonah liked it and Sierra was not a big fan. We also shared a Prince Polo (Polish wafer chocolate bar) for dessert. It was definitely our cheapest meal at a total of 2,060 kr (about $15).

• 101 Reykjavik Street Food: We found this place while we were strolling along the Rainbow Street and we are super glad we stopped to eat here. 

To drink, Jonah got a Gull beer and Sierra got a Pepsi.

Jonah had the traditional Icelandic meat soup, which is the national dish of Iceland. It was also served with some bread. It was a simple but flavorful soup and had either  sheep, lamb, or mutton plus a mixture of vegetables. The bread was a nice compliment to the dish, perfect for dipping in the soup.

Sierra had the classical Icelandic fish stew, which was served with Icelandic Rye Bread. The stew was packed full of fish, potatoes, all mixed together with béchamel sauce. It was a thick and creamy comfort food. The bread was delicious as well.

In total, this meal was 5,050 kr (about $36).

• Ice Cave Bistro: We stopped here on our second day of excursions. We weren’t expecting much from another quick service place, but the food was good! Sierra had the fish and chips, which were seasoned well and crispy.

Jonah had the Icelandic lamp chops that were cooked on the grill, served with French fries. The lamb was very flavorful and had a crust of good seasoning and was a generous portion. The fries were good; identical to the fish and chips.

We both had a gin and grape, a canned drink made in Iceland that was a lighter alcoholic drink. For dessert, we shared some chocolate dessert, which was rich and yummy.  It was 8,590 kr (about $62) for the whole meal.

• Old Iceland Restaurant: We went to this restaurant on our birthday since we wanted to go somewhere a little fancier for our celebratory meal. It was established in 2014 by 3 brothers and has a focus on highlighting Icelandic produce.

To celebrate, we shared a bottle of Syrah.

For our starter, we had the cured salmon with pickled cucumber, dill mayo, rye bread crumbles and smoked roe. It was a delicate dish, with a good mix of textures and flavors.

For the main course, we both wanted the Lamb ribeye and slow cooked shoulder of lamb with baked parsnips, fried potatoes, beetroots, parsnip puree and demi-glaze. This dish was the best of the whole trip, a delicious combination of very tender meat and root vegetables.

For dessert, we shared the brownie, which had toffee, roasted oats, vanilla ice cream and berries. It was rich and creamy  with bursts of brightness from the fruit.

Our 3-course meal was a total of 13,900 kr (about $100), more than worth it for the best meal in Iceland!

Our time in Iceland was spectacular and we would go back in a heartbeat just to see some more puffins!