Back in December M and I started talking about vacation plans for the Spring. I mentioned how I read once that the hot springs in Iceland were supposed to be amazing. She found a travelzoo deal for a long weekend in Iceland in February and we did the numbers and it worked into our budget, so we booked it. We were both very excited.
We took a redeye from JFK to Iceland on Thursday the 4th. The flight was rough just because it was a redeye and I had to sit in the middle seat next to a rather large gentleman on the isle. I felt very claustrophobic but overall it could have been much worse than it turned out to be. M and I both were still a bit tired getting off the plane. The only thing odd about customs in Iceland was that we had to go through security and metal detectors again on arrival even though we did it in NYC. The only other time I had to do that was when i went from an airport that was so small they didn’t have security to go through so i was surprised by having to do it after going through security in NYC.
After getting our bags we grabbed a cab for the long ride to Reykjavik. It was about a 45 minute to an hour drive. It was snowing and it was still dark outside. We were staying at the Hilton and we were very thankful for the early arrival we had on our room. We got to the hotel and went to the room to take a nap. We slept like 3 hours and when we woke up the sun just rose, it was after 10AM.
We grabbed breakfast in the hotel and then hung out until our bus arrived to take us to the hot springs at Blue Lagoon.
The drive to the Blue Lagoon wasn’t too bad. It was around 30-40 minutes but we got to see the countryside in the daytime. It was very bleak and you couldn’t tell when the snow covered ground turned into the white sky. It was kind of awesome sight to see. We got a ton of photos on the bus trip.
The hot springs themselves was the highlight of the trip. M and I both were looking forward to it, and it didn’t dissapoint. Even the sign’s telling you were to wash was entertaining. We meet up after showering by the spring. It was freezing outside so we ran as fast as we could from the building to the spring. Getting into that water was one of the best feelings. What was funny is that after we took a break and came out of the water M confirmed her initial thoughts that we didn’t need to run out to the water at all. There was a part of the spring that was actually inside the building that there was a door at water level that you could go out so you are in the water and not outside and exposed when you go outside. When we were there it was snowing and freezing. My ears were freezing but overall i was super warm since we were in the water. It was an odd feeling. We lathered up with the silica mud like they say to do. it was fun. We lied around and swam around for a while and then lounged a bit before showering and heading off to the bus back to the hotel. Overall the hot spring was amazing once in a life time thing to do, and if we just did that it the vacation would have been worth it.
Back at the hotel we made reservations for dinner at a great sea food restaraunt in down town Reykjavik. The guide book suggested it and it was fantastic. Both of our meals were great. We tried to goto an Ice Bar, but the place was having issues with it so it was closed. Apparently the locals don’t think too highly of the bar since it is a touristy thing to do but we still thought it would have been fun to try.
On Saturday we took the shuttle bus to downtown Reykjavik and walked around. We went to several museums. Had coffee and lunch in some nice little shops. We walked around the downtown area and looked at a bunch of shops. It was a pretty packed day walking around Reykjavik. I will say that we probably went everywhere we wanted to in the city. We headed back to the hotel a bit early to rest up before our planned dinner reservations but M was not feeling very well so we ended up staying in Saturday night. I entertained myself with my iPad and the lobby wifi and grabbed dinner at the hotel bar.
Thankfully M was feeling better today but she was still under the weather, so I went to the hotel spa for some hot tub action before we left for the flight. Then it was the long cab ride back to the airport. We grabbed lunch at the airport, browsed the duty free and then just hung out till our flight home departed.
Reykjavik has a pretty nice modern airport. The flight home was thankfully uneventful. It was a short vacation but this Iceland trip was pretty spectacular even with M being sick Saturday night.