Whew… I have finally recovered from traveling to Iceland. Operating off of less than 5 hours of sleep and little to no food our 2 1/2 day trip to Iceland was a success. We definitely hit the ground running when we got to Reykjavik.
We snagged our rental at 5 am and our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, which is a MUST when visiting Iceland. It was my favorite experience of the the whole trip. It was about 20-30 degrees and after showering and changing into our swimsuits we got straight into the 100 degree water and relaxed, took pictures and drank our beer and champagne for about 5 hours. It was so relaxing. I wish there was a hot spring similar near NC!
We checked into our Airbnb which was in the heart of Reykjavik. It was cute and quaint for the 6 of us. We each had our own bed which was plus and had just the right amount of living space for us to commune. After freshening up we made our way to one of the largest churches in Iceland, Hallgrimskirkja. Unfortunately, the church was closed so we couldn’t see the inside but we were able to take photos. The Hallgrimskirkja is the tallest structure in Iceland.
Next we made our way to Downtown Iceland to get food and engulf ourselves in the culture. Grabbed some pizza from a local pizza shop, it was our first meal of the day and then we got back in our rental to drink before going to the bar. Talk about a good time. One of the most well known bars that has good music is Prikid. We people watched and danced until about 2 am!
It’s Sunday morning and we had to wake up at the crack of dawn to be picked up for our Glacier, Waterfall & Beach tour in South Iceland. Thankfully we made it even after our alarms failed to go off. It took about 2 hours to get there and it was very cold. We did tons of walking but the sights were worth it in the end. We saw two amazing Waterfalls, a huge glacier and visited a black sand beach. Everything was so breathtaking. I have to shoutout my friends for taking such good photos of me!
On our last night we went to a restaurant called Grillmarkaðurinn (The Grill Market). Hands down the BEST food we had the entire trip. I got a Rib-eye steak, french fries and mixed vegetables. Check out my meal and my friends meals below!
Oh and how can I forget. The water… is excellent, you don’t need to buy bottled water it tastes so good from the faucet. Even when we had to buy bottles of water we bought Iceland brand, No complaints. Last thing we experienced on our last night was finding and seeing the Northern Lights! OMG! Talk about breathtaking. If only the photos could do it justice. You have to see it for yourself!
There’s only one thing that we didn’t get to see that I wanted to and that was The Golden Circle. If you are planning a trip to Iceland you need a full three – four days to see and explore everything if you cant do that make an itinerary it helps keep you on track. Bundle up and make sure you have hats, boots, coats and gloves along with hand & toe warmers they will be your best friend I promise.
Some other tips: Pack snacks in your carry-on you’ll need them throughout the day. As I stated in my previous post you need multiple portable chargers because your phone will die on the long tours. Also its good pay for your excursions/tours ahead of time so you will only have to spend money on food and souvenirs.
Obviously Iceland was on my list of destinations to visit but it was closer to the top than I thought. If you have any questions about my trip feel free to comment below!
Also check out a more in depth post about our trip to Iceland on FrugalShopaholics.com
xo,
Derria
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