I am back from my second and last trip this year: A trip to Iceland! I traveled with my brother and didn’t really know what to expect, so I expected nothing. We flew with Icelandair and I was pleasantly surprised that we had indoor entertainment for the short flight (approximately 3 hours). We went to Iceland for six days and combined a city trip with some excursions that we booked beforehand. We had a great time there and I can already say that we will we back… I made a list of a few highlights of our trip:
Blue Lagoon
Of course, the Blue Lagoon can not be absent in this list. A spa and hot water source “swimming pool”, all in one. Including a nice underwater “bar” where you can buy drinks and take them with you in the water. Don’t spill your drink in water: challenge accepted. The Blue Lagoon is mostly outdoors. When we got there, the weather was terrible: a lot of rain and a lot of wind. But the temperature of the water was approximately 39 degrees. So once you’re in the water (and don’t get out when you’re outside), it’s lovely. I did wear a (retro) bathing suit instead of a bikini.
Not-so-typical bars & restaurants
If you want to buy alcohol Iceland can be quite expensive, but a lot of bars and restaurants have happy hours to ease your expensive alcohol pain. There are a lot of cozy bars and restaurants in Reykjavik that look like little cottages from the outside. But there is one bar that immediately grabbed my attention: The Lebowski bar. Retro all over the place!
On the last night, we visited a soup restaurant that we had spotted before: Svarta Kaffid. A very cozy restaurant that brings you back to the native times. The most popular dish was of course: soup. Bread with soup is quite typical, but soup in bread is a different story! I chose an Italian soup with lots of vegetables.
Shopping sprees in Reykjavik city
It’s not the first thing you think of when you’re in Reykjavik, but I actually bought a lot of retro accessories that I didn’t find anywhere else. For example handmade woolen caps with a flower on top of it. Very 70s! I’ve already worn it in the Netherlands last week:
I also bought a wallet of Anne Taintor with the inspiring message “Honey, let’s go deeply into debt” and a lovely vintage style poster, which will probably fit somewhere. Buy retro posters first, see if it’s fits later – that’s my interior motto. And there was more retro fun stuff:
It’s only October, but Christmas will arrive before you know it. We bumped into this very nice Christmas shop. With lots of Icelandic Christmas accessories. You can even write the Icelandic Santa a letter:
Reykjavik city
One day we felt like exploring another side of Reykjavik. We went a little bit outside the city heart. I loved the colorful cottages everywhere. It really makes the city look alive and it’s so different compared to the typical gray and houses that you see a lot here in the Netherlands. Next to that, you’ll find beautiful street art in Reykjavik city.
Iceland: Nature
We did the golden circle tour (by bus), which is a popular excursion to experience the beautiful nature of Iceland. There were a few highlights that captured my attention: the geysers and the waterfall. That’s something you just want to keep watching. I even got myself a little geyser shower, because it’s was a little bit more explosive when I was standing there… Thankfully, I was well prepared. I wore waterproof clothes and I got very nice curls in my hair afterward ;-).
Weather in Iceland
Iceland was not as cold as we thought. Probably because we were there just a few days after the end of the summer season in Iceland. The average temperature was around 8-10 degrees celsius. The cold does feel a little bit different. Everyone there wears winter caps, even when it’s 10+ degrees. If the official temperature is 10 degrees, the real feel can be 5 degrees because of the wind and rain. We had a lot of rain, but also a lot of sunshine. The weather can change within a few minutes. There is a reason why Icelandic people say: “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes”.
We’ll be back
Yes, Iceland definitely has its charm. I am already thinking which Chrismas I want to spend in Reykjavik. Also, I would love to see Iceland in summer, when it only get’s dark for a few hours a day. Hello vitamin D! Besides that, we didn’t really see the Northern Lights because it was too cloudy during our excursion. That was a bummer. But one way or another, Iceland…we’ll be back.
Ik heb geen verwachting om op reis te gaan, dat lijkt mij de best manier om van te genieten. 😉 Blue Lagoon dat lijkt mij een ervaring. Ik denk dat ik nooit uit het water kom.. haha zeker met de koude wind. Mooie plaatjes en landscape laat je ons zien. Zo heb ik toch even een Iceland momentje.