My latest trip was to the oh so sought out island of Iceland.
It was a trip on my bucket list for a while but because, I’m not too fond on snow, it took a while to getting to.
This time around I had friends to travel with. We all traveled on Iceland Airline to KEF, me flying out of JFK Airport and the others Newark since we reside in those cities. Most Iceland flights are night flights, which made it easy to finish work, pack and head to the airport.The flight was about five hours and a half over and an easy nap due to the hour.
Iceland is three hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time so keep that in mind when booking hotels, tours and/or transport options.
We arrived in Iceland at about 6am and started our journey from there. We rented a car for our stay and I will DEFINITELY recommend it. Iceland currently ranks #2 on the quality of life list, so their prices are extremely high for just about everything. $1=119 ISK (Icelandic Krona), but don’t be fooled by the triple digits ; 119 ISK will get you nada.
Renting a car was pretty reasonable splitting between three of us. I also recommend getting the second or third tier insurance as Iceland’s weather and terrain is very harsh and the possibilities of damage can be endless. (The windshield of our car cracked while we were sitting in the parking lot of Subway.) Keep in mind, the terrain is very different from most of our daily lives unless you live in Alaska or northern Canada, so make sure you’re experienced or comfortable enough with driving.
Oh and Iceland is like the land of roundabouts! But it never seems like we went around the roundabout, just right and straight.
Another thing to note when traveling to Iceland is the season. Sunlight is not of the essence so make sure you know how many hours of sunlight you’ll have when booking tours. We were in Iceland for four days and each of those days had six hours of sunlight, which realistically meant one tour and one activity a day or one long tour a day.
We rented out an apartment in a apartment building called Blue Mountain Apartments for about $130 US a night. The apartments are located in Kopavogur ,which is about 15 minutes driving away from the city center of Reykjavik and 50 minutes away from the airport. You can find more info on their website: https://www.bluemountainapartments.is/
I loved the apartment and it’s cute quaint set up. We had minor issues with heat but there was staff who came up immediately and fixed it for us. My favorite part of the apartment was their take and give system downstairs where guests leave supplies, food items, etc when they leave and is free to use for current guests.
Our first adventure stop was an ATV/ Snowmobiling tour which took us on top of the mountain on the outskirts of the city. We booked the tour before we took off as we wanted to dismiss the chance of any delays messing up our arrival time.The cost was 14.400 ISK ($120US) for a shared ride or 18.400 ISK ($153 US) as a solo rider.
They have added price options for pick up at hotels or other locations if you weren’t mobile on their website.
We drove to the group meet up point and even though late, Iceland Adventure Tours called us to make sure we were on the way and didn’t leave us. Kudos for that! When we got inside, we signed a liability release form and got changed into our snow suits. I would recommend getting a pair of warm winter weather boots, thermal leggings and thermal gloves for any outside activities.
Iceland Adventure provided gloves, but I know I would need an extra layer of protection, so I bought a $7 thinsulate pair from the men’s department in Primark. My weather boots, I snagged from Payless for $20 on a 40% sale and man, i would get every color if I had the opportunity! I’m sure they have more expensive brands that do the same, but my $20 Rugged Outback boots worked it’s wonders in the snow!
After suiting up, we went outside to the ATV’S where we taught how to drive the ATV, the rules and got seated . It started snowing when we started the tour and to me, that added to the vibe. Riding solo definitely enhanced my experience. Being able to slow down and speed up at my leisure without having someone on my back really seemed comforting, as I watched a scared girlfriend cling onto her boyfriend in front of me. The tour was about 30 minutes to the top of the mountain where we were able to get off, take photos and whatever else. I do feel like our time on top the mountain was a bit rushed but it was heavily snowing , so I don’t know the company protocol with weather. Overall the tour was fun for the short time it did elapse (about an 1-1.5) but if your looking for longer, more exciting tours check out their website.
Check the tour out here : https://icelandadventuretours.is/tours/atv-tour-mountain-safari/
After the ATVs, we were supposed to see the Northern Lights but because of the weather and snow it was extremely cloudy making the aurora lights invisible. It was cloudy our whole trip. Big bummer…
After warming up after snowmobiling, we went into the city center to look for food. Our original suggestion of Icelandic food was small eats and skewers and we were starving, so that canceled out. After a generic Google Maps search, we found an Italian restaurant named “Caruso Island”. The food was EXTREMELY good. I got the Frutti di Mare , my personal fav. I can’t remember the exact pricing but it was about the average price for dinner at a four star hotel.
At this time, it was dark, still snowing and now hella windy so we went to see a famous church, Hallgrimskirkja, then back to the apartment. It was Sunday and closed but I managed to get this picture as I was being hailed on by the killer snow.
The next day was our Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle Tour. The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa is probably is the most sought out attraction in Iceland so it’s recommended to get your ticket/package ahead of time. They have two different packages for the blue lagoon experience. The Comfort package goes for $98 and includes your entrance, a silica mud mask, use of towel and a free drink. The Premium package is $123 and includes your entrance, silica mask, two free drinks, use of towel, slippers, use of bathrobe, a table reservation at the lava restaurant and sparkling wine if dining. We opted for the comfort as a robe, slippers and extra face masks didn’t appeal to us.
The Lagoon itself was amazing. It is as blue as it looks in the pictures online and steamy as hell. However, outside was 30°F and I couldn’t jump back in the water fast enough, after taking my photos. It is recommended not to stay in the lagoon for more than 2 hours as the silica in the water makes you extremely tired, so plan accordingly. We were in the lagoon for roughly about an hour and we were dragging our feet on the way back to the car!
Also, ladies make sure not to wear your nice wig or hair down if you plan to swim. The silica dries the life out of hair and I’m not sure if the shower room conditioner will revive the life back.
After our blue lagoon dip, we proceeded to make our Golden Circle tour. We had a map given to us by the rental car company with a list of landmarks and attractions, and my work phone with that good ole 5G service. So onward we went, driving with our GPS into the snow covered mountains.
Once you do leave the city, snow and mountains surround you and although very desolate, it’s very beautiful scenary!
We made it to the first stop on the circle, which was the Gulfoss waterfall and it was stunning. We were too scared to walk closer to it, as we didnt know the terrain but from the distance we were it was still breathtaking. After a couple photos, we got back in the car and headed onto stop #2.
Unfortunately , our ride didnt last long. The roads weren’t completely undriveable but they were dirt and covered with snow. We got stuck in a ditch and being that we rented a Ford Focus (dont ask me why, I dont drive), we didnt have the four wheel drive to get us out. After one rejection of help from an Asian family, we tried digging, rolling and pushing with no avail. I tried digging us out with an ice pick. THE HORROR. Eventually, after sitting in the car for 30 mins, a set of Icelandic men helped us out.
WE HAD TO be pulled out! To make it funnier, we had no robe so we they used a thick cord to get us out of the hole.
After that whole ordeal, we decided not to finish the circle as it was getting late, we were running low on sunlight and didnt want to risk getting stuck again with no Icelandic hardback men to help us again. Here are some views of our journey back.
We contemplated going out again after we got back to the apartment but I think we were all to exhausted to do anything. We spent the night scrolling through Icelandic cable trying to translate categories.
The next morning we went to a museum exhibit which had an observation deck where you could see over the city of Reykjavik and an ice cave. Mainly, we came for the ice cave. The admission to the “Wonders of Iceland” exhibit was $32 and to me, not all that worth it. The ice cave IS cool but besides that, I didn’t find anything else worthy of my $30. The observation deck was nice but snow came right as we pulled up to the museum, making it impossible to see much.
After the museum, we went for lunch downtown and ended up at an Indian restaurant named Hadlestin and it was AMAZING. I ordered a vegetarian Thali platter and it opened up every taste bud in my mouth. I didnt get to taste traditional Iceladndic food but this did suffice.
After our lunch, we went back to the apartment, checked out and went to the airport. It was an amazing trip and I would definitely go again, to do more of the mountainous tours.
-Choonks