I'll worry about everything that can be worried about, and i'm a really nervous flyer. Yes, I am the person at airport security that takes everything off that I can. I would walk through in my underwear if I could. Then I like to have a little walk around the shops, buy myself a few magazines (which I usually don't read until i'm back home!) always buy way more snacks than needed so we have a few things in the hotel room for when I get peckish.
I have a few trips this year and the first of them is REYKJAVIK, ICELAND.
Iceland is a very small place. We stayed in Downtown Reykjavik, everything was a 5-10 min walk away. To read about where we stayed, what we saw and where we ate keep reading!
Where we stayed - Centric Guesthouse.
It is just a room. Very basic. But we knew we wouldn't be in the room much. It's the first time I've stayed somewhere where the bathroom was not in the same room, now for me I would rather stay in a hotel, but Reykjavik is know for being really expensive. We literally landed put our stuff in the room and went out, came back for a nap then went to find something to eat. The next morning we were picked up at 7 and didn't get back to the room until 8pm, went for food, went to sleep and we were out again for 6.30am to go to the airport so we didn't need to spend lots on a hotel room because we knew we wouldn't be in it. The location was really good though! We were so close to the main sights, each was around a 5 minute walk from our room!
Things to do.
The first thing we went to see was the Hallgrímskirja. A beautiful church, built in 1945 and was completed in 1986, with a 73 meter high steeple tower! You can go up to the top if you want to see the city from the sky! We didn't go up but it's beautiful to look at! We also went back at night and we could hear the choir singing inside!
The next was the Sun Voyger. It's a steel sculpture of a Viking ship. It was built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the city in 1990. It's a lot bigger than I expected. We sat on a bench looking out to the sea by the Voyger! The sea is a beautiful colour and is so peaceful.
Then we saw the Harpa Concert Hall. It's such a pretty building. We didn't get any sun but even without it the glass reflected beautiful shades of blue and purple! Construction on this building started in 2007 and was completed in 2011.
The day after, our first stop was the Blue Lagoon. This place is beautiful. The walk up is
amazing the path leading to the main building is between natural black lava formations! The lava around the lagoon is said to be 800 years old! You walk in and you get a wristband which will open your locker, you purchase your drinks from the lagoon bar or them (you get your first drink for free) and if you eat in the cafe they scan your wristband and then at the end you would just pay for what you have had! This means you don't have to be walking in and out of the locker room/changing room. We was on the early tour so we got there when the lagoon opened so it was empty when we got in! It's a very strange experience! We obviously went in cold weather so you were in your swimwear in freezing temperatures and when you get in the water it's like being in a super warm bath outside surrounded by lava! It's definitely a must do when visiting Reykjavik.
After the blue lagoon we got on our bus back to the bus station and had an hour wait until our Golden Circle tour. We did the express tour which was 6 hours long! on this tour we saw Þingvellir National Park where you can walk in between the European and North American tectonic plates and is full of beautiful views! Then we saw the beautiful Gullfoss
Waterfall. This is such an amazing sight! Then lastly the Geysir hot spring area where the famous Strokkur erupts every few minutes and shoots hot water up to 20-40 meters into the air! The area is full of bubbling geysers, mud pits and hot springs.
Then there's the other obvious thing to do when visiting Iceland but the most difficult one which is to attempt to see the Northern Lights. We weren't lucky enough to see them unfortunately but it's not an easy thing to see. You have to have good skies and when we were there we had heavy and thick clouds. We did check the aroura forecast for days before we went and it looked like we had a chance to see them (we didn't have enough time to do a tour so we researched places where we could go ourselves) but unfortunately the weather was not in our favour and we didn't get to see them! We actually didn't go to see the lights though so we weren't too disappointed but once we were there we obviously wanted to see them! It's definitely on my list of things to see though! (Excuse to go on more trips to Norway or Finland).
Now I would strongly recommend booking a transfer to get you from the airport and back to the airport as its a very long way out! We booked our transfers and our Blue Lagoon & Golden Circle tour through a company called Gray Line. They were always on time! They offer lots of tours so I recommend you checking them out before you go!
Now let's talk money! Everyone told us that it is expensive! I changed £114 and I got 15,000 Icelandic Króna (will vary on the rates) . Now I will say I didn't spend all my money (until we got to the airport and what I had left I tried to get rid of). If you drink you will definitely need more! We didn't find it overly expensive but we looked around to find restaurants! Your looking at a pizza being around 2,000 cheaper end, there is a good choice of places to eat, but like I said we had a look around at menus before we went out for food. We ate in the same restaurant both nights. It wasn't ovearly priced and the food was very good! On my first night I had a pizza the second night I had mozzarella dippers which both were very yummy! The place was called Kebabhúid. If you are going to Reykjavik I would definitely recommend it! Plus it was again around a 5 minute walk from our room!
So that's a round up of my recent trip to Reykjavik! Iceland is a very beautiful place. If you are thinking of going I would definitely recommend it. Everything I've mentioned in this post I would go to see! If you have anymore questions feel free to leave a comment!
I also hope you enjoyed my first travel post! If you think of any ways I can improve or you think of a section i'm missing and can improve on let me know!
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