Reykjavik

Kaflavik Airport

Flying to Reykjavik from Manchester is just under 3 hours, which I thought was surprisingly long, considering when you look on a map. I thought 2 hours, tops! Our flight left Manchester at 7.45am and got us into Iceland at 10.40am – giving us plenty of time for us to scope out the town out before sunset.

Kaflavik airport is only small, but it’s the most efficient airport I’ve ever been in. We hardly queued, walked through everything and at security the staff were so smiley and friendly – which is something I’ve never experienced before.

Car hire

We hired a car to get around Reykjavik – a lot easier than any kind of public transport or having to hire coaches every time you want to go out for the day. Unless you are really nervous about driving (and driving in snow) I would definitely recommend you hire a car – it gives you so much more freedom!

We hired the car through Cars Iceland, costing us just under £200 for the week! All we had to do was pick the car up on arrival. When you leave the airport, it’s an easy 3 minute walk to the bus stop that drops you off at the car rental buildings (the journey on the bus was roughly 2 to 3 mins). FYI, there are different coloured buses for different rental places.

When we arrived at the car rental place they took a few details and then took us to our car. Before driving off we took a fair few photos of the car, paying attention to any chips, marks and scratches – because you just never know what they will say when you hand it back!

If you do hire a car and you want to drive into Reykjavic center like we did, there are plenty of car parks. We used the Vitatorg car park quite a few times.

Kaflavik to Reykjavic

The drive to our hotel from the airport took around 45 minutes – that 45 minutes flew by! Sat Nav in the car worked a charm, all we had to do was focus on was staying on the correct side of the road, and avoid any dangerous bits of ice.

Rich did amazing, the roads and conditions were like nothing we had seen before, it was snowy and wintery at the end of the day, so we had to drive with caution.

Reykjavik Lights by Keahotels

Reykjavik Lights is located at the edge of the city, opposite the Laugardalur valley which is a center with an outdoor geothermal pool, sport hall, botanical garden, park, zoo, ice rink and museum – so ideal for any gaps in our holiday to fill.

It’s a family hotel, central to the city, but not right in the city centre, hence why it has free onsite parking for guests – yay! The rooms are very Scandinavian, clean cut and tidy, with exactly what you require. They had tea bags and a kettle in the room… so I was happy.

Continental breakfast is always a bonus, especially when you’re told eating out in Reykjavik is pricey, so this was a perfect way for us to fill up before each day. It was more of a beefed out continental breakfast line-up though. As well as croissants, biscuits, ham, cheese, bread and fruit, there was also scrambled eggs, sausages, beans and pancakes.

The main lobby area was cute; reception to your immediate right, a small bar straight ahead when you walk in (which did amazing hot chocolate). Far over to the right was a seating area and seating for breakfast. It was a really lovely set up.

There was free parking along the front of the hotel, but that was always busy because the hotel was along the front with restaurants and shops. The hotel did have a small indoor car park however, behind the hotel. From here you could access the hotel through a back entrance, which was really handy. The covered car park kept the car free from frost and snow too.

Winter Lights Festival 2020

We have a habit of accidentally booking city breaks when festivals are on. And we did it again with Reykjavik. The festival we stumbled into was from the 6th to the 9th of February.

It’s all about celebrating the sunny months to come after long dark periods of the winter months, so this festival is filled with light shows, entertainment and activities throughout the city, for FREE.

• Museums had dance and theatre performances, lectures, live music, films and readings.
• Thermal pools throughout of the city have pool illuminations, music and activities going on.
• Light show on at the Hallgrímskirkja Church, Harpa Music Hall, City Hall and more.

We decided to add a few of these into our itinerary. It was a cultural experience, so we couldn’t not do some of the things the festival had to offer.

Hallgrímskirkja

We attended the Hallgrímskirkja church for the light show, which was between 7pm and 11pm. On a normal day it’s free but if you want to go up the tower it is 1000 ISK for adults and 100 ISK for children. It’s one of the most visited places in Iceland and the tallest church in the country.

When you walk through the town towards the church’s direction you don’t see it for ages – and then it suddenly appears, it’s in an open space, proudly standing tall.

Shopping

Shopping in Iceland is quite expensive, due to everything being imported in. However, it is also amazing quality, even your typical “tacky stuff” that you bring home as presents. So, realistically, everything is probably reasonably priced. Rich bought an “Iceland” branded hoodie that he has worn to death, and he said it’s the best quality, comfiest hoodie he has ever owned!

Bonus (supermarket store)

After dropping our luggage off at the hotel we decided to hit up a local supermarket to get some handy snacks in, which helped keep us going through our busy agenda. It saved us lots of pennies.

Bonus, for us Brits, is kind of like Lidl. It sells everything, and at a very low cost. Tip, have some sort of conversion chart ready on your phone so you can get your head around Icelandic currency – the conversion is not easy. We picked up bread, ham, cheese, butter, crackers, fruit, yogurt, a few packets of sweets, biscuits and drinks. They all came in handy throughout our holiday.

Litla Jólabúðin

Litla Jólabúðin is a Christmas shop – this was on our list to visit because I collect baubles from all the destinations we visit. Plus, who doesn’t love visiting a Christmas shop!

It was located just along the main strip of shops in the town centre, you can’t miss it, it has a Christmas tree outside the front door. It was quite expensive, but I did come out with a cute wooden bauble of the church – after searching for a while for something that didn’t break the bank.

Food and drink

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock was obviously top on our list of eateries, and with the first day of our holiday being my birthday, this was perfect for us. Unfortunately, this Hard Rock didn’t offer the usual pre-booked dining plan meal. But we still had to go so we could get my Mum and Dad a pin badge, and gain another visit on our account.

This Hard Rock was situated at the bottom of the main street that ruins through Reykjavik, at Laekjargata 2A. It was on the small side, but didn’t feel lacking in any of the trademark HRC vibe. Prices were actually pretty similar to every other Hard Rock. I thought it was going to be extortionate, but it wasn’t. It was a tad more expensive, but not much. For example, say you want the classic hamburger, anywhere else it would be £12, but in Reykjavik it was £15. A tad more expensive, but not enough to break the bank.

We visited on my birthday, so I couldn’t have been happier. I had a lovely smoothie (as a substitute to an alcoholic drink, as I was pregnant), Chicken Club Sandwich and, obviously, the hot fudge brownie.

Lebowski Bar

Lebowski bar takes its name from the movie “The Big Lebowski”. Seen it? Rich loves it! We visited Lebowski’s a few times, because we loved the movie-themed atmosphere and they had a great burger and drink meal deal. And when you find a good meal deal in the rather expensive town of Reykjavik, you make the most of it! It was something like £12 for a burger, chips and drink – and they came served on trays in big portions – so it served as good fuel to keep us going.

The staff at Lebowski’s are very much like those at Hard Rock Cafe – maybe that’s why we loved it so much. It is definitely a cool place to hang out at in Reykjavik, it was always busy, the staff were all chatty and friendly – with the nicest spoken American accents I’ve ever heard haha. Also, if you go, make sure you drink like The Dude and get a White Russian cocktail – Rich said they were amazing!

Dillon Whiskey Bar

We popped into Dillon’s for a quick drink one evening, I had a Coke and Rich had an Old Fashioned. It was a lovely bar, and it’s famous for having over 170 whiskeys.

It was a small bar, with a compact seating area – perfect to warm up from the cold, Icelandic chill – if only I could have enjoyed a whiskey to warm myself up! I got the vibe that it was very much a local’s bar, which is something I love doing – I love getting involved in the local culture.

Attractions

Laugardalur Valley

Laugardalur Valley is a sport and recreation centre. Within the centre is a campsite, youth hostel and the largest outdoor thermal pool that you can swim in all year round. You can also attend the botanical gardens, zoo, art museum, sports stadium, ice rink and more.

Iceland Zoo

Iceland Zoo was more of a farm than a zoo I would say, apart from the absolutely adorable seal that I fell in love with.

We got in for free because I think most animals were hiding due to the weather. We saw donkeys, horses, cows, goats, chickens, pigeons – the usual farm animals. Then, as mentioned above, the seal. It followed us whenever we walked about the pool he/she was in, and kept doing funny things, most of our time here was spent laughing and taking photos of this seal – it made my day.

Lake Tjörnin

Lake Tjörnin is a small lake in the centre of Reykjavik, located next to city hall and a few museums.

Reykjavik centre, 90 percent of the time, was calm and peaceful, and walking near the lake made it even more so. Not many cities have a lake in the middle of them, do they?

Golden Circle

The Golden Circle’s main attractions are Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, Geysir Geothermal areas and Gullfoss Waterfall. Game of Thrones was filmed within the Golden Circle – so you will find that these areas can get quite busy.

The Golden Circle is a 186 mile route in Southern Iceland. As mentioned above, I highly recommend hiring a car to complete this route. It is roughly a 2 hour drive from the capital. This was a big factor in why we hired a car.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park

Said like, ‘Thingvellir‘, this national park is huge and is a UNESCO World Heritage site – the only one in Iceland – and is free to visit, unless you have booked with a tour, things may be different in that case.

We started our day off here. After an early morning drive in the dark through the mountains, we arrived at a picturesque site covered in white snow. In the vast area, you can see so many waterfalls, rivers and frosty landscapes. Here, you can also walk between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates that – which is one of the things that Thingvellir is most well known for.

Strokkur

Seeing Geysirs erupt with your own eyes is truly magical. The Geysirs are along the Haukadalur Valley, with many hot springs – the most famous and most powerful being the Strokkur Geysirs that we visited.

The hot springs blast boiling water up into the air between 20 and 40 metres – and they erupt every 5 to 10 minutes. It’s a pretty spectacular sight. Everyone gathers around the geysirs in a large circle, anxiously waiting for the eruption, and it can easily catch you off guard – you have to wait patiently with your camera and have your shutter at the ready. You may need a few attempts.

I also have to warn you of the sulfur smell that’s in the air – it is quite strong here, but it’s something you get used to overtime. As with many other natural attractions in Iceland, the geysirs are free to visit.

Next to the geysirs car park is a shop filled with typical Icelandic merchandise and clothing, and a delicious coffee shop where I warmed myself up with a slice of chocolate cake and a cup of tea! (Remember to always take your Krampons off when entering shops).

Gullfoss Waterfall

Gullfoss Waterfall translates to Golden Falls. The falls don’t look literally golden, they are golden in the sense of being wonderful and breath-taking… just to be clear. It’s free to visit.

The waterfall is in the Hvítá River Canyon, travelling from the Langjökull glacier before dropping 32 metres at the falls. The waterfall is in two stages, so when you visit there are two separate lookout areas to take in.

There is a car park where you can view the falls at the same level, or you can walk up steps to see the falls from an incredible viewing platform, which spans quite wide so you can see the falls from every angle.

Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River

We didn’t end up doing the Reykjadalur Hot Springs, due to the weather. We drove a couple hours out to do it in the early hours, but when we arrived the weather was a little too rough – plus we were mentally exhausted from the terrible road conditions that allowed for just a yard or two of vision in front of the car. Instead we parked up and watched the sights through the sunrise, then drove onto our next venture.

If you fancy a go at this, it looks phenominal. It is a hot spring river that you can enjoy a swim in, as well as a bath – and there’s mud pools! You can’t get any more natural than that! From the car park it’s roughly a 30 minute hike to get to the hot springs.

Reynisfjara

Reynisfjara is the famous black sand beach in the village of Vik. If you have seen photos of a black sand beach, it was mostly likely this one. Roughly a two and a half hour drive from Rekyjavik, you won’t believe your eyes when visiting, especially as we visited in the winter, the contrasting colours are so photogenic.

There are enormous rock stacks along the beach, with huge caves and black sand for miles – it even started snowing when we visited, and seeing white now fall on the black sand was an unreal experience.

Albeit beautiful, it was also slightly scary seeing how strong the waves were crashing on the beach. You DO NOT want to get too close to the sea. In winter it is powerful and erratic (lots of signs are dotted around in Iceland warning you of this).

As all attractions have, there is a car park right at the beach, with public toilets (you have to pay to use the toilets here – and you can do so with a contactless card, although it’s quite tricky) and a coffee shop – you definitely need a hot drink after visiting to warm yourself up!

Solheimasandur

Solheimasandur is an abandoned plane wreck. Need I say anymore.

Rich didn’t tell me about this, he sneakily planned it so that I didn’t know what we were going to look at until we “stumbled” across it.

So… the story of this plane wreck is that in 1973 a US Navy plane ran out of fuel and crashed on this black sand beach – yes you heard me right, a black sand beach (I couldn’t believe it, either, snow for miles). Luckily, everyone survived the crash, but the remains were left on the beach – and now it’s an attraction that gets loads of visitors.

We parked up at a small car park at the edge of the road, and walked 40 minutes through the snow (there are posts in the snow so you don’t loose track). When you are walking through an endless amount of snow, when all you can see is nothing but a white abyss, you do start to wonder what might lie ahead. Then all of a sudden, the plane appears.

If you google photos of this you’ll likely see it sat on black sand. Seeing it in the snow is a bit of a different experience. It’s eerie, bold and undeniably cool. I am so happy we saw it in the snow. The amazing thing with this plane sight is that you can walk on it (although you’re not supposed to) and through the plane. If you have a drone or you’re a photographer – this is heaven.

There is a bus you can catch to save you the 40 minute walk, there and back – but the experience of walking through that vast amount of soft snow is not to be missed. We called our Mum and Dads, and a close friend, while on the walk back, because it was one of those moments we felt we just had to share with someone – everyone!

Skógafoss Waterfall

Straight after the plane wreck walk, we visited the Skógafoss Waterfall, which is just a short 10 minute drive away.

This is the largest waterfall in the country and you can feel its spray from the car park. Where the falls drop used to be the coastline, which is crazy! You definitely need to visit here, it’s a beautiful waterfall surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Bridge between two continents

This is exactly what it sounds like. A bridge that crosses between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

The bridge between two continents is a small footbridge that allows you to walk and see both sides of the diverging plates – the bridge is seen as a connection between Europe and North America.

Icelandic Horses

While we were driving, Rich spotted some Icelandic Horses by the side of a road near a car park. So naturally we pulled into the car park to go and meet them.

They are super cute and friendly, and they loved all of the attention they were getting off tourists. People would stop by, pay for some food to give them, and stroke them. They were loving it, and they were just so beautiful.

Kerid Crater

Kerid Crater had some remarkable views, overlooking the crater and beyond. Tickets to enter the crater cost 400 ISK – with the money going toward preserving and protecting the crater.

We hiked up, around the top and down to the bottom of the crater, making the most of the endless photo opportunities. The hike is definitely family friendly, not strenuous at all – I was just very weary of where I was walking due to being pregnant – but I didn’t let it stop me.

Blue Lagoon

Obviously if you come to Iceland, you HAVE to visit the Blue lagoon. If you didn’t know already, Blue Lagoon is one of the 25 wonders of the world, it’s a geothermal spa located in a lava field.

You have to book entrance into the lagoon prior to your visit. We went for the comfort ticket that included admission to the lagoon, as well as a drink and face mask while attending. It cost us 21,380 ISK, roughly £120 for the both of us. It is expensive, but honestly, I’d argue it is worth every penny. We booked our time slot for 4pm, as we knew sunset would be around 5pm. This allowed us to experience the lagoon in both the day and nighttime.

Upon arrival, the staff check you in and give you a quick talk through of the facilities on offer and if you want to add anything additional to your package. There are separate male and female changing rooms that come out at the other end into a lobby area before you enter the water. The changing rooms were quite busy as they didn’t have many cubicles, I was surprised that it mainly consisted of benches. I managed to bag a changing room and locker right near the exit so I could jump out straight away. Each locker comes with a fob attached on a bracelet that you keep on your person during your time in the lagoon. On exiting the lagoon, there are showers to use that have shampoo and body wash installed into the cubicles, as well as a mirrored area that has hair dryers and cotton wool.

Now, the water… I’ve never been in more relaxing water. It has a milky blue look to it, which is due to the silica face mask that is complimentary on your ticket. There is a kiosk in the water, a guy simply wacks a heap of it on your hands and then you just place it on your skin however you like. The pools are hotter in certain areas than others, (there are signs warning you of this) but it’s never scorching, so don’t be alarmed. Being pregnant, I avoided the really hot areas, just to be safe. A quick note on that actually, if you are pregnant and worried about whether or not you can visit the lagoon, the only danger is if you yourself overheat and feel light-headed – this isn’t good for a pregnant woman, her baby, or anyone actually. In other words, it’s perfectly fine as long as you listen to your body – just like you would if you weren’t pregnant. I nearly didn’t visit because of this fear, and I would have been gutted if I give in to scaremongering and didn’t go. It’s just like anything else really… It’s like, never go in the sun if you’re pregnant because you might get sunstroke and get ill…

While you are in the lagoon, staff are on hand in the water to help if you need your photo taken, and if you want to chat about the history of the lagoon and surrounding area. And for those wondering “how do people have there photo taken in there” – you are allowed to take in your phones, and we had ours in a protective cover that allowed us to snap away, without worrying about water damage. You can get these on Amazon for about £10. It’s far too beautiful not to take photos.

Driving in Iceland during Winter

Again, just to reiterate, driving in Iceland (in my husband’s opinion) isn’t anywhere near as scary as some people make out – for the most part. That is, however, so long as you take the right precautions. By this, we mean hire a four-wheel drive car (preferably with studded tyres), stick to the speed limit (or slower depending on the weather), avoid harsh braking and try to get a car with a manual gearbox, so that you can change down gears in order to slow down (and generally have more control over the car). Oh, and stick to the main roads (avoiding F-roads) especially if you’re still a little anxious.

Key things to pack

If you plan on visiting Reykjavik especially in the winter months, I recommend a few things to pack:

• Water bottle – you can fill your bottle up anywhere, Iceland is home to the best water.
• Thermal mug – sneak a hot drink from your hotel to take on the road with you.
• Tupperware – Iceland is quite expensive to eat out all the time, so hit up Bonus, make yourself some snacks to keep you going.
• Lip balm – Its cold, its windy, your lips get dry.
• Sunglasses – Everywhere is white, and its sunny so you get blinded easily (more than you do in the summer)
• Shoe grips – Krampons = lifesavers!
• Water proof phone cover – If you are visiting the Blue Lagoon.
• Swimming costume – For any hot springs you fancy a dip in.
• Thermal clothing – self explanatory.
• Snood – Helps protect your lips, and stops any drafts that a scarf wouldn’t.
• Good quality gloves – again, self explanatory, but make sure they are good ones like North Face – I brought cheap ones and they were poop!
• Hiking boots – fashion goes out the window, you need to be warm, comfy and have good grip. Doc Martens are also a perfect alternative!

Travelling while pregnant

This was my first (and only, thanks to Covid) holiday being pregnant. I was 15-16 weeks during the trip, and it was great. Travelling as a mum-to-be gave me a new lease on life. I’ve always been adventurous, but it made me feel more so as in the near future we would have a new travel buddie to tag along with us.

Obviously, we were more conscious about safety, more than ever before, but it didn’t stop me from doing much – I had all of the right clothing and footwear that allowed me to still get up to our holiday activities.

Maybe this is why Iceland was one of my favourite holidays to date, it definitely made it a memorable one that’s for sure.

Overall

I urge EVERYONE to visit Iceland, PRONTO.

We left our hearts in Iceland and we are dying to go back and explore it at a different time of year, especially when they get 24 hours of daylight!

Iceland is like no other, a place to find true peace and adventure within yourself.

Make sure you go over to our YouTube channel and watch our Reykjavik vlog here.