Iceland

I’m sure your cousin, neighbor, or coworker has gone to Iceland recently…

Iceland has rapidly become one of the most popular travel destinations, and let me be completely honest – it’s totally worth all the hype.  As a kid, we often had layovers in Iceland on our way from Germany to the United States, but I never really gave the idea of visiting there much thought.  Now that it’s become a stop-over destination, it just makes so much sense.  It’s less than a 5 hour flight from BWI, and even closer to London.

Wow Air seemed to be the pioneer of the stop-over flights, but other airlines, such as Icelandair, have catered to the stop-over enthusiasts as well.  When Wow Air first started service from BWI and Boston, you could get a round trip flight to Iceland for about $250 (plus fees, which add about another ~$100).  When I went in the summer of 2016, I paid over double that to go from Montreal-Keflavik & Keflavik-BWI, perhaps because it was peak summer.

My trip to Iceland came about because one of my best friends from home had a spot to fill on her family’s vacay.  Since I can’t so ‘no’ to any adventure, I readily agreed.  I was going to be in Montreal the day before, so I just flew from Montreal to Keflavik.  My friend’s family had used a travel agency to book all of our accommodations and the rental car, but all of our activities were planned by us.

Delicious Food, Nice People, Fascinating Landscape

One thing that really surprised me about Iceland was the food.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it – literally everything we had was so delicious.  Fresh seafood, lamb, vegetables – so good.  The icelandic hot dogs are famous, but they didn’t even stand up to all the delicious meals we ate throughout the country.

I can’t NOT mention the bakery in Reykjavik – I enjoyed it so much that I took 2 loaves of bread and 4 pastries on the plane with me…not sorry one bit.  The bakery is called Braud & Co, it’s across the street from Reykjavik Roasters.  Do me a favor and just go, you can see them making all the pastries when you walk in.  We had the chocolate croissants, cinnamon rolls, bread, apple pastries, etc, each one was buttery, flaky, and what dreams are made of.

When we first arrived to Reykjavik, we went on a walking tour through I Heart Reykjavik – it was awesome! It’s about 2 hours long and full of history tidbits and restaurant recommendations.  We had the pleasure of having a tour by the woman who started the blog, she has a really interesting story you can read at her blog here.

Things To Do

Iceland is famous for its geothermal pools, no matter what time of year.  The ones I went to, I really enjoyed: the blue lagoon (duh, super touristy but a must do!), the secret lagoon in Fludir, & Seljavallalaug (my favorite).  You can also go to the pools in whichever Icelandic town you’re in, most towns have at least one community pool.

We went to three different waterfalls:

-Gullfoss (apparently larger than Niagara Falls)
-Seljalandsfoss (very cool, you get to walk behind the waterfall)
-Skogafoss (my favorite, definitely hike to the top!).

We went horse back riding around Skogar, went on a glacier boat tour, visited a few different geysers, and hiked over to another glacier.  It may sound like you need to be an outdoorsy person to truly enjoy Iceland, but I really don’t think that’s the case.  It was so serene and relaxing, when I came back I didn’t feel like I needed a vacation from my vacation, which is usually the case.

Where To Stay

Most hotels in Reykjavik serve breakfast, so you can’t really go wrong there.  My favorite hotel I stayed at while in Reykjavik was Hotel Fron.  While everything is within walking distance, Hotel Fron was especially close to the bars, restaurants, and shops.  If you’re venturing out away from the city, these are some of the places I recommend:

-Hotel Selfoss – In a small seaside town about an hour away east of Reykjavik, peaceful and good food
-Icelandair Hotel Klaustur – Cool modern feeling hotel, a little over 3 hours east of Reykjavik
-Seljavellir Guesthouse – Close to the famous seljavallalaug geothermal pool and Seljalandsfoss (another fantastic waterfall)
-Hotel Skogar – right at the base of Skogafoss, my favorite waterfall that we went to, it’s amazing and I strongly recommend you walk to the top!

When To Visit

I went in July, which is the warmest time of year.  It was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which was honestly a great break from sweltering DC in the middle of summer.  It rained on and off most of the time we were there, and layers were our best friends.  You can go from a beach, to a glacier, to a geyser in one day in Iceland.  You never know when you’ll wish you had a lighter jacket or an extra pair of gloves.  Once the weather gets colder, certain activities are no longer available.  Some parts of the country are unreachable via a regular rental car during the colder months.

Famous Attractions

In Reykjavik, there are a number of things you would recognize:

-The church on the top of the hill (Hallgrimskirkja)
-The Liefur Eiriksson statue, the row of colorful houses
-The icelandic ship sculpture (The Sun Voyager)  down by the water.

There are a few other famous attractions scattered throughout the country, including the rocks at Vik and the abandoned airplane in Solheimasandur.

Have you been to Iceland? What was overrated? What did you enjoy? Comment below!