Quick overview:
Iceland: A true land of ice and fire.
Duration: 4 days, 3 nights
Stay: This darling AirBNB
Tours: The Golden Circle, The South Coast & Waterfalls
Activities: Blue Lagoon, Cat Café
Rented cars: No
Average weather: 50°F and rainy
Where We Stayed:
Iceland was expensive, but the views are truly pricey. Sorry for the cheese, but it’s true. We landed at 5:45 Icelandic time (about 2:00am body-clock-time) and were exhausted. Not one of us slept on the red-eye due to a mix of nerves, excitement, and the inability to sleep on transportation.
When we landed, we hopped in line to purchase a bus ticket that would take us near our airbnb. I, however, hopped in line at the Dunkin Donuts nearby to get some food in me. The only thing they had were coffee drinks, teas, and donuts that they called rings. I told myself that a hot chocolate and a donut would be darling, but when I finally made it up to the cash rep I panicked and ordered AN ICE TEA. AN ICE TEA? THE PLAN WAS A HOT CHOCOLATE.
Needless to say I drank my ice tea unhappily on the bus ride to the airbnb.
The AirBNB we stayed at was adorable, you can view the listing here. It slept all six of us very comfortably, and had room to spare. There were three twin beds, a full bed in the living room, plus a king in the master. There was also a couch. In total, you could probably squeeze about 9 bodies in this tiny place! The reason that we chose an AirBNB over a hotel was the idea of a kitchen. We knew that Iceland was very expensive so in order to spare our wallets, we actually shopped at the market that was a 5 minute walk away. I literally ate frozen pizza for night most nights because it was super cheap and so easy to make. Plus, we were so exhausted after our long days of exploring that we didn’t have the energy to get dressed up and go out to a fancy dinner.
How We Toured & What We Did:
The major debate is: Do we need to rent a car a not? The answer is simply that it is up to you. With it being six of us in total, renting a car would have been difficult and costly. We would have had to rent a massive van and spent more money on insurance and gas. Because of this, we opted for tours. We looked up tours through Expedia because we wanted to make sure we were booking reputable companies. I’ve personally been almost scammed by purchasing tours/events/things abroad in other countries and having the backing of Expedia just eased my mind that my – and my friend’s – money would be in good hands. We were VERY please with our tour guides.
We managed to book Gray Line tours for both tours without realizing it. They are the highest rating on Expedia and had the most manageable prices. Each morning a small van would pick us up at a location that we selected closest to our AirBNB (about a 10 minute walk). The van would take us to the bus terminal where we would load onto a coach bus. One tour had our coach bus entirely packed, where the second tour it was almost totally empty. Our tour guides were two very different humans, but both equally as informative. Shoutout to Dee Dee though because she made us giggle the entire Golden Circle!
Besides touring, we experienced the Blue Lagoon, went to the top of Hallgrimskirkja, met beautiful people and kitties at Kattakaffihusid, and ate dinner at… an “American Bar”. I highly recommend searching on social media for new spots and hidden gems to explore. That’s how were able to find the cat café, Kattakaffihusid (say that 10 times fast).
Side note about the Blue Lagoon: They tell you to lather your hair with conditioner because the minerals may hurt your hair. We did that and we still couldn’t brush our hair for 4 days. Beware! Still go experience the hot spring, but just don’t expect your hair to be the same after. Anybody else have this problem!?
How I Packed:
For an indepth packing list from my trip, check out my blog post of What I Packed For Icland In September!
So Icelandic weather is tricky. I spent the weeks leading up to my trip looking up the location tags of Reykjavik on Instagram and Snapchat to get a sense of how people dressed. This was very helpful, and I highly suggest doing this the few weeks leading up to your trip. That way you can know best if people will be in parkas or not, snow boots or not, winter hats, etc. Basically I packed as light and as comfortable possible. A raincoat is essential and so are good hiking boots! And don’t forget a bathing suit for the Blue Lagoon!!
Have you ever been to Iceland? Are you planning a trip? Either way, let me know! Leave a comment down below or message me on my Instagram! I love sharing my experiences with other people!
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