Iceland

The land of Fire & Ice. Iceland has been on our bucket list for YEARS; and by means, I mean probably a decade. It is not a typical vacation. Certainly you aren’t sitting pool side with a drink in your hand, not even in the “heat” of the summer. Nope! This is a push yourself out of your comfort zone type of vacation, try something new, get dirty, be adventurous and daring. And we loved it.

Full disclosure, Iceland is mostly green but it’s cold, all year round. In this blog post I’ll list out where we went, what we wore and ate. But just know, the ONLY bathing suit you need is for a thermal spa.

Iceland is a quick 4.5- 5 hr flight from New Jersey. This makes it an ideal long weekend getaway. We stayed 4 days (itinerary is below). And honestly it was perfect. We traveled with another couple and we all agreed that we didn’t need more time, except for the Northern Lights, which of course were not active or visible when we were there; but the were the night we were leaving. This was the only disappointment of the trip and certainly it was far out of our control.

Where we stayed:

We stayed at The Edition, Reykjavik. Full disclosure, this is NOT a budget hotel. In fact we were told it was the nicest hotel on the entire Island. The customer service was superb. The food in the lobby was incredible and the hotel was in a PRIME location. I would spend this money over and over again as it really made the trip. The accommodated both a very early check in and a very late check out at no additional charge.

What we did:

We were fortunate enough to have a friend who lives on the Island and gives tours for a living. So we got the VIP experience. However the Glacier Tour and hike that we did was amazing and I would recommend that you book these types of tours. The Glacier Tour especially was so impactful and beautiful.

Northern Lights: it pains me to write this because the Northern Lights were the driving factor for us to go to Iceland and we were not one of the fortunate ones. We actually contemplated pushing our flight to see them that night. I will probably regret not doing this down the line but my kids were sick and I needed to get home; duty calls. But the tour we booked will keep putting you on the tour until you see them or run out of nights. So, I would recommend booking it the first night in case you don’t see them.

Blue Lagoon: If you research Iceland you will see this over and over again and it is worth it, but there are crowds. We did it the first day and it was my husbands favorite thing (my second favorite). It was a nice way to kick off the trip! Most people do it on their first or last day as it is on its way to the airport. Our friend who lives on the island also recommended the Sky Lagoon and Hvammsvik (which is more of a locals spot).

Whale Watching: This was a cool experience and certainly the right place to do it is in Iceland. However given the time of year we went, there were some whales no longer in the area. We saw Whales and Dolphins but no experience where a tale jumps out of the water and waves to you. Had I known this I would have maybe reconsidered this excursion. Especially because 3 out of the 4 travelers do tend to get sea sick. But we came prepared with Bonnie (sea sickness meds) and everyone was fine! A cool experience but maybe do some research before you go to see if it’s the right excursion for you.

Dog Sledding: This was my personal favorite. The scenery is incredible, the tour guides were incredible. It was so much fun and stunning. But it was our priciest experience hands down. Another bucket list item for us but certainly if it’s out of your budget you can skip this activity.

Waterfalls: Aside from Parking at the location this is a free activity and it did not disappoint. Also full of crowds but we were more than filling to deal with the crowds since they were spectacular. Definitely go early in the morning.

Magic Ice Bar: We made a reservation which you don’t really need to do. It was fun, a bit gimmicky but cool none the less!

Things we opted out of:

• Black Sand Beach - we actually saw the black sand on the glacier we were on so we opted out of making another stop. It also is riddled with tourists so be prepared for the crowds

• Geyser - it was a bit far and given our timing we didn’t think we were missing much.

• Volcano Tour - there is one volcano where you an hike into it (the only one in the world). This was a very expensive tour and we wanted to do dog sledding more.

Note: We had booked Go Iceland Car Rental. I would recommend going with a bigger car rental agency that are not unique to Iceland. The smaller rental agencies require a shuttle off site. This one in particular had its own driver, they were hard to locate and we waited a long time to find them. They also charged us a full extra day for a few hours extra of needing the car. This is the one service/vendor I would not use.

Where we ate:

Apotek: 100% yes. Food was incredible, portions are large. Service wasn’t great but it was so yummy.

Seafood Grill: 100% Yes. The food was interesting and the drinks were yummy. Again, service wasn’t great but the service industry is different in Iceland compared to the states. It is not customary to tip.

Kol Restaurant: The food was good. I think you can find a better dinner place that isn’t so expensive and you can get more for your money. This was everyone’s least favorite meal, not because the food was bad. It was just not as good as the other places.

Pothus Dining Hall: We went twice! It’s like a high end food court where there are lots of little restaurants under the same roof. 10/10 recommend. We loved it and everyone had killer meals here!

Lunch: Bryggjan cafe: this was a great place to stop for lunch and it was minutes from the Blue Lagoon. Super cute hidden gem with yummy food.

Do not discount gas stations! I know what you're thinking, really?! But most of the gas stations have a little cafe attached where you can get fresh food.

Also, you can drink the tap water, this one was much harder from me. Coming from New Jersey our water is awful, but in Iceland they have the cleanest water!! Don't forget your reusable water bottle and save yourself a lot of money on drinking water.

What we wore:

What we packed ended up being perfect. We planned our outfits for both day and night before leaving. This was necessary because we are talking about heavy and bulky layers. Jon and I each had a large rolling suitcase and a carryon. We were both under weight on our luggage!

Several pairs of waterproof pants. Brining only one means you’re rolling the dice big time. Hotels don’t have an efficient way to dry clothing and the rain rolls through so quickly you’re bound to get wet. No one wants to wear wet and cold pants every day.

2 pairs of boots/ waterproof shoes. For the same reason as the pants, you will want to rotate. Jon got away with 1 pair but I felt like I needed 2.

Jackets: I brought 2 waterproof jackets and then a jacket for night time. Yes, this seems excessive but I alternated jackets and was grateful I did. My jackets needed a day to dry out. And when I was dressed up I didn’t want to wear a hooded puffer jacket. The weight of the jackets will vary based on the season you’re going. I wore winter puffers at the end of September and was comfortable - never cold.

I would recommend a clean set of base layers (for both men and women) for each day you are there along with a sweater to put under your coat. The best thing you can do is dress in layers so you can take off or add as needed.

A fresh hat for each day (at the minimum, 2) plus 2 pairs of gloves to rotate.

Links to what Jon wore can be found HERE

Links to what I wore can be found HERE