Iceland

Hi Marilyn,

18 hours isn't much time. In Reykjavik, you could visit the Halgrimmskirkja, Harpa, Solfar. The National Museum of Iceland is wonderful and will give you a good overview of life in Iceland in days gone by. It has wonderful exhibits. Although it's touristy, you could also go to the Blue Lagoon which is near the airport in Keflavik. There is also a good walking tour of Reykjavik depending on what time you arrive in the city (see the blog "I Heart Reykjavik" for their walking tour and tons of good info for day tours out of Reykjavik. They can schedule a day tour for you as they are now a travel agency.) There are day tours to the Golden Circle - that might fit into your schedule. I don't think you would have time to do Reykjavik and the Golden Circle so you will have to look at your schedule and see what fits best. We stayed at the Skuggi Hotel. It was very nice and the staff was very helpful. Have fun!

The key to Iceland is it's natural beauty although Reykjavik is a fun city. If you can fit it in, the Golden Circle tour would be my suggestion.

What time do you arrive and what time do you leave?

I stayed at the Canopy by Hilton (new hotel) which is in the center of everything. Not cheap but an amazing included breakfast.

Also remember that Reyjkavik itself is a 45 minute drive from the airport.

You can prepay for the Flybus from and to the airport online, your hotel by credit card, book any tour you might take with the hotel and pay by credit card, and most restaurants will also accept them. That being said, you could get by without using any local currency. However, there are ATM's all over the place should you need some cash.

I agree that it's not a lot of time in Iceland, but you may be able to squeeze in some city sightseeing, plus either a 1/2 day Golden Circle tour, or a couple of museums in the city, but probably not both.

Our first time in Iceland we were there for about 24 hours. We landed in the morning around 6:30am, took the Flybus to our hotel, they had a room ready (unusual that early) so we were able to shower and head back out. Our plan was to hit a museum, then get on the 1/2 day Greyline Golden Circle tour which was departing at 12:30. The museum thing didn't work out since most museums open at 11am or noon. We did get to see the Settlement Museum which opened at 10:30.

The next morning we needed to head to the airport around noon for our onward flight (the city is 45 minutes from the airport, and you need to build in time to get to the flybus, checkin at airport, etc) so no museums were possible, but we wandered around the city & waterfront, seeing the Sun Voyager scuplture, the Harpa, and Kolaportið flea market.

You can use a credit card almost everywhere, and in 18 hours you can probably avoid cash-only places.

I recommend:

1) find and eat a snuður ( a cinnamon-roll-like pastry that is not very sweet and uses cardamom instead of cinnamon and is then dipped in chocolate)
2) get a latte or other espresso-based coffee drink at one of the many coffee shops in Reykjavik - they make great coffee there
3) eat a hot dog "with everything" at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
4) walk to the Sun Voyager
5) if you're at the Harpa GO INSIDE and upstairs

We've stayed at Hotel Fron and Centre Hotel Plaza, both of which are affordable by Reykjavik standards, had a decent breakfast included, and were perfectly fine places to sleep. I do not recommend looking at hotels outside the very center of downtown for such a short stay - you will spend most of your time "commuting."

Be prepared for the possibility that you'll smell sulphur while the hot water is running.

And if you're interested in a taste of more traditional icelandic food, have a meal at Cafe Loki. They have an upstairs and a downstairs dining room, so if one if full, try the other.

If you want tips on trying hakarl, let me know! :-)

For a good selection of Icelandic beers stop in at the Laundromat Cafe
There is also a brewpub that we liked - Bryggjan Brugghus - that had interesting beers

If you're only interested in doing tours of the Icelandic geological wonders and countryside (there are oodles of bus and jeep tours) look into whether there are tours that could pick you up at a hotel nearer to the the airport. I don't have any personal knowledge of what hotels and tours would be available for this strategy tho

Do the Golden Circle, it is fantastic.