Hi, Very excited to be traveling to Iceland for the first time from the USA in July. There are 3 in our party. After the Laugavegur and Fimmuoroohal hikes we are staying at a hostel and then have a private ride booked to Reykjavik at 9 am. We will be staying that evening at the Hotel Laxnes a little way out of the city. We want to get in the Golden Circle and the Blue Lagoon. We are picking up a rental car in Reykjavik. Our itinerary is:
Stay Hotel Laxnes
Stay The Hill Hotel (in Fluoir)
Stay at Selfoss Hostel (Selfoss)
Early flight the next day.
Question: Should we have the driver drive us from our hike and wait at the Blue Lagoon then continue on to Reykjavik or should we pick up our car in downtown Reykjavik and then get the lagoon in before the Golden Circle or after the Golden Circle? The Lagoon is not possible on the day we fly out. The cost for the driver to wait and our entry into the Lagoon will be $800 total for all of us. Thoughts on this?
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
12389 posts
It would help if you could better explain how many days you are talking about. I'm a little confused. I can try and guess. You're staying at Hotel Laxnes for one night, then Hill Hotel for one night, then Selfoss hostel for one night? Is it in that that order?
And I'm a little unclear why you're hiring a private driver if you have a car in Reykjavik.
At any rate, what I think is happening is that you are doing these two hikes, then you want to have your driver pick you up from the hike and take you to the Blue Lagoon, which is of course way in the other direction. Then wait for you there, and then come all the way back to the Golden Circle, which of course is another very long drive. That makes no sense at all. The Blue Lagoon is very nice, but there are so many great lagoons there. I don't understand why you would spend that much time and that much money on one place.
And if you have a car already, why do you need a private driver? That's just an enormous expense, and $800 for a driver and the Blue Lagoon is huge. I mean, it's your money, so of course you can pay it if you want, but I honestly don't think it's worth it. You could go to 4-5 different lagoons there for that much money.
Also, I'm not sure what you're doing while you're staying at The Hill Hotel and at The Selfoss hostel. Selfoss is not very far from the Hill Hotel, and the Hill Hotel is actually practically right next door to the Secret Lagoon, so you could easily make it to that lagoon just by walking from the Hill Hotel. I'm actually staying there with my daughter in July. Plus it's only 30 minutes from the Selfoss hostel. Why don't you just stay in the Hill Hotel for two nights?
It would really be helpful if you could just be very specific about what you're doing each day, because right now I can't make sense of it. It's probably me. I am easily confused. 😊 At any rate, here are my questions:
- What are you doing the first day you arrive?
- When are you picking up your rental car?
- Is there any way you could just pick up your rental car when you get there so as to avoid having to hire a private driver?
- Is there any way that you could go to the Blue Lagoon when you first get there? That would be ideal because it's very close to the airport.
- Have you considered another lagoon as a replacement for the Blue Lagoon? There are any number of absolutely incredible lagoons there, and several that are in the Golden Circle area that would be much, much more convenient, less expensive, and just as good as the Blue Lagoon; including Laugarás Lagoon.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Re the rental car. It seemed a waste to have a rental car just sit for 6 days. We would also have to get a ride from the one trail head back to the start.