We are spending a week in Iceland and Day 5-7 are open after driving back from Vik. We fly out on Day 7 at 5pm. Thinking of doing 2 nights at the Northern Lights Inn before flying out - is there much to do for 2 days? We'd go to the Blue Lagoon for sure on both days with a day pass but it sounds like you spend maybe 2-3 hours in the pools and that's about all. Would it be better to spend 1 night in Reykjavik and 1 night in Silica Hotel at Blue Lagoon/Northern Lights Inn? Our trip doesn't include too much sightseeing in Reykjavik. We're going in November, really wanting to see the Northern Lights so being in Grindavik seems like a better location for that. Do people do multi-day visits to Blue Lagoon or is it pretty much go for 1 day and you're good? We are renting a car for the week.
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2040 posts
We loved our stay at Northern Light Inn. There isn't much to do right there, but you are close enough to so much that it could be good for 2 days. IME, one day for the Blue Lagoon is plenty. On the second day, drive around the Reykjanes Peninsula. You will most likely have places to yourself that time of year. We did that area on a February trip and absolutely loved it! At the Northern Light Inn, check out their float pods. There are only two and there are only two time slots for each per day. So if that interests you, book those when you book the hotel. We loved them. Four out of 5 of us did those, and then we had a really nice dinner at Max's, their onsite restaurant. It was the perfect last night on that trip. Then we did the Blue Lagoon in the morning before we flew out later that day.
Yes, Grindavik is a good area of the northern lights. On our most recent trip, this past Oct/Nov, the lights put on an amazing show in Reykjavik even. I was stunned since we were up at the church and of course loads of light pollution, but there they were and very vivid to the naked eye. We did a NL tour another night and it was nice to be out away from everything and we did see the lights.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for your insight! Looking forward to trip and seeing the Northern Lights!
Posted by
Des Moines, IA
14 posts
We just got back from Iceland and spent 2 nights at the Silica Hotel at the Blue Lagoon. We got there at around 5:00pm on night one and spent the entire next day there. I'd say it was about 12 hours too much. If I were to do it again, I'd probably aim to get there early on the last day and just spend one night. We had dropped off our rental car before going to the Blue Lagoon, so we were kind of stranded. The thinking was that we'd be sick of driving and just want to relax, but the driving was so easy that wasn't the case.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7324 posts
The BL is physically attractive, but I think it is overrated (and in the middle of nowhere). We bathed at Fontana and at Krauma, which Rick rates highly. We preferred Fontana, more locals, bigger, cleaner, and a real lake for cold plunge. Krauma has the aura of luxury but did not deliver. BL seems like faux movie star experience to me. But we only looked at BL, did not bathe. Did not see Britney or Taylor there.
I agree that your driving route is a big factor in this choice. We saw no need to repeat either bath location. July weather had much rain, overcast sky, and of course no darkness ever.
Note that most hot springs in Iceland require a cooling pool, before piping it into an artificial pond of some kind. It's just a fact of volcanic life.
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
678 posts
With only a week in Iceland and soooo much beautiful scenery to see, I think it would be a waste to spend 2 nights at Blue Lagoon. How much time can you spend standing around in a man-made pool that's not even a natural hot spring. What is the rest of your itinerary?
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8946 posts
Am planning on going to the Sky Lagoon. It looks so much nicer than the Blue Lagoon, plus it looks out over the ocean. Have you seen this one?
Posted by
123 posts
Just came back 2 weeks ago - did both Blue Lagoon and Sky lagoon - prefer Sky. I really couldn’t see dot ding more than a few hours at Blue. Both were nice, glad I did both, but better scenery and variety if you do the ritual at Sky Lagoon.
Posted by
15 posts
A few hours at the Blue Lagoon was enough for us. We went there the day we arrived in Iceland (went straight from the airport). We are now finishing up our 2 week trip there and spent a couple of hours last night at the Sky Lagoon.
Hope you get to see the Northern Lights!
Posted by
OP
3 posts
OP here...thank you very much for all of your insightful posts. We are looking forward to our trip - being November, we will just play everything a little by ear (weather and daylight limitations) and doing more of a "taste of Iceland" this trip, not needing to get in every attraction and enjoying the activities available to us. Yes, we are planning on Sky Lagoon too as well as some of the other geothermal spots! We will spend 1-2 days touring the geysirs, Golden Circle and Friðheimar (already have reservations)! We have found some things we can take in around Grindavik too like the Miðlína (Lucky Bridge) and some trails around BL, just a low key way to end our trip.
Posted by
836 posts
Some say Iceland’s more than 600 geothermal springs are the secret to its citizens’ happiness. Here’s a selection of scenic waters in and around Reykjavik where you can test that theory.