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Ideas for a 10 hour layover in Reykjavik

Posted by (Lynnwood, Washington) on

Ok, so maybe I was just a little too excited at the super low cost of the roundtrip airfare from Seattle to London. I failed to notice a detail or two when booking the flight. It turns out one detail I missed was the 10 hour layover in Iceland on the way there.

I'm going to try to make some lemonade of this lemon and would love ideas from people on how I could use this time. I'm not interested in the Blue Lagoon. I arrive at 0605 and leave at 1620 on March 30th. The one possible tour I have seen that would match my time frame would be to take the bus into Reykjavik and then take a 1/2 day tour from Grayline tours. It would depend on my flight arriving on time in order to make that connection.

Unfortunately, the other day tours just don't seem to match when I would need to be back at the airport. If I had paid attention (totally my fault) I would have made the layover a little longer or a lot shorter.

What experiences or activities have you enjoyed in Reykavik that would fall into my time frame? I'd appreciate any advice.

Posted by
4637 posts

Unfortunately for you you are not interested in Blue Lagoon. It's much closer to the airport than Reykjavik and for a tired traveler beautiful relax. Otherwise you can just walk around Reykjavik and check with visitor center which tours (if any) could be suitable for your schedule.

Posted by
8879 posts

Ilja, thanks for replying. I know I’m a bit out of the ordinary, but the Blue Lagoon holds no appeal for me. I may just end up walking around downtown. At least it should keep me awake.

I’d love to hear any other suggestions.

Posted by
3482 posts

Hi Carol.
There are a couple of museums in town, and you could do a free walking tour also.
I did one and it was great.
It took about 2 hours.
It might still be quite dark when you arrive , so once you get off the bus in Reykjavik, find a restaurant for a nice breakfast till it gets light.
Make sure the bus from the airport drops you at a very central location, not the bus station which is not!
You could pick a central hotel, and arrange your bus to and from there.
And bundle up!! it might still be windy and cold.

Posted by
2768 posts

You have plenty of time for seeing a few sights in the city, but you are right - a day tour out of the city will be tougher on timing. I’d go to central Reykjavik and see a few things there

The 871 settlement museum is interesting. the Hallgrimskirkja church is pretty iconic of the city.
There’s some parks and good restaurants, and walking along the waterfront is nice.

I didn’t do this in Reykjavik but there are also local pools heated geothermally. A cab to one in the city or near suburb would give a local experience, much less touristy than the blue lagoon. The Rick Steves book tells you about some.

Finally, if you have a large budget you could get a private driver or rental car from the airport and see a few things on the Golden circle. This would cost a lot but you could see some amazing things on your time schedule. Your own rental car would be cheaper than a driver.

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