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6 nights in Reykjavik--A Trip Report

PHOTOS: I’ve posted some of my photos on google photos.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gGrGhGB8A4kerZHAA

BACKGROUND: This trip was for me, my sister and her husband. I planned the trip to make things easy for my sister, who has some health issues that I have mentioned in previous trip reports. The ones that give her the most trouble when traveling are mobility issues (due to steel rods in her back from scoliosis surgery) and anxiety over the availability of toilets. That, plus the fact that I did not want to rent a car, made itinerary planning a little challenging. That being said, the itinerary I planned was perfect for us and this was a fabulous trip. We all fell in love with everything Iceland. Well, except maybe the prices. :-) More on late later.

FLIGHTS / AIRPORT EXPERINCE: We flew nonstop on Icelandair. We had the cheap seats, so food was not included. We preordered sandwiches and they were really good. They are very strict with luggage and were checking both at the check-in counter and at the gate. At O’Hare, they must have announced at least 30 times that you had to get a paper boarding pass from the airport. They would not accept passes printed at home or displayed on phones.

Thanks to mikliz97 on the forum, I knew to expect chaos with the boarding process. Preboarding is first and then it’s a free-for-all. So, we knew to line up early.

At O’Hare, I forgot to take off my money belt before going through security. It’s not the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time. I was so preoccupied with making sure my brother-in-law (BIL) had everything out his pockets that I completely forgot about it. No harm done, it’s just super embarrassing. I apologized a bunch of times.

When we landed at Keflavík airport, we were bused to the terminal building with what must have been 30 other flights as the passport control line was so long. You just never know how long that is going to take. The agent was nice, just asked how long we were staying. When I said a week in Reykjavik, she asked if we were staying in an apartment. She smiled when I said, no we have a hotel. She was probably thinking “suckers” as hotels are not cheap.

When departing the Keflavík airport in Iceland, they refused to let us check in with a person. So, we had to use the machines. I prefer to go to a person so I can find out early if there is an issue. Boy, did we have an issue this time. We printed out the boarding passes and I always use the flight aware app for gate info. as some airports do not post this info. early for some reason.

Everything was fine until we tried to board the plane. My sister and I got through the boarding gates, but not my BIL. Apparently, he was picked for the Secondary Security Screening Selection (SSSS) screening. If they had let us check in with a person, I’m sure they would have told us this. The SSSS was printed at the bottom of the boarding pass, but we didn’t notice this and wouldn’t have known where to go. So, they took my BIL away, while my sister and stood there in a panic, worried he wasn’t going to be back in time. My sister told me to get on the plane, but I wasn’t going to leave them behind. So, we waited, and waited, and waited. With minutes to spare, my BIL made it back and we were the last to bard the plane. That was a little too close for us, but it’s always nice to have an interesting story or two for the trip report. We will certainly be on the look out in the future for the SSSS on the boarding passes, but I don’t understand why we weren’t alerted sooner, either on the computer screen when we checked in, or one of the multiple times we had to insert the boarding passes as we moved through the airport.

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Once back at O’Hare, we experienced the new Enhanced Passenger Processing (EPP) at passport control. I wrote about it here:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/fyi-enhanced-passenger-processing-epp-at-chicago-o-hare-and-other-airports

TAXIS: We took taxis from and to Keflavík airport as I figured that would be easier for us than taking the bus. For those traveling to Iceland, be mindful that there is an issue with taxis now. The law has recently changed allowing for anyone to start a taxi company. This has resulted in some drivers overcharging tourists. This video has some good advice for those wanting to take a taxi from the airport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxW5EP64MVM

Unfortunately, I did not see this video until after I returned from my trip. We were charged $200 for our ride from the airport to our hotel in the city center. We had our hotel arrange a taxi for our ride back to the airport and that was $146. Lesson learned and I figure that getting ripped off by a taxi driver once in a while is just part of the adventure.

HOTEL: We stayed at the Hotel Reykjavik Saga.

https://www.islandshotel.is/hotels-in-iceland/hotel-reykjavik-saga/

I reserved the room for an extra night so we could get in right away as our flight landed so early in the morning. I always just work this into the budget now as it’s nice to get settled in the room and freshen up before heading out.

The location was perfect as we were able to walk everywhere, including where we needed to be for our boat tours and bus tour. Everyone was super nice and the breakfast was outstanding. I’d put it in my top 3 for breakfast. They had everything and it was so fresh. A lot of hotels have a bowl of fruit cocktail preserved with vinegar flavored water. Not here! There 6-7 bowls of fresh fruit every morning. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, waffles, toast, yogurt, macarons, cookies, cakes, pastries. You name it, they had it.

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WHAT DID WE DO?: I am one who does not need a lot of top sights to be happy. I love just walking around, doing nothing, and taking my pictures. I will admit though that I was a little worried about staying in Reykjavik for so long. But man, did we love this city. It was love at first sight. It was a city that felt like a town. And for someone like myself, who loves to get out real early and walk, this was the perfect place. Sunset was around midnight and sunrise was around 3 am. This did interfere with our sleep a little as we had one night that we set our alarms for 1 am to see the Harpa concert hall lite up. One morning we were up early for the sunrise. And I was usually out at 5 am to walk around before breakfast.

Mr. Puffin - Bird Watching Reykjavík

https://puffintours.is/tours/classic-puffin-tour

We took this puffin tour one morning. We did the one with the bigger boat because it had a bathroom on it. We saw so many puffins. The one downside to the bigger boat is that it cannot get as close to the island where all the birds are hanging out.

Reykjavík: Classic Whale Watching

https://puffintours.is/tours/reykjavik-classic-whale-watching

Another morning we took the whale watching tour. They provide the overalls to keep you nice and warm. It is cold out there on the water! We saw lots of whales and some dolphins. They’re quick, so hard to get a good picture.

Troll Golden Circle, Bruarfoss & Kerid Volcanic Crater bus tour

https://troll.is/day-tours-iceland/day-tours-from-reykjavik/golden-circle-bruarfoss-kerid/

I picked this tour because it was only 8 hours long. The tours to the South Coast and Snæfellsnes Peninsula are 12-13 hours. That would have been too long for my sister. She was nervous enough about the 8-hour tour. She survived it and said she wouldn’t rule out another bus tour in the future.

I think the bus seats 19 and we had only 12 people. We loved this tour so much!!! Each stop was better than the next. So many times it felt like we were on another planet. The pictures just don’t do it justice. None of the stops were crowded, except for bathroom lines at a couple of the visitor centers. I was really surprised at the lack of people.

Our bus driver was great. He made a couple of extra stops for us. We asked if we could stop somewhere to get some pictures of the beautiful lupines that were in bloom everywhere.

https://www.inspiredbyiceland.com/life/iceland-lupine

We also stopped at a “secret” spot--Seyðishólar in Grimsnes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTrgBESFpEY

And we were rocking on the tour bus. Our driver played an unusual mix of dance music. I thought it was such an odd choice, but it cracked us up. My sister was sitting behind me and I kept texting her dance emojis.

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We went to Perlan one day. We just took a taxi.

https://perlan.is/

My BIL and I walked up Pufa.

https://visitreykjavik.is/thufa-art-piece

I almost forgot shopping. This is my sister’s favorite thing to do when traveling. This jewelry store was her favorite:

https://aurumiceland.com/

We love all the souvenir shops and may have purchased a puffin T-shirt or two. We brought home lots of volcano salt and some of the Iceland chocolate with licorice, which was actually pretty good.

We also went to the Kolaportið flea market where my BIL was the only one brave enough to try fermented shark. He did not enjoy it, surprise, surprise.

https://kolaportid.is/

And on our last day, we came across these street performers:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AoTGc8AG6mVCJhdu8

You just never know what you’re going to see when out and about.

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THE WEATHER: For Iceland, we had near perfect weather. We were really lucky. It was in the 50s every day. It was mostly cloudy, but we did have a few partially sunny days. And just a little bit of rain. One of our taxi drivers commented how unusual the weather was. He said they usually only have 5 nice days for the entire summer, not 5 nice days in a row. You just never know what you’ll get. I like to overprepare for bad weather and hope for the best.

THE FOOD: We’re not big foodies and don’t need expensive meals. But all our meals were expensive anyway. :-) I knew Iceland was going to be expensive, but it was more expensive than I was expecting. It made Switzerland look cheap. Here’s a few examples: chicken quesadilla and pepsi for 1= $34. One afternoon the 3 of us and ham and cheese toasties, sodas, and soup for BIL. $94. It became a bit of a game for us. After we bought something, I’d ask how much do you think that cost. A quick check on my Chase bank app and we can see, no, those 2 hamburgers, 1 cookie, and 3 sodas was not $46, but $73. It was crazy! But we didn’t care. We were on vacation and the food was so good. And, like our London trip, my mom had given us her scratch off lottery tickets to cash in. So, we started with $450 of “free” money for our meals.

CASH OR CARD: This is first trip that I did not take any cash with me. I trusted mikliz97 when she said cash would not be needed in Reykjavik. If we were traveling outside of the city to some smaller towns, I would have ordered cash from my bank ahead of time. We came across one pay toilet at Harpa. It was $1.61. Tap and pay with a credit card. The toilets at the stops on our bus tour were all free.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We all loved Iceland so much! It really felt like we were in another world. I’m already trying to figure out when I can go back.

NEXT UP: September is a return trip to Edinburg so I can take a Rabbie’s 3-day tour of the Lake District. I’m also debating adding a return trip to London this November to see the Christmas lights as I still have 10 vacation days to use.

P.S. I wrote this trip repot pretty quickly. Hopefully, there’s not too many typos. I’ll give it a proofread in the morning.

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It made Switzerland look cheap

I just got back from Switzerland and I wrote on my Trip Report that it was the most expensive place I'd ever been. Two drinks and two muffins cost $45. So if Iceland is worse, yikes.

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Thanks for this trip report, Carrie! You coped with those travel glitches better than I would have, I think.

When I went to the eye doctor shortly after I returned from my first trip to Scotland, I had a great conversation about it with the doctor, who had been there with her husband a couple of years before. (We are about the same age and have a very good rapport. I always look forward to my visits to her.) She asked me where I’d be going next and urged me to consider Iceland, where they had been most recently. I went home and researched it, saw how much everything cost, and said, “Hmm, I think I’ll just go back to Scotland next year.” lol

Right now I’m staying close to home, but maybe someday I’ll get to Iceland. It does sound dramatically beautiful!

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Carrie, always fun to read your Trip Reports. Are you solo on your next trips?

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Oh Carrie, I am so glad you had such great trip! As you know, we just keep returning as we love it so much. Troll is excellent. We have used them for tours that needed guides and could not recommend them enough. Ugg, the SSSS!!!! Our daughter got that last summer coming home from Oslo. Let's just say the person became very intimate with her, lol! The food is a bit expensive, but I think I am just used to Seattle pricing as well as becoming immune to the prices in Iceland. I prefer to stick my head in the sand and just go with it. It's vacation after all:). Your photos are beautiful and made me even more anxious to get back there in August. Keep an eye on Icelandair as they are always having specials. Two of our trips we did that way, both on a total whim. Thank you so much for letting us know how it went:)

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Thank you for writing this trip report! I am doing some very early planning for a future trip to Iceland and plan to do much the same as you. Thank you for the details and links!

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Carrie, thanks for sharing your trip report. It sounds like you chose all the right tours. So glad you all had a wonderful time.

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I have been reading your trip reports for years and love hearing about your adventures alone, and with your sister and BIL. I thought I remember after your trip to Switzerland you said you would never travel with them again. :-)

We loved Reykjavik, the church, the street art on the side of the buildings, the tulip lamp posts, the pastries at the bakeries were some of the best ever, the hotdogs at Bæjarins beztu hot dog stand, walking around at 11:00 pm and still daylight and taking pictures, etc.

Our first trip there we picked up a couple of little chicken sandwiches at the airport because we hadn’t received any food on the IcelandAir flight. Those two thin little chicken sandwiches were $20, and the ones on the McDonald’s value menu for $1 were comparable. But like my husband always says, we never miss the money spent after we return home with all our great pictures, experiences and memories.

Yes, you got took on the taxi, so you might consider the bus next time. It was very handy and dropped us off right by our hotel.

Looking forward to your next trip report.

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Sounds like a great trip.

We just finished 17 days in Italy with almost no rain-one shower in Venice in the late afternoon and the same in the Dolomites. I thought I must finally be having “Carrie luck”! Glad your luck continued on this trip.

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Hi Allan, I didn’t think it was possible to get any more expensive than Switzerland. But Iceland was noticeably more expensive. And this is not a complaint, just an observation so people are aware. I was happy to spend the money. Iceland is definitely worth the extra expense.

Hi NancyG, I really have been trying lately to just go with the flow. It is very hard for me because I am such a planner. Having been to Scotland, I can say that Iceland is so unique and is worth a visit if you are able to get there someday.

Hi Pat, I am solo until March when the 3 of us have a trip planned for Spain (Madrid and Seville).

Hi mikliz97, I now understand why you have to keep going back. It’s just so different from any other place. If you appreciate nature, I can’t think of a more perfect country. The one negative for me is that, because I don’t like to drive, I am limited in what I can see there. But there are other options for tours that I didn’t get to for this trip.

Hi slbdaisy, I hope you do get there. I would look into the other tours offered by Troll. If I had been traveling by myself, I would have liked a few more days out of the city. And if you’re interested in horses, I would look into a horseback riding tour. We saw some people riding when we were on our bus tour and the horses were gorgeous and it looked like such a fun and unique experience.

Hi jeanm, I’m always happy when all my planning pays off. I think Norway will be the next “difficult” country that I will tackle.

Hi Gelato girl, You have a great memory. I on the other hand, try to block out that Italy trip that did not go so well. :-) It’s tough because I want me sister to see these places and the two of us travel well together. But when you add the BIL in there, it’s a whole nother trip. Let’s just say I was glad this was a very short trip. I forgot to mention the hotdogs. I was not a fan, which was too bad because that was our cheapest meal. I will definitely take the bus next time. I believe it involved a transfer, and I was worried that would be more stressful for my sister.

Hi BethFL, I just cannot get over my luck with the weather. I keep waiting for my luck to run out. I’m glad you had some of that luck yourself. I do think the weather can impact how you feel about a place. Would we have loved Iceland so much if it was cold, windy, and rainy all the time? We probably would have still loved it, but maybe not as much. And I always tell people not to trust the weather apps. I use 3 different weather apps and they always show rain. And I rarely get rain.

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Enjoyed your report Carrie. We want to go to Iceland, but I can’t decide if we should just do the South Coast or the whole ring road. Decisions, decisions!

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Carrie, I love your trip report! Iceland was one of my favorite destinations, but I was only there for 3 nights. I have been wanting to go back, and this report just motivates me to get back there sooner than I anticipated.

The agent was nice, just asked how long we were staying. When I said a week in Reykjavik, she asked if we were staying in an apartment. She smiled when I said, no we have a hotel. She was probably thinking “suckers” as hotels are not cheap.

You know, it's very possible that she was smiling because she was happy you were not in an apartment. When I was there, I took a Golden Circle tour, and the guide talked a lot about AirBnb and apartments. She said residents resent them because it leaves very little housing for the locals. She herself had to live with her parents (she was probably in her late 20s) because the small amount of remaining housing was so astronomically expensive.

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2833 posts

Adorable puffins! Did you get to try the licorice ice-cream?

You know, it's very possible that she was smiling because she was happy you were not in an apartment.

I took it this way too. I bet the agent was smiling because you weren't staying in an AirBnb.

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Great report. I've been to Iceland x 2 and I love it too. Love the small city feeling of Reykjavik, love the otherworldly landscape. If you go back, driving there on the main roads is very easy, I found, so renting a car will give you more freedom.

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O!M!G! The puffins!!!!

We're big-city people and like to get our nature, well, in cities (lol) so Iceland won't ever be on our list, but I'm absolutely delighting in the puffins (and whales)!!

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Hi Tammy (aka Diveloonie), If you have the time, I suggest seeing as much as you can.

Hi Mardee, I can picture you driving around Iceland having a fabulous trip. Maybe the stopover option would work for you.

https://www.icelandair.com/flights/stopover/

Hi Mary, I didn’t see any licorice ice-cream and I’m not sure I would have tried it if I did see it. There’s a place called Gaeta Gelato that wasn’t too far from our hotel. We stopped there a few times. I love stracciatella and mint chocolate chip. But my favorite flavor this trip was at the ice cream parlor at Perlan—strawberry with chocolate chunks. It was so good. I was tempted to buy another $52 ticket just to go back for more ice cream. It was that good.

Hi kayla.p., The landscape was really unbelievable. We were mesmerized from the minute we left the airport. My sister joked that if we had rented a car, we would probably be stuck driving around in circles in one of the roundabouts all day. But for people who don’t mind driving, I agree that is definitely the way to go.

Hi Hannah, It was amazing to see the puffins. I didn’t realize how much I loved being out in nature until my trip to Switzerland. Now I can’t get enough of it.

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@Carrie, I know what you mean about the roundabouts. My first trip was with my then 21 year old son. Blue Car Rental let me add him as a driver and he requested to do a lot of the driving. He had not faced a roundabout before, but after a few tentative loops around, he was handling them like a pro. Sometimes Google Maps was a liiiiittttle slow with the directions and we missed our roundabout exit and had to loop around again, but on the whole I found driving in Iceland a breeze. My second trip was solo and I was actually looking forward to driving the roundabouts myself. LOL.

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Wonderful trip report! I still haven’t made it there, so I appreciated your tips.

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We have a lot of roundabouts where I live, so are very used to them. They are a bit different in Iceland though as the inner lane has priority for the right of way. Too many visitors don't realize that and will get honked at;). You also cannot turn right on red. A few differences, but as long as you read up on it, it isn't a big deal.

We have always stayed at hotels for our time in Reykjavik. We often book the room for the night before so we can go straight there and clean up etc. With an apartment, you may not have anywhere to store your luggage if you can't get in right away. Outside of town though, we prefer cottages or farm stays vs hotels.

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I can picture you driving around Iceland having a fabulous trip. Maybe the stopover option would work for you.

Believe me, that's been on my mind. Actually my daughter and I are going to Scandinavia next year, and using the stopover might be an option. We'll see - it depends on what price I can get from Icelandair. :-) BTW, I meant to tell you that I'm glad your sister and BIL had a good time. I hope he wasn't too upset about the dreaded SSSS. That can be a bit scary and annoying.