A Blog and Quick Guide to Reykjavík, Iceland

Iceland. I have always been intrigued by the mystical island. My snapchat and twitter handle is IcelandicBaby, although I have never been there: Until now. So why did I go to the cold little island of 330,000+ inhabitants? Well! My favorite band is Sigur Rós, and by the context of this blog post you could probably tell where they are from. I received an email one day about their special Icelandic winter tour, right in their hometown for a few days as they hosted the festival norður og niður with other artists for four nights at the Harpa Concert Hall. I knew immediately that I would go because this was a rare opportunity to watch my favorite band for the fifth time in Iceland. I saw it as a twofer, basically. So I impulsively bought tickets to see them two nights in a row without thinking about how and where I will accommodate myself, because as I later learned in Icelandic, Þetta reddast. Meaning, “It will all work out okay”.

My trip to Iceland was initially only three days long, because I figured I’d visit my boyfriend in Berlin right after then fly back home. After awhile I thought, why not take some time to explore the country? When am I ever going back, and if I am? So I decided to add a day or two. Time goes by and I decided to book an appointment with an amazing tattoo artist so I could get an Icelandic lyric on my arm but she was only available on a certain day so I prolonged it AGAIN, then before I knew it I was going to Iceland for 8 whopping days! Then it dawned on me that I was going to stay in a foreign country by myself for over a week, but I was fully prepared and excited. This was also the very first time I have traveled by myself but I’ll save that for a later post.. Let’s get on with my quick guide to Iceland!

Flight

I flew to Keflavik Airport straight from Manila one way then would later fly one way to Berlin, so I couldn’t really book my flights strategically as I would have liked. What I kept seeing on my IcelandAir flight, was that you could fly to Europe from North America but have a stopover for up to seven days in Iceland, for no extra fare! I thought that was an amazing deal, especially if you were planning a road trip whether you were going to North America or Europe. This is something I will definitely consider the next time I visit Iceland.

I think there are primarily two airlines that fly to Iceland, WOW Air and Icelandair. Both are relatively inexpensive so they are very restrictive in luggage weight allowance. They cap it at 20 kg (44 lbs) instead of the more standard 23 kg (50 lbs). What I liked about Icelandair was that you could book your shuttle from the airport to your hotel while flying because they are partners with Reykjavik Excursions, so that’s very convenient if that’s an aspect of your trip that you might’ve forgotten about.

So I was finally going to have my dream vacation in my dream destination, but the worst happened at the airport. They forgot my luggage during a stopover in Oslo. I was very scared because 1) obviously they lost my luggage and 2) it was freezing cold and I had very little on me. I was actually very lucky though, because I was already wearing one pair of base layer bottoms and I brought a big scarf and puffy jacket, so that’s why I am inserting this on this guide: WEAR VERY WARM CLOTHES AND BRING EXTRA UNDERWEAR. In the event that you (hopefully do not) lose your luggage, after contacting someone they will give you a bag with basic toiletries and an XL white t-shirt. So please, do not be like me and be prepared. I had my luggage delivered to my hostel the day after I arrived so it dampened my tour a bit but I tried to not let it affect me! 

 

Transportation

If you are planning to travel to Iceland, then we probably googled the same things already when it comes to transportation. No, they don’t have Uber out there. I learned from a local that you could have a comparable ride share, but you’d have to be part of a Facebook group for local Icelanders where you post your whereabouts and hope that someone will pick you up for money. It’s kinda sketch. So if you are not renting a car then you will have to hail a taxi for steep prices. Luckily, if you’re staying mostly in Reykjavik, then you can just walk to everywhere you need to go. The longest I had to walk from one point to another was fifteen minutes because the city is very small and condensed.

If you have your shuttle booked from the airport to your hotel or guesthouse, good! If not, I suggest Skybus with Reykjavik Excursions and to have a physical, printed copy of your reservation. I have seen that everyone needs that paper so don’t think you could go green and show up with your pdf file on your phone. They will make you go back into the bus station and wait in line to get a printed copy of your ticket.

 

Winter Weather

I stayed during the brisk winter from December 27th to January 3rd, and I managed to stay warm! Throughout my trip, it was a biting 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-3.8 C). As a spoiled Southern Californian that lives in the same 75 degree heat all year long, I was not going to let the cold bother me. I came prepared with my North Face parkas, Isotoner gloves, Patagonia capilene base layer bottoms, polyester base layer tops, buff, and wool socks. Just don’t wear cotton. It takes a very long time to dry when wet and will make you very cold. It is a horrible material to wear, since it’s mostly windy and it rains often. I can do a longer, better post about what I wore to Iceland and how to pack light if you want, just let me know in the comments below because I am so grateful for everything I took! I also got all of my winter gear during Black Friday, which is something you should also do if you’re planning on visiting Iceland during the winter.

If you have read other blogs, then you’ll know that Icelandic weather is very unpredictable. A typical day I experienced was sunshine for four hours from 11 am until 3 pm, light rain during the day then warmer temperatures during the night. It almost didn’t make sense, but I was just glad that I didn’t experience crazy wind, rain, or snow. It snowed right after I left, though!

 

Clothes

I thought I needed to gear up with some serious mountain trekking fits, such as waterproof pants and clunky snow boots. It was completely not necessary when I went. I brought three pairs of shoes: Terry waterproof boots, quilted and felt lined Converse, and UGGS Adirondack Winterboots. I only wore my UGGS during an excursion day out to geysers and waterfalls. It was great because my feet were incredibly warm the whole time and it helped me walk on ice, but if you want to pack light then I suggest you skip these and bring something lighter because they were way too clunky for just a day or two of outdoorsy activities unless you have a lot of adventure on your itinerary. I never got to wear my waterproof pants from NorthFace like I thought I would, and I’m actually glad that I didn’t because everyone in town was stylish and to be able to make friends as a backpacking loner, it probably isn’t advisable to look like you’re about to hike Mt. Everest in the city. I didn’t need the waterproof pants though unless I was visiting waterfalls like the Skogafoss because you can walk right behind it and you can be drenched but in the winter time it is a bit difficult to visit waterfalls because they’re most likely frozen.

In the city, you can get away with wearing dresses, jeans, leggings, whatever your heart desires as long as you have a warm jacket because the locals don’t let the drab weather get in the way of their fashion. I have seen girls walk up to the clubs in skirts with no leggings and high heels instead of boots so I can attest to the fact that you will live. But if you want to definitely stay warm at the expense of style, then I highly recommend wearing base layers under every outfit of each day, I thank the heavens all the time that I invested in my Patagonia Capilene Midweight Bottoms (Don’t worry, I am not sponsored in any way in this post lol) and I happened to find a pair on sale so I jumped on it right away. I wore these and another pair of base layers that I got at Costco every day and wore multiple layers of tops under a sweater or shirt. Denim jeans are absolutely fine with your base layers underneath with wool socks and sturdy boots. I wore a pair of Converse whenever I was in the city and my feet stayed warm with the right socks.

Patagonia Capilene Midweight Bottoms

I scored these during a Black Friday sale and they made a huge difference for warmth and wind protection during my stays in Iceland.

Click here to redirect you to the shop.

I lost my Isotoner gloves at some point so I had to stop by the first shop I could find that was still open at night and bought a $30 pair of wool gloves but I am so happy that I did because they have kept my hands so warm through thick and thin. There are also plenty of wool sweater shops where their products such as sweaters, gloves, scarves, beanies, are all hand knitted so they can cost about $250-350 but they are so worth it. If there is a single souvenir that you need to bring back from Iceland, it is definitely a wool sweater or gloves. They are very warm and Nordic chic, I might add.

Since this is not a super detailed post on the clothing, I’ll just finish it with saying that it is nonsensical to bring an umbrella because the winds can be so harsh that it doesn’t help against the rain coming from all directions and no one else has ever used one outside so I suggest to always have a hooded jacket on when you’re outside.

 

Things to do

What I love about Iceland is that there are almost a million things you can do! Whale watching, ice cave exploring, pub crawls, history museums, Northern lights hunting, geysers, horse-back riding, geothermal pool swimming, and more! One of the first things I did when I arrived was two walking tours, because I wanted to get a feel of the city and know what exactly to do and eat so I can maximize the rest of my time.

The first tour was a paid tour with I Heart Reykjavik, and my tour guide was Hrannar, the husband of the founder of the tour. This was a great tour and although it came with a price tag, I did not regret booking this tour with Hrannar because I learned a lot of great information on Iceland. This is not as history packed as other tours, but he provided us with plenty of recommendations of where to shop, where to eat, who to see, and what to do while in the city. I took some of his recommendations and because of it I had some of the best food ever. What’s also great about this tour is that we made some pit stops for coffee and bathroom breaks, which is not very likely on other free tours. 

That night I booked a free walking tour on the whim because why not? I reserved a spot from CityWalk and showed up the next day in front of the Parliament building with a larger crowd but the tour was just as enjoyable. Jóhannes was our tour guide and as a history graduate, served us a whole bunch of Icelandic history on a full platter. As a very interesting and informative tour, I’d recommend this one just as well. Although it’s claimed as a “free” tour, we all know there’s no such thing as free so it’s based solely on donations at the very end. The donation could be much smaller than the I Heart Reykjavik fee so don’t let it scare you away. CityWalk also offers PubCrawls, running tours, and talks about the economy over drinks. Pretty nifty, right?

Reykjavik Excursions has loads of tours to choose from, and I chose a combo tour with the Golden Circle and Northern Lights tour. Below is a screenshot of some of their most popular tours. I do have to advise though, I do not recommend Reykjavik Excursions for the Northern Lights Tour. We went at night and waited an hour for the Northern Lights to no avail. Usually this is not the tour’s fault but rather the unpredictable weather or the lights activity- but a friend of mine who was also on the same tour the same night told me that other people on different tours were able to see the lights, our tour bus just didn’t drive out far enough so that was quite a bummer. The day tours are very nice though and their prices are fair compared to other tours due to the large tour bus size. I didn’t mind not being on a more “private” tour, as a backpacker I found it better to travel with more people but this also depends on your traveling preferences.

Unfortunately I did not go on any other tours other than these despite the long trip because I had two concerts at night so it was difficult to plan long day trips around these and then it was New Years Eve so some things are just better left for next time.

 

New Years Eve

This was a New Years Eve I was sure not to forget. I met up with some people I had befriended along the way and our first stop was along the beach where we attended a massive bonfire. Apparently bonfires are a huge Icelandic tradition for New Years Eve, which is understandable given their 20 hours of darkness. I have never seen such a huge pile of heat in my life. Since 7 pm, fireworks would light up the sky with no apparent end. Around 10 pm everyone, except tourists, would go home to watch a comedy spoof show that highlighted the years important events in a satirical way, so the city would become deserted until the fireworks and drinking began. After some time at a bar and a quick viewing of the show that I obviously did not understand, a friend and I trekked all the way up to the Perla, a large glass-domed observatory atop a large hill. The fireworks grew as the New Year approached and when we reached the top we overlooked an extraordinary view of the city and other parts of Iceland were visible with the faint bursts of light across the ocean. For hours before and even after midnight, the city was glowing with colors and explosions everywhere. It was such an intense and energetic moment of my life to see everyone so engaged with the sky and their surroundings as they entered the new year, so I can’t recommend it any more to come to Iceland to spend your New Year’s Eve. It was truly a magical moment. You could either view the city from the dome or spend it in front of the Hallgrímskirkja (church) where everyone would also light fireworks and parade around drinking.

 

Food

Besides the lively show I experienced on New Years Eve, the food was my next favorite part of Iceland. Everything was very expensive, so I frequently bought $7-8 sandwiches to eat at my hostel.

Icelandic Street Food

I was very, very sad to have found this place the day before I left because if I had known it before, I would have frequented it almost every day. My average food bill was around 3.000 ISK (30 USD) for just one person and as I’ve always hated, Europe is very stingy with portions and refills. But this place had the manners, vibes, and business as a generous American mom and pop joint but teleported in the heart of Reykjavik. They served shellfish or lambsoup in a bread bowl with free refill(S), free macaroons, free lemon cake (Made by his lovely grandmother) and free coffee. The place is so good that I’m going to make a shout out in an individual post, just for the owner. It’s that dang good.

Check out their menu: https://www.icelandicstreetfood.com/

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur

I was never one to find hot dogs very appetizing, up until I tried my very first lamb “Hot Dog with Everything” at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a very small and modest hot dog stand right at the town center. For almost four bucks a dog, I found myself coming here every day eating two for lunch and dinner. I was hooked. These hot dogs are very, very, very much worth the hype. If there’s one dish you have to try in Iceland, it’s this. Now I find myself getting hot dogs at IKEA Spandau in Berlin because I’ve been craving some dogs with fried onions and pickles and they *almost* hit the spot. Also, Bill Clinton said that they’re the best hot dogs in the world. That’s all the endorsement you need, really.

Cafe Babalú

During my various walks around the city, I’d always walk by this very colorful and eclectic looking cafe spot. My interest was intensely piqued one day, so I went in and inside was a very warm and cozy little eatery with homemade baked goods and a small menu of foods. I decided to treat myself (A restaurant in Iceland is very much called “treating yourself”) and had a delectable apple crumble and lamb soup with bread. The cost was around 3.000 ISK (30 USD), but it was so dang good that I made sure that I came back for one more meal before I left. It’s the perfect spot for couples because of the warm and intimate interior or for the goof loners such as myself.

 

 

In Conclusion: Go to Iceland. Try new and weird things. Wear layers. Bring money. Enjoy yourself.

 

 

So, was my blog enjoyable or helpful? Please leave any comments, questions, or concerns down below.