So it's been a bit since our last update! Our life got crazy with the selling of the house, move, finding a new place, Jason starting a new job...just to name a few. The amazing news is that we have a place to live here in California and our stuff gets delivered out of storage this week!
It feels like ages ago that we were in Iceland, but it was less than 2 month ago. I definitely don't want to forget a moment of our time there, so here we are! I'm going to break up our posts into two posts - one showing how we'd spend our time if we only had a few days (or a long layover) and the next showing the rest of the things we loved in our 4 days there.
Most flights into Iceland arrive early in the morning into Reykjavik. Our first stop was duty free in the airport and then we made our way to the Blue Lagoon (which opens at 7am). I would 100% recommend this. It's only 20 minutes from the airport and since we went so early, it was pretty empty! We just got the cheapest "comfort" package which includes a towel, locker, face mask, and a drink from the swim up bar.
I know this place gets a ton of hype, but we loved it. Maybe it was because we went early, but it was super relaxing and peaceful. It's large enough that you really can swim over to a secluded spot. Here's a tip though - use LOTS of conditioner in your hair and leave it on. The water apparently makes your hair feel horrible - we were able to avoid that and now you can too!
After relaxing for a few hours, we drove into the City. Ok, actually, we had to get our car jumped by a cab first because the rental place had left the lights permanently on and we didn't realize! But then we headed in! We grabbed lunch and explored a bit. First, we climbed to the top of Hallgrimskirkja, got coffee from Reykjavik Roasters and then headed to our hotel room to freshen up before dinner.
That evening, we had one of the best meals of our lives at Seafood Grill. We started with salmon sashimi, Jason had the fish of the day, and I got the salted cod. It was honestly incredibly simple food, but prepared in the most amazing ways. Please go here, but make reservations! After dinner, we stopped by the Harpa Concert Hall and the Sky Voyager statue before calling it a night.
We stopped at Sandholt Bakery to grab picnic lunch supplies before we drove out of the city. The Golden Circle can be driven in one day, whether you want to do a tour or drive it on your own. We had a rental car and we always enjoy doing things at our own pace, so we drove it.
There are 3 "main" stops on the Golden Circle - Þingvellir National Park, Stokkur Geysir, and Gullfoss. You can add on tons of stops though, so the options are endless. We stopped at all of the above and added on Kerid crater and Skaholt. It was a perfect, but long, day!
Up Next: Our tour of the South Coast of Iceland!
