6 SUPER AWESOME Things I Did in Iceland

I’ve wanted to go to Iceland since FOREVER. I even contemplating doing a solo trip a year or two ago when I got an email about packages that included flight and hotel for around $1200. I REALLY, REALLY wanted to see the Northern Lights, but of course there is a lot more than the lights to see in Iceland and I had a tremendous time seeing and doing it all during my recent trip.

View of Reykjavik from the Hallgrímskirkja church

Though I’ve wanted to go to Iceland since forever, this latest trip was a bit last minute. Lara from Pretty Connected was going with some of her friends and since she and I have been on a number of international trips together (Warsaw, London, Montreal) we had previously chatted about going to Iceland so this was perfect. They found a round trip ticket through WOW Air via Expedia out of Newark for $350. Mine wound up being more expensive because I booked later and because I knew I needed to check a bag AND that I needed more leg room (not only am I 5’9″ but I have an achy back and tricky knees so I didn’t want to be cramped up in a plane for six hours). My ticket wound up being around $600. I would have normally looked to see if American or Delta had sibling airlines that flew to Iceland because I have miles with both airlines AND I would have preferred to fly out of JFK because it’s a hop, skip, and a jump away from where I live, but I wanted to be on the same flight as everyone.

While we’re on the subject of flight, I was expecting WOW Air to be like the hitchhiker’s mode of air transpo, but I was pleasantly surprised. The check-in process was super easy and simple (you do self baggage check-in at the airport in Iceland where you put your bag on the belt to measure and weigh it, scan your baggage tag and your boarding pass, and then if you meet the requirements, the bag automatically goes on the belt on its way to the plane or wherever it needs to go before it’s put on the plane). The in-flight food options seemed relatively inexpensive (compared to airport prices) and pretty okay taste-wise. I only had the ham and cheese baguette but it was good. I have this really weird fear of being on a plane without enough to eat and didn’t freak out on the flight in either direction so I would say the food options were okay…lol. They also had tons of snack options as well. I would also say that the WOW Air staff we came in contact with were really friendly and nice.

We rented a car with Lagoon Car Rental who were kind enough to give us a comped/blogger rental for our trip. Depending on where you plan on staying and what you plan on doing in Iceland will determine if you need a car or not. If you’re doing mostly tours where they pick you up at or near your hotel, you *might* be able to get away with not having to rent a car. But if you want to venture off on your own you definitely need to rent a car. There are a lot of car rental places around Iceland and I would definitely suggest researching your options (also with other things like tours, airlines, hotels, etc) instead of blindly just booking what I mention in this post because while I LOVED everything we booked, we all have different styles and travel needs so make sure you do your own research. I loved that Lagoon Car Rental picked us up from the airport (this is something they do for guests who aren’t bloggers as well) and also gave us a ride to the airport. The ride to/from the airport is less than 10 minutes from the car rental location.

Since we got in at 4 A.M. Icelandic time, we stayed at a less expensive hotel near the airport for a few hours (we were literally there for like 4 hours tops) so we could rest up, refresh, and get to our main hotel in time for our first tour. We stayed at Room With a View Luxury Hotel Apartments which was PERFECT for our group of four. The hotel apartment had a kitchen with a fridge, sink, hot range, and utensils; two bathrooms (one was a half bathroom), a dining area, four beds, a TV with a HUGE projector that we wanted to use but didn’t have time, a steam room on our floor that we could access from our room (that steam room was the BOMB), and there was also a rooftop hot tub but we didn’t have time to try it out.

Room with a View is located in downtown Reykjavik and is within walking distance to tons of coffee places, bars, restaurants, lounges, a pharmacy, grocery store—you name it! We had contemplated getting groceries and cooking some meals at the hotel apartment but our tours were so long that we were leaving before it opened and getting back after it closed. FOOD IS VERY EXPENSIVE IN ICELAND. I think it might be that way in many if not all Scandinavian countries because I experienced the same thing in Stockholm, Sweden last summer as did Lara in Norway. Food is ridiculously expensive in Iceland in particular because so much of it has to be imported and importing so far north comes with a hefty price tag. We were spending an average of $20-30 per meal on AVERAGE foods. For instance once morning I got two ginger ales (I had a stomach ache and the pharmacy wasn’t open yet—I would have brought my own Immodium or Pepto but I haven’t been sick like that in forever so I didn’t think of it—damn cappuccinos made my stomach turn…lol), a buttered croissant, and a brownie and it came up to $20 USD. TWENTY GOT DAMN UNITED STATES DOLLARS for that small amount of stuff—granted the prices might have been even higher because we were in touristy areas (but who is traveling around isolation to find a cheaper meal? haha). I’d say the food we ate was pretty good—we didn’t partake in any traditional Icelandic foods though. They weren’t many traditional restaurants around where we stayed anyway so we had mostly burgers and one night we had some EXTREMELY DELICIOUS Indian food (made by people from India) and everything was very tasty—but expensive. Not only that but our first two days we took tours where one was 6-hours long and the other about 11-hours long so we had to eat on the stops that the tour buses made. Not really any options for us to brown bag anything to cut costs but if you book a more flexible time trip to Iceland, try to see if you can cook some of your meals. At least try to spring for cooking your own breakfast and dinner if you can if you’re staying in a place that has a kitchen. Either that or factor in at least $200 USD for food alone depending on how long you’re staying :x

Now whether or not you find food in Iceland to be expensive or not is of course relative to where you live. I live in NYC and while there are tons of very expensive restaurants here, you can also eat relatively well for not a ton of money in many places.

Watch a video tour of our hotel apartment via my Instagram post below—follow me @stylenbeautydoc!

Video tour of our suuuuper cute luxury hotel apartment at #RoomWithAView in Reykjavik, Iceland ???????? When I travel I prefer to get my own room even if it's small because: SANITY. I wasn't mad at all to share this dope ass luxury hotel apartment with @prettyconnected @kaneshaperry @dlgbeauty. Two bathrooms, a kitchen with a fridge, electric range, and utensils, a sauna on our floor, hot tub on the rooftop, and located within walking distance to so many cool spots in downtown Reykjavik. #TSABDTravels #TSABDinIceland #tsabdvideo #travel #hotelapartment #apartmenttour

A post shared by Danielle Gray (@stylenbeautydoc) on Mar 30, 2017 at 5:51pm PDT

One thing I wanted to mention since we’re on the topic of the hotel apartment although this doesn’t really pertain to only the hotel apartment: Iceland’s water runs on a renewable geothermal power system. The hot water you get from the faucet, showers, etc. is naturally heated by geysers many, many feet below the ground which is pretty cool when you think about it but it all smells like eggs because of the sulfur. If you let the cold water run for a bit it won’t smell like eggs and you can drink it—in fact many if not all of the bottled water in Iceland is the same water you get from the tap. Though smelly, the water is totally not a deal breaker but can take some getting used to.

So now let’s get into the super awesome things I did in Iceland! I’m breaking this trip into a series of blog posts which will include a Q&A post where I asked you guys to leave questions for me on my social channels. Make sure you stay tuned to my Iceland series for more info and answers to your questions :)

1. Golden Circle Tour

I had to tie my hat down with my scarf so it wouldn’t blow away. It gets SUPER windy in these parts…lol

Much of our trip was spent on tour buses which was a really cool way to see Iceland. I would also recommend supplementing this with driving on your own in a rental because you can stop and take pictures and take your time seeing things up close (only in safe places, please—if you go off the main roads you might damage your rental car on the terrain—also our car had a warning sticker about the doors possibly coming off in the wind—so yeah, be careful and listen to all the warnings they tell you at the car rental place). PLEASE keep in mind that if anything is roped off or appears to be a little treacherous to AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. Especially if you’re near any active geysers because: OUCH, BURN, OUCH, BURN.

Þingvellir National Park

The Golden Circle Tour which we booked through GetYourGuide.com (please note there are TONS of tours and tour companies in Iceland so please make sure you research to make sure you find one tailored to your style and travel needs) was about $108USD/pp and lasted about six hours for the “express” and 8.5 hours for the longer tour. We did the express but only because we missed the longer tour bus :/

With my trip homey Doreen

This was an amazing tour even for someone like me who gets car sick when I’m not the driver. I spent a good chunk of the time on the bus sleeping so I wouldn’t get motion sickness, but the ride was pretty smooth so I was able to look outside some as well.

This tour bus can pick you up at or near your hotel—but if your hotel is in the downtown area where the streets are a little narrow, you might get picked up by a smaller bus or van and then transported to a bigger bus OR you might have to walk a little bit of a distance to meet the big bus. There are plenty of stops for you to see the sights, go to the bathroom, and have food breaks—just make sure you get back to the bus on time or you will have a bus full of angry tourists to meet you when you get back…lol.

This tour was just absolutely breathtaking. I would make sure to bring layers with you because while the weather in general was about the same or just a teeny bit colder than what I was experiencing in NYC, some areas especially those near glaciers or near the water are colder than others so make sure you come prepared with extra gloves, warm snow boots or at least boots with some traction on the bottom, a big scarf, a warm hat, and sunglasses. Don’t forget the SPF either—that’s a non-negotiable no matter where you are in the world and no matter the temperature or weather.

Told you it gets windy…lol

The Golden Circle Tour began with a visit to Þingvellir National Park where you’ll see some AMAZING scenery—you’ll be like “OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SEEING WHAT I’M SEEING.” Also makes for amazing picture and video.

Our Iceland trip crew: I had just met Kanesha and Doreen for the first time at the airport and instantly loved them…lol

Also on the tour: the Gullfoss waterfall and the hot springs of Geysir and Strokkur. The nerd in me was really psyched for this because these are the things you learn in Geology class but you’re actually getting to see it all firsthand. When I have kids and they’re a little older, Iceland will definitely be one of the places I take them for educational trips.

2. Iceland’s South Coast Day Tour

I still get antsy thinking about being on an 10-hour tour but this one totally didn’t feel that long. It was about $116 USD/pp and we also booked this through GetYourGuide.com (but as I think about it, your hotel might also be able to recommend other tours that you can book directly at the front desk). This was also an amazing tour and pretty affordable once you think about all you’re able to see for $116 (although with the price of food during the bus stops, that can add up…lol).

Skógafoss waterfall

Sólheimajökull glacier

Here’s what you get on this tour:

Walk behind the mighty Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Stroll along the black sand beach of Reynisfjara to see basalt formations
Go to Cape Dyrhólaey or Reynisfjara beach to see puffins in season (May to August) [we didn’t get to see this as we traveled in March] Marvel at Skógafoss Waterfall, considered one of Iceland´s most beautiful
Touch the ancient ice of Sólheimajökull glacier
Drive through the volcanic area of Eyjafjallajökull
See the feared active volcanoes of Hekla and Katla
Get spectacular views of glaciers framed by mountains on clear days

Sólheimajökull glacier

Black sand beach of Reynisfjara

Black sand beach of Reynisfjara

Black sand beach of Reynisfjara

Again, this is one of those OMG I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SEEING WHAT I’M SEEING type of experiences. And my inner geek was also psyched to see some of the landscapes I’d previously had only seen in my textbooks and in pictures online.

Make sure you wear boots you don’t mind getting dirty…lol

3. Northern Lights Tour

So this was actually a bust for us because in order to view the Northern Lights you need there to be actual Northern Lights activity AND you need the weather to cooperate. There are tour buses and even boat cruises that can take you to see them and they will only go out if there’s a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights. The night we went on our bus tour there was tons of Northern Lights activity but the weather forecast was wrong—it was very cloudy instead of the forecasted clear so we couldn’t see anything even after our tour guide took us to several points hoping for a clear section of sky. Sadly though we learned that we could have seen them from downtown Reykjavik on Monday night but the guide Lara was using to track activity said the lights would only be okay that night and that it would be better Tuesday and Wednesday night. While that was true that the activity was high, the cloudiness on both nights prevented us from seeing them. We contemplated staying another night but got sidetracked and we wound up not looking into how much it would cost. And of course to throw salt in our wounds it was SUPER clear the night after we left :/

The Northern Lights over Reykjavik last night were … AMAZING!! ???????????????????????? Did you see them? – Photo by the talented friend of ours, @siggiphoto

A post shared by The Reykjavik Food Walk (@reykjavikfood) on Mar 31, 2017 at 3:14am PDT

Of COURSE this is what the Northern Lights looked like the night after we left :/

There is a gamble on getting to see the Northern Lights so I would definitely make sure that your reason for travel isn’t solely to see them or you’ll be super disappointed. Of course Iceland isn’t the only place where you can see them (Lara went to Norway last fall and attempted to see them there with no luck—you can also Google around to see which other countries you can see them from and why they occur in the first place) but it’s always a gamble. You have to go during the right time of year and even then if activity is low that day and/or the weather isn’t clear, you may not see them.

On the plus side, the tour company we booked the Northern Lights Tour allows you to go again if you don’t see the lights so we have two years to go back and see them with that company without having to pay again.

I’d suggest waiting to book your Northern Lights tour until when you get there (provided you go when there’s activity) which can be done from your hotel’s reception.

Despite not seeing the lights, it was really fun getting on a tour bus and driving through some of the remote areas of Iceland at night.

4. The Blue Lagoon

Lara and I were given a tour at the Blue Lagoon skincare research & development office where they make the skincare products you use and can buy at the Blue Lagoon. They also hooked us up with VIP access at the Blue Lagoon which included our own private area, but there’s so much for me to say about our experience that I’m going to make that into its own separate post so stay tuned! Make sure you’re subscribed to the blog so you don’t miss it.

5. Driving

I would definitely recommend renting a car in Iceland because while you do get to see a good amount of the country on the bus tours, driving allows you to go on your own pace and see some other amazing landscapes. I did the driving (I volunteered because otherwise I get car sick when I’m not the driver…lol) and driving there was a breeze. They drive on the right side of the road like we do here in the U.S. so it was “easy” for me. I definitely drove more carefully because I wasn’t familiar with the roads and didn’t want to unleash my New Yorker driving habits…lol. I went relatively slow most times, but when we got to more remote areas, I hit that gas like nobody’s business…lol. You *could* go off-roading in Iceland but you definitely want to make sure you have a 4×4 if you’re going to do that and pay attention to any warnings the car rental company gives you about certain terrains. I own a Jeep Renegade that I bought in 2015 after owning and driving sedans my whole entire life and I actually get giddy when we have snowstorms because I know I’ll be able to drive through damn near anything or even get my car out of the biggest street parking snow and ice pile. I would have loved to have my Renegade out there but we didn’t have a 4×4. The drive did inspire me to want to do a road trip in a 4×4 to see all the cool landscapes and terrains we have here in the U.S.

6. Visit the Hallgrímskirkja church

Hallgrímskirkja church

You can see the Hallgrímskirkja church from just about anywhere in Iceland—VERY hard to miss. It was walkable from our hotel apartment in a very cute part of town (all parts of town were “cute” but this was cute in a folksy almost kinda but not really like Williamsburg kind of way). You won’t spend a huge ton of time here but what you will see is an AMAZING view of Reykjavik from 244 ft above. There’s an elevator that takes you up there in case you, like me, have a bum knee and a tricky back and the mere thought of climbing steps that high up makes you want to douse yourself in a gallon of Ben Gay.

That view!!!

Now there were some things I didn’t get to do in the 3.5 days I was there that I would totally go back to do inspired by my friend Christene‘s friend who was in Iceland around the same time as me. These include…

Snowmobiling on a Glacier

@jamaicanadventourists ? BUCKET LIST??? ? ? Snowmobiling ?? on a Glacier in Iceland ???????? with: @waceybaby @istacy1point0 @jomichelle33 @dboyne2 @irightcode @m0nti28 @anansisimone <—- See we riding dirty? If we fall, we just get up & go! It was so much FUN! ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? #ILoveTravel #TravelBug #Wanderlust #Travel #GlobalNomad #Jetsetter #PassportLife #BucketList #GroupTrip2017 #IAmATraveler #CountryHopping #JamaicanAdventourists ??? ? #travelgram #instatravel #travelling #travelingram #igtravel #mytravelgram #instatraveling #instapassport ??? ? ??? ? #TravelerInIceland #langjökullglacier #Iceland #LandOfFireAndIce #IceCave #Snowmobile #Snowmobiling on a #Glacier #langjökull #gopro

A post shared by TAMAR (@ta_mars_wanderland) on Mar 29, 2017 at 2:46pm PDT

Because OMG how dope does THAT look?!?!

Water Massage in a Geothermal Spa

You've not had a massage until you've had an in water massage at a geothermal spa while the air temperature is 30 something degrees! One of the best massages ever! ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? #ILoveTravel #TravelBug #Wanderlust #Travel #GlobalNomad #Jetsetter #PassportLife #BucketList #GlobeWanderingJamaicanMassive #GroupTrip2017 #IAmATraveler #CountryHopping #JamaicanAdventourists ??? ? #travelgram #instatravel #travelling #travelingram #igtravel #mytravelgram #instatraveling #instapassport ??? ? ??? ? #TravelerInIceland #Reykjavik #Iceland #LandOfFireAndIce #BlueLagoon ??? ? #TravelBuddy #GeothermalSpa #FriendsWhoAreFamily #massage

A post shared by TAMAR (@ta_mars_wanderland) on Mar 26, 2017 at 5:46pm PDT

I feel like if I did this I’d never have back pains again in life.

Snorkeling between the Continental Rift

I still can't believe how gorgeous it was! We snorkeled between the continental rift between America (right) & Europe (left) in 35 deg cold freezing water! Our tour guides told us we are the first Jamaicans they have ever had! ???????????????? He was puzzled how we left from warm weather to do this! ???? Of all the dumb & risky things we have done in our lives… This here ???????? tops the list of crazy things we have done! I literally couldn't feel my fingers for hours… but at least it was worth it! Once in a life time bc as beautiful as it was, I'm never doing that again! ???? @anansisimone @jomichelle33 @istacy1point0 @irightcode @waceybaby ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? #ILoveTravel #TravelBug #Wanderlust #Travel #GlobalNomad #Jetsetter #PassportLife #GroupTrip2017 #IAmATraveler #CountryHopping #SkySkipping the #JamaicanAdventourists #instatravel #trip #fun #travelling #instapassport #instatraveling #mytravelgram #travelgram #travelingram #igtravel #TravelerInIceland #Reykjavik #Iceland #Silfra #ContinentalRift #Snorkel #Snorkeling #GoPro

A post shared by TAMAR (@ta_mars_wanderland) on Mar 25, 2017 at 7:16am PDT

Um, #totesAMAZE

Explore Ice Caves

Leave it to @anansisimone to draw out our flag ???????? & sing our national anthem in the chapel of the ice cave! Classic moment! "Hear di part now… Jamaicaaaaa…. BOOM!" ???? @waceybaby @istacy1point0 @jomichelle33 @dboyne2 @irightcode @m0nti28 ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? ??? ? #ILoveTravel #TravelBug #Wanderlust #Travel #GlobalNomad #Jetsetter #PassportLife #BucketList #GroupTrip2017 #IAmATraveler #CountryHopping #JamaicanAdventourists ??? ? #travelgram #instatravel #travelling #travelingram #igtravel #mytravelgram #instatraveling #instapassport ??? ? ??? ? #TravelerInIceland #langjökullglacier #Iceland #LandOfFireAndIce #IceCave #ProudJamaicans #Jamaicans #Jamaica #Glacier #langjökull

A post shared by TAMAR (@ta_mars_wanderland) on Mar 29, 2017 at 7:55am PDT

Check out more pics and video recaps of my Iceland trip on my Instagram!

There aren’t a ton of places I’d pay to visit twice, but I definitely would with Iceland. PLUS, depending on which season you go, it can be a totally different trip each time.

Have you ever been to Iceland? What did you do there? If you haven’t been, would you want to go? Tell me in the comments!

Stay tuned for MORE posts in my Iceland series!