Swimming & (Sun)bathing in Iceland

Going to Reykjavik Iceland had to have been my favorite trip (and I travel a lot). I wanted to go somewhere a little "different" and decided to travel to Denmark via Icelandair with a 4-day stopover in Reykjavik. It's one of the prettiest places I've ever been (and also the most expensive). Natural beauty abounds, from waterfalls and glaciers to geysers.

The famous nightlife is quite wild--streets were deserted during the day, but at 1am it was hard to walk through the main street since it was so crowded!

I loved the geothermal pools, basically giant hot tubs outdoors.

Quick Tips:

Icelandair owns Reykjavik Excursions and seemingly all the hotels too, so it's a bit of a monopoly. Nonetheless it makes it easy to find information and get places.

Definitely go to one of the pools--there are several in the city and is a uniquely Icelandic experience. It can be snowing/raining on your head while your body is in a hot tub. Walking back to the locker room is chilly, but it's worth it.

Be sure to go to Laugavegur street at night on a weekend as well.

One suggestion about food--entrees can be or in restaurants, but go to the nice places during lunch and get their daily special, which should be a lot cheaper. Also, go to a supermarket and buy Skyr, the Icelandic fat-free yogurt which is absolutely amazing! Two years after my trip I still dream about it--Whole Foods is now the sole importer of some of the flavors, and can't keep it on the shelves.

Best Way To Get Around:

From the airport you can take the Flybus to your hotel. Around the city, there is a great bus system, with maps at each stop. Everyone speaks English and is very helpful so I had no problems finding my way. I also did a lot of walking and felt safe everywhere I went.

To venture outside of the city, take a bus tour from Reykjavik Excursions.

In a city with $10 glasses of beer, it's tough to find an affordable place to stay. I was a little skeptical of the Salvation Army, but I got a single room with my own sink and a very comfortable bed. The room was definitely small, but that was expected.

The bathroom and showers were down the hall and were reasonably clean. There was a shared kitchen/social area down the hall as well. The only negative was you could smell cigarette smoke because my room was near the "smoking room." In general, everything was pretty clean. I was there in May and didn't really run into too many other guests.

The location is excellent, within 2 minutes of the main street. My room also came with breakfast, which included a variety of Icelandic meats, cheeses, and other interesting things. During breakfast I was able to socialize a bit with the other tourists and staff.

The lobby had a person working 24/7 and you can come and go as you please. They were very helpful for arranging tours, etc. The hostel can accommodate up to 90 guests in different types of rooms for varying prices. I think the cheapest shared rooms cost around $20. My room, a private single, was the most expensive offered, and I believe it was between $75 and $100 per night—expensive for a hostel, but cheaper than all the other hotels in the area.

This man-made thermal lagoon is a must-see in Reykjavik, and right by the airport too. While there's a full spa and restaurant, I just took advantage of swimming in the warm (almost hot) lagoon and rubbing the exfoliating salts on my skin. At one point during my lounging, a waitress brought around bright green (alcoholic) drinks to everyone swimming!

The building facility offers locker rooms for men and women, a restaurant, and full-service spa. Geothermal salts are used to make various beauty and skin care products packaged under the Blue Lagoon brand, which of course are available for sale here. The spa offers massages and all sorts of skin treatments, and the restaurant offers great views of the lagoon, while serving traditional Icelandic food as well as healthy fare.

You can take a Reykjavik Excursions bus tour or take a taxi right from the airport. Their website is www.bluelagoon.com.

Current listing of hours is:
September 1 - May 14 Daily from 10:00 - 20:00
May 15 - August 31 Daily from 09:00 - 21:00

The admission is under $20.

This is just a truly beautiful place that you have to go to in order to really appreciate!

Going to the geothermal pools was the best part of my trip to Iceland. You can walk or take a bus to one of the seven municipal pools—this one is the largest.

Admission is cheap (which is very nice considering the rest of Iceland is exorbitant)—only about a few dollars. If you buy the 'passport' to the city—which includes transportation—admission to all the pools is also included.

Now, they're pretty strict about this, so here are the rules:
1. Remove your clothing in the same-sex locker room.

2. Put your bathing suit in a cubby by the open showering area.

3. Get some soap and pay attention to the signs and pictures DESCRIBING WHERE YOU NEED TO WASH! Yes, as the signs explain, because bacteria can grow in certain areas, pay particular attention to those areas! (I wish I took a photo of the sign, but with all the naked people around I figured they wouldn't like that.)

4. Put your bathing suit on.

5. Run very quickly out the door (into the rain/snow/etc) and into the hot tub!

Now, I went on a fairly cold day in May, but the hot pots (natural hot tubs of varying temperatures) were nice and steamy. Only a few people were in the lap pool, but that was warm too. And a few daring kids went on the water slide. Now, I can't pass up a waterslide, so out of the hot tubs and onto the cold floor, and up the FREEZING metal steps I went, but it was worth it to say I was there!

Reykjavik Excursions seems to have a monopoly on tours, but they do an excellent job. You can book their tours at the airport, at any hotel, at the bus station, etc.

They will pick you up at your hotel and you can buy your ticket at the station, where you get on a different bus with your tour.

When I did my tour, there were four other people, all in their 20s as well.

This tour is a great overview of the amazing natural beauty of Iceland. You go to Geysir (a geyser) and see the very frequent eruptions and can go to the Geysir museum (tour includes admission). My favorite part of the tour though was seeing Gullfoss, an incredible waterfall. You can walk to vista points and get sprayed by the falls (wear a jacket!) and if it's sunny, you'll probably see a rainbow or two.

While it's not officially included on the tour, our group leader must have liked that we were all young and healthy, so we took a hiking tour of a park too (I wish I could remember the name, not that I could spell it anyway) and also to a horse farm where we could view the famous Icelandic horses (they're short and have long hair). We also walked along the Continental Divide, and got to view the glaciers in the distance from Geysir.

All in all it was a really great tour encompassing the scenic highlights of Iceland. Price was about $75.