where we go, velkomin til Iceland!Lisaiceland, reykjavik, travel, golden circle, itinerary, tips, icelandair, west iceland, south iceland, vik, keflavik, blue lagoon, snaefellsjokullComment

velkomin til Iceland!

where we go, velkomin til Iceland!Lisaiceland, reykjavik, travel, golden circle, itinerary, tips, icelandair, west iceland, south iceland, vik, keflavik, blue lagoon, snaefellsjokullComment
velkomin til Iceland!

A flyover city gets its first direct European flight!

If you live near a major airport, you won’t truly grasp the level of rejoicing that ensued on Grand Avenue the day they announced direct flights from Kansas City to Reykjavik. Now granted the other proposed options were direct flights to London or Munich; so Iceland was possibly not my first choice. And yet. A choice nonetheless.

So not only were the flights direct, they were cheaper than flying to LA at under $400 each. The IcelandAir planes were surprisingly comfortable, and with a flight time of only 6 hours we didn’t feel the need to upgrade to economy plus.

We arrived in Iceland an hour ahead of schedule and word to the wise: there’s not much you can do there at 4:30 AM on a rainy Tuesday. Second word to the wise: try to snooze on the flight over so that you don’t fall asleep at the wheel (like friends of ours did that week) and total your car in the rocky landscape that surrounds the narrow roads (and put $33K on your credit card while waiting months for the insurance to sort it out – again for a friend).

Because we only had 5 ½ days, we stayed in downtown Reykjavik and drove each day to sites in Western and Southern Iceland only. Next time, I would stay twice as long and drive the Ring Road which circles the entire country.

Day One

Where we went

  • Gardur Old Lighthouse

  • Reykjanes Lighthouse

  • Blue Lagoon – schedule this BEFORE you get to Iceland and schedule it for soon after your flight lands

  • Hallgrimskirkja – iconic church

What we ate

  • Breakfast Sigurjónsbakarí – delicious bakery near the airport

  • Lunch Papa’s Grill in Grindavik – best fish & chips I’ve ever had (including England!) Sorry/not sorry Alistair

  • The English Pub for drinks in Reykjavik – Guinness on tap so we had to stop

  • Dinner Eld Smidjan in Reykjavik – great pizza

Day Two

Where we went

  • Whale watching in Olafsvik using Laki Tours

  • Early Sept best for seeing Pilot Whales and not much else

  • Hiking near Snaefellsjoekull Park

  • Climb to top of Saxholl crater

  • Climbed Purkholar peak

  • Walked to Malarrifsviti lighthouse and Londranger cliffs

What we ate

  • Breakfast @ Braud & Co in Reykavik: the best bakery there

  • Lunch @ Sker in Olafsvik: more fish & chips!

  • Dinner @ apartment: leftover pizza

Day 3

Where we went

  • Golden Circle Day!

    • Thingvellir National Park (wherein we learned about their national congress)

    • Geysir (wherein we randomly ran into friends from KC!)

    • Gulfoss (wherein we got wet with massive waterfalls)

What we ate

  • Breakfast @ Braud & Co in Reykavik again!

  • Lunch @ Linden Bistro Café in Laugarvatn

  • Dinner @ RIO in Reykavik (South American)

  • Drinks @ the Drunk Rabbit Irish Pub (wherein I thought it was “cool” to do handstands on the deck – and I was right!)

Day 4

Where we went

  • More waterfalls: Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi

  • They are right by each other and you can actually walk into a cave at Gljúfrabúi if the water is at the right level (too high for us)

  • Solheimajokull glacier: it wasn’t even on our list but we passed the sign for it and had to see it (totally worth the hike)

  • Black beach @ Rejsnefjara

What we ate

  • Breakfast @ Braud & Co in Reykavik yet again!

  • Lunch @ Suder in Vik

  • Dinner @ Apotek in Reykavik (favorite dinner spot)

Day 5

Where we went

  • Shopping day in Reykavik

  • Phallological Museum (not a typo)

What we ate

  • Breakfast @ Café Babalu in Reykavik

  • Lunch snack @ Rekyavik Fish

  • Dinner @ Ghandi in Reykavik