I am curious about the capital – Reykjavik. But nothing really prepares for the first look at the landscape – all the way from the airport to the city. There is definitely a Scandinavian feel to the architecture.

The general information about Iceland you find here:

Getting here

The closest Airport to Reykjavik is the Keflavik International Airport – Airport transfers to the city takes about 45 minutes – The public bus takes half an hour longer. In general there is no problem in getting the tickets upon arrival at the airport – there is a booth there selling tickets, and there are buses waiting outside regardless of your arrival time that will leave about 35-40 minutes after flight arrival.

Options are:

Airport Direct has options. Check them out at https://airportdirect.is/

Flybus shuttle https://www.re.is/flybus/

Grayline https://grayline.is/airport-transfer/

Along the way from the airport to Reykjavik , there are the special lavafields. To walk on them is akin to walking on the moon!

Getting Around

Day Pass for bus is around 1500krn and can be found at the Main tourist office , or some hotels and bigger swimming pools.

If paying for the tickets on the bus, then you need to have the exact change.

Seeing Reykjavik

I did not see a lot of Reykjavik – only the downtown area due to several excursion trips planned. I would have liked to explore more and further – but it was a lack of time rather than interest that unfortunately prevented it. The downtown is very walkable and I really recommend staying at hotels close to or at the downtown areas.

Laugavegur

Is the longest shopping street in Reykjavik. On both sides are both shops and restaurants, I looked with interest on the high prices here and wonder how tourists do here in terms of spending.

Downtown Reykjavik

So far downtown is quite easily walkable – it truly feels like a large fishing village except that it has larger shops and a Hard Rock Cafe too.

Hallgrímskirkja Church

This is an imposing figure of a church , you can see it from everywhere in Rejkyavik. Once you enter it, it looks very basic and clean, somehow fitting for this place. Very unlike the heavily adorned churches in central Europe. In the middle of the church courtyard stands a statue of Leifur Eiríksson a Viking hero believed to have discovered America before Columbus did.

Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre

This unique looking building is at the old harbour and has won architectural design awards. One look at it, and it is not surprising.

Iceland Phallogical Museum

Well, here is one unusual museum – it apparently houses the phallus of all mammal specimens found in Iceland. It is at the main street of Laugavegur and here is the link to opening times and tickets, http://phallus.is/en/

Excursions from Reykjavik

Reykjavik is a very good place to use as a base for sight seeing and excursions. A lot of excursion and tour buses do pick ups from the hotels or nearby bus stops. I would recommend doing some research of where the pick-up points are to select your accomodations. The List below are just some possibilities. I have decided to put the others in separate posts such as Golden Circle Tour and South Iceland.

*Tip: When watching animals in their environment, you have to prepare that you may not get to see what you set out for. Check to see if the tour operator gives out free tickets for another try if you are disappointed in the watch. Elding as I know, does this. That is why my advice is to try to plan the Whale watch and the natural phenomenon Northern Lights tour at the beginning of your trip – so you could retry in case of failure the first time.

The tours could also be cancelled depending on weather conditions so check with the Hotel reception on the day of the tour or the tour company website.

We had good luck to being able to see the Northern Lights as well as the whales on the first attempt.

Whale Watching

We went down to the old harbour to change our vouchers to actual tickets at the Elding office. The old harbour was an awesome sight to behold.

I highly recommend doing a whale watching trip with Elding. They use good and well-equipped boats for bringing out guests to sea – On the particular boat we were on, it had both indoor and outdoor where you can watch for the whales with live commentary of any spottings. The indoor has restrooms as well as a cafe for getting warm drinks or anything small that you fancy. It gave the impression of being a safe boat to be on. The guides were also experienced in spotting wildlife and could point out different birds along the way. Most of all my high recommendation of Elding comes with how impressed I was with their practise of responsible tourism with regards to the wildlife and nature. Check them out for yourself – they also have a diary and they also do Northern Lights cruise. https://elding.is/

Luckily could wait out the time before boarding the bus at a nice coffee shop sipping hot chai latte.

We drove for almost an hour to Grindavik before boarding the whale watching boat. Firstly was adorning the pullovers that was offered. Glad I did otherwise it would not be possible to stand the icy wind up on deck.

We sailed for a hour with different birds flying along in accompaniment. So unbelievably graceful as they dive into the water to catch fish.

Its a lucky thing the lady gave us free sea sick tablets because the boat was riding hard on the stormy waves. Then all of a sudden humpback whales were spotted. And I forgot how cold I was when trying to catch a glimpse of them. They made a surface appearance before diving down for food. It was incredible to see these big mammals, up close and personal. They didnt seem too bothered by the boat as they surfaced rather close by.

Here are some photos courtesy of Elding!

On the sail back I started to get a bit sick. Maybe brought on by seeing a lady hurl her food in front of me ! I had to keep eyes on the horizon and managed to make it all the way back to the hotel.

Northern Lights Tour

This is the main reason we braved the cold and icy winds and visited Iceland during this time, for a chance to catch sight of the Northern Lights. I rescheduled the Northern Lights Tour to the very first day of touchdown in Reykjavik – this was because of the tip I gave above , to be able to try again – in case it was not successful and also because I was tracking the indices of the greater chance to see it. Here is a good link that I used , check for the Aurora forecast scale on the top right http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/

I would recommend following excursions as opposed to doing it on your own. The experts have connections and real-time spotting information at their disposal. This combined with the experience with weather conditions ensure you with better chances.

It was super cold and I thought I was bundled up properly but I was wrong – the wind in open spaces, are not to be underestimated. So in hindsight , I would have brought an even more functional jacket that would protect from the wind chill , as well as battery powered heating gloves and socks to be able to withstand standing out in the cold waiting for the lights to appear. I am not kidding – it IS that cold.

It is hard to describe the experience – at first it started out like moving clouds but then it got spread out more and more across the sky and changed shape so often moving across the sky as if in a dance. What I saw was shades of grey tinged with a bit of colour, gliding across the sky. It was mesmerizing and I did not think any more about taking photos , but just as if in a trance looking at the gliding shapes across the heavens. It was overwhelming to see.

I have read that you need a good camera which lets you adjusts the settings to capture the Aurora Borealis – also a tripod that it is steady. Lots of people setup their equipments and wait patiently. We followed Reykjavik Excursions , they do good tours but in retrospect, next time I would go with a small group tour which would bring to more remote places away from other groups as well as with photo sessions with Aurora included.

The experience was a little bit spoiled with the big groups of people , taking photos with flashes on their handy. With a good camera, you get an intense coloured version you might not see with your naked eyes. Below is a photo courtesy of Reykjavik Excursions.

Blue Lagoon

The world famous Blue Lagoon needs no introduction , this large lake is light opaque blue and has a temperature of 39 degrees Celcius, which is perfect for soaking in even during the coldest winter months. It is 15 minutes away from Keflavik airport. I did not visit it although I had transportation to and from there. The high price factor was one of the reasons I decided to visit another part of Iceland instead. Ticket prices fluctuate by the date but costed approximately 60 Euros for the cheapest package. Also I found out that the warmth is not natural from the ground but rather from being in close proximity to the geothermal plant. Anyhow here is the link for opening times and ticket prices https://www.bluelagoon.com/

Food choices

The first morning in Iceland with the first taste of Icelandic breakfast. Its Continental style breakfast but obvious with tuna salads and also fresh herring is offered.

We frequented a bistro selling Thai food which went for a reasonable price of about 16 Euros for a curry dish. Yes, that is already considered reasonable in Iceland.

Another reasonable option lies across the street from the Thai, which sells very good noodle soup for about 1,640ISK. This is called Noodle Station on the famous Laugavegur Street.

 

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