Hey,
So last month my boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Iceland for our anniversary. I knew we were going somewhere as I needed to book time off work etc but had no idea where. On our way to the airport he finally told me and I couldn’t have been happier he had been planning it for months with the help of the girls in Roscrea Travel again so huge thanks to them 🙂
We flew with Iceland Air and the flight duration was about 2 hours 15 minutes
Our trip was all done with Wallace Travel Group so when we arrived at the airport there were buses waiting for us to bring us to the different hotels and they each had a tour guide. All of the tours we did were with this group so it was very handy for us.
Hotel
We stayed in the Skuggi Hotel which was a gorgeous modern hotel that was in the best location. The hotel staff were so friendly when we arrived check in took about two minutes even though there was a bus load of us. The rooms were small enough but had everything we needed and were so warm you would never think it was so cold outside. The bed was so comfy and the shower was amazing. The decor throughout the hotel was stunning I love the modern look and this hotel was fab. We had breakfast included every morning for me there wasn’t that great a selection when it came to hot food but other than that it was great as it saved us from having to buy breakfast which would have cost so much as Iceland is extremely pricey.
The hotel was in a great location we walked 5 minutes around the corner and we were on the main street in Reykjavik it was so handy.
Trips
Blue Lagoon
Our first night in Iceland we went to the Blue Lagoon. This was such an amazing experience it was so cold outside but the moment you get into the water its so hot! Its such a weird feeling being outside in 0 degrees in your swimwear in water but also so amazing at the same time. There is a bar in the lagoon so you can swim over and get drinks I got prosecco and also picked up a water proof case for my phone here so I could take photos in the lagoon. There is also another place where you can get face masks. After the lagoon my skin felt amazing it was so soft. I’m glad I got to experience this at night but I also wanted to go during the say so we could really see the colour of the water and the views around us.
On our last day there was another chance to go to the Blue Lagoon as it is so close to the airport we checked out of our hotel early and brought our suitcases with us. As this was with Wallace Travel Group they collected us and we left our suitcases on the bus this was so handy. The Blue Lagoon is so different during the day than at night they are both amazing experiences so if possible I would do both. I loved every minute of the Lagoon I just couldn’t get over the water and the amazing blue milky colour that it was.
Northern Lights
The Northern Lights was another big thing that we wanted to see when in Iceland. Actually getting to see these is all down to the weather if its cloudy your not gonna see anything. On our first night after the Blue Lagoon trip we went to see the Northern Lights this was all included in the one trip package our tour guide did say that the weather wasn’t good for the lights and that there is an app that measures the chances of seeing them and the scale was low so unfortunately we didn’t see them.
We decided to try again on the Saturday night with a different tour operator that our hotel booked for us we got collected around 9pm and stayed out until about 1am searching for the lights. The tour guides use apps specifically for searching for the Northern Lights to look for areas with clear skies and they bring us there. Unfortunately we didn’t see any this time either.
Whale Watching
My boyfriend had booked a Whale Watching trip that was suggested by the travel agency before we left for the Saturday. I do get bad travel sick but said I would take travel tablets and try it out. Unfortunately as Iceland is one of the windiest countries the sea was very bad and I was sick for this whole trip along with most of the boat. We didn’t see any whales so I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone thinking of going. When we chatted to our Wallace Travel Tour guide the next day he said if he had of known we were doing this he would have advised us not to at this time of year. So if you are thinking of booking any trips like this I would wait until you are in Iceland and check with the agents there as they would know more about them.
Food
Iceland is very expensive so eating out cost us a lot. There was a steakhouse restaurant near us and we decided to try it out the second night we had to book and the place was packed so we thought this was a good sign unfortunately it wasn’t we ended up paying almost 70euro each for one steak dinner that wasn’t nice at all we had no drinks, starters or dessert so this just shows how expensive it is.
A pint is around 10euro so it is recommended to use the Happy Hour in your hotel or pubs/restaurants that have happy hour to help save money.
On our last night we went to an Italian restaurant and we both got two courses and the total for that was around 90euro so some places are obviously cheaper than others but it is still very expensive compared to eating out in Ireland.
Shopping
We did take a trip one of the days to the shopping center in Reykjavik it had all the usual shops that we would have here but of course the price was about double the price we would ay here so I didn’t actually buy anything. I did try my first frozen yogurt though I had seen these stores on telly all the time and was dying to have one.
Hallgrímskirkja
We took a walk to the Hallgrímskirkja which is the parish church in Reykjavik. This can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. The church is beautiful inside and the outside. You can pay a fee and go up to the top which we did because the views are stunning we got some amazing photos up there.
Some more photos from my trip:
Richael x