I recently had the pleasure of spending 48 hours in Iceland with friends from Boston as part of an Iceland Air stopover trip. Never heard of a stopover trip before? Iceland Air’s concept is brilliant. Travelers can fly from the U.S. to cities in Europe and the UK (or vice versa) for inexpensive rates with a 48-hour (ish) stopover in Iceland. The end result becomes a diverse, yet incredibly fun trip.
As I am currently based out of London, I decided to join my friends for the 48-hour Iceland stopover portion of the trip. Iceland is a three-hour flight from London, so why not!? With limited time in Iceland, here’s how we spent our 48-hours exploring sites like The Blue Lagoon, The Golden Circle and the city of Reykjavik.
The Flight
As mentioned, I flew Iceland Air from London Heathrow. As the trip was a touch spontaneous and last-minute, I ended up getting the best flight deal from lastminute.com, which was a good booking experience. I had no issues with checking in, selecting seats, etc., like you sometimes do when booking through a third party website.
Overall, Iceland Air is a good flying experience. In order to make it the best flight experience, you need to understand a bit more about how the airline works to manage expectations in advance. By American standards, the overhead bin limit is on the smaller side, so just measure your carry on suitcase ahead of time, as they are strict about this.
Onboard, you can have water, soda, tea and coffee for free, but they only offer food and snacks for a fee, so plan accordingly. While I did not try any of the in-flight food offerings, they did look pretty decent. My flight had in-flight WIFI for a fee, a USB charging port and a solid assortment of movies and TV to watch.
My final tip is that with Iceland Air (and many flights within Europe) you often need to board a shuttle bus to your plane and climb up a set of stairs into a plane with any cabin baggage. They do offer special assistance for people who need it, but just be aware ahead of time.
The Arrival
My flight landed in Reykjavik at 3:40pm, less than one hour before the sunset. Sidebar: In January, the sun sets at 4:30pm and sunrise is at 10:30am. How crazy is that!?
Given that amount of ground we wanted to cover during our 48 hours, we decided to rent a car. We ended up going with Thrify, but you can use sites like Skyscanner or Kayak if you’re looking to shop around for the best price. Not sure you want to drive? There are a number of bus options that you can pay to drive you to and from popular tourist destinations, if you do not want to drive.
However, I would say that if you want flexibility, renting your own car is the way to go. The roads are really easy to drive on – they drive on the right hand side of the road in Iceland. While it does snow a lot in the winter, we only experienced rain during our trip, so I could not speak to snowy road conditions.
Depending on which car rental company you select, the airport offers a shuttle to them every 15 minutes. We waited for the shuttle to Thrifty, only to later realize it was a 3-minute walk from the airport. Don’t make that mistake if your luggage is light and manageable!
Blue Lagoon Or Bust!
While many travelers go from the airport straight to The Blue Lagoon (it is very close to the airport), we wanted to purchase groceries and check into our Airbnb first. Given that Reykjavik and the surrounding towns are about 30-40 minutes away from the Blue Lagoon, I would recommend you try and fit in the Blue Lagoon either upon arrival or before heading home.
When planning a trip to the Blue Lagoon, you must book your visit in advance. I don’t have an opinion on day vs. night – we only went at night because we booked very last minute, so feel free to seek out additional opinions there. For your visit, make sure to read through the Blue Lagoon’s ‘before you go’ information that they send over to you upon booking. You will need a bathing suit, but they do rent out towels, bathrobes, etc. there for an additional fee. We ended up bringing our own towels from the Airbnb to save a bit of money, as they are a touch pricey to rent.
Upon entry, you are given a blue bracelet with a sensor on it. The bracelet serves as your locker key and payment for any drinks you consume while in the lagoon. Yes, they do have a full bar and non-alcoholic drinks – and there are other dining options as well before or after the lagoon.
Before entering the Blue Lagoon, everyone must take a shower and you are encouraged to put conditioner in your hair, as the silica is not harmful to your hair, but apparently can make it very stiff. I did not do this, but I did not go under the water. My hair still ended up getting soaked though with the rain, ugh! Don’t worry though, the Blue Lagoon has nice locker room facilities with hair dryers for after.
Yours truly in the Blue Lagoon!
Although we went to the Blue Lagoon in January and it was freezing AND raining out, we still very much enjoyed our experience. You feel the pain of the wintry chill for less than one minute as you enter/exit the Blue Lagoon, but once you are in the warm water, you really do not feel it. I thought my head would be cold – especially with the rain, but it was not at all.
Once in the Blue Lagoon, you realize how vast it is. I highly encourage you to wade your way through as much as possible! I personally was amazed at how many languages we heard as we wandered around – while unique to Iceland, it truly is an international experience. Another good tip is to invest in a waterproof phone or camera case. The Blue Lagoon is so cool that you will want to take photos in it and my friend almost ruined his phone trying to keep it dry while snapping a few photos of our group.
Day Two: Road Tripping The Golden Circle and Lunch At A Tomato Farm
Another must-see during an Iceland stopover is The Golden Circle. The Golden Circle covers about 300 kilometers from Reykjavik to the southern uplands of Iceland and back and includes popular sights to see like Pingvellir National Park, the Strokkur geyser, Gullfoss Waterfall, and more.
Þingvellir National Park
Our first stop was Pingvellir National Park, which is also called Thingvellir National Park. Dubbed “the national shrine of Iceland,” the park has a rich history and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – apparently the oldest existing parliament in the world first assembled here in 930 AD.
In addition to the park’s rich history, the park boasts scenic vistas, hiking, camping, fishing, diving, horseback riding, and more.
Þingvellir National Park
Tip: Don’t forget to pay to park here. They have some very crafty parking lot attendants all too eager to give you a ticket. We would have completely missed this had we not seen a nearby car getting one. There are stations you can pay at on each side of the parking lot.
Unfortunately, it was absolutely bucketing down rain with high winds when we arrived, making this visit far too short. We rain to and from the closest observation point to snap some photos and it’s amazing how my photos do not reflect the weather conditions. I was absolutely soaked in minutes!
En route to our second stop, the most amazing thing happened – the weather completely transformed. Unfortunately my photos do not do the landscape justice, but we were so wowed, we had to stop and take it in!
Gorgeous! Somewhere along the Golden Circle….
Our second stop on our Golden Circle road trip was Fridheimar, a family-owned tomato farm. At first we were all teasing our friend Aaron who suggested stopping here, but upon entry, we realized what a cool find this place was.
The entrance to Fridheimar
As you walk in, you immediately smell vine-ripened tomatoes and are wowed by perfectly green, lush tomato plants.
Inside Fridheimar
The atmosphere is equal parts working greenhouse and chic café. The staff are incredibly friendly and explain to you how the farm and greenhouse work to supply 20 percent of Iceland’s tomato supply.
The charming tables with views of the tomato plants
We had booked in advance for lunch, which is encouraged if you would like to dine here. Most of the surrounding tables were reserved. The lunch menu includes three options, including an unlimited tomato soup and bread option, a spinach and ricotta ravioli and a tomato, basil, mozzarella tortilla pizza. There are also a number of very clever tomato cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
Lunch is served!
As the farm is famous for its homemade tomato soup, we all ordered it. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. The tomato soup was just divine! The soup is vegetarian dairy-free (I believe vegan, but feel free to check first) and you are given fresh basil, sour cream, cucumber ribbons, salt and pepper to flavor it to your liking. The fresh bread is heavenly too! So heavenly, my friend cheekily asked if we could bring some home with us and much to our surprise, the restaurant was more than happy to accommodate and gave us a small bag to fill up.
Delicious homemade bread
To finish our meal, we decided to try one of the restaurant’s tomato desserts. I know, tomato flavored desserts? We ordered the red and green tomato ice cream and it was surprisingly delicious!
Red & green tomato ice cream! Yummm!!!
After our meal, we lingered around a bit longer, snapping photos and visiting the farm’s charming ‘Little Tomato Shop.’
Tomato tourist alert!
With happy bellies full of tomato soup, we continued to our third stop of our Golden Circle tour to nearby Strokkur, one of Iceland’s most famous geysers.
Geysir Hot Spring Area
Unfortunately, it was absolutely bucketing down rain again, but we braved it for as long as we could to see a few geyser bursts!
Strokkur geyser
Wait for it…wait for it!
Strokkur’s geyser spouting into the air!
The lively Strokkur spouts water 30 meters (100 ft) into the air every few minutes.
Strokkur geyser
I did find it interesting that this area first became active more than 1,000 years ago and comprises of more than a dozen geysers. Although they are less active these days, this is where the name geyser first originated.
Geyser Hot Spring Area
For those who like to shop on holiday, you must check out the gift shop at Geyser. It was my absolute favorite one by far, with a mix of luxe furs, thick stocks and tons of adorable children’s gear. There is also a little café adjacent to the shop which has coffee/tea, food, cakes, etc, which is great as there are not too many food stops in between destinations along the Golden Circle.
The charming Geysir shop
The charming Geysir shop
Our final stop of the day was the iconic Gullfoss waterfall. It is truly breathtaking. The water plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon which walls reach up to 70 meters in height.
The stunning Gullfoss waterfall
To get a better feel for how amazing the Gullfoss waterfall is, check out the video footage I captured.
Day Three: A Quick Tour and Epic Lunch in Reykjavik
After a jam-packed day, we packed up and checked out of our charming Airbnb in Hafnarfjordur, suburban Reykjavik, and made our way into the city. As we had the car, I was very happy with our location. Hafnarfjordur is a suburban area on the water and our Airbnb was a very short walking or driving distance to a shopping center with a number of restaurants and cafes. Plus, it was a very short drive into Reykjavik.
Before I share photos of Reykjavik, check out our charming Airbnb!
The view from our Airbnb
Our trip into Reykjavik started with a visit to Hallgrímskirkja, the largest church in Iceland and one of the country’s tallest structures.
The dramatic exterior of Hallgrímskirkja
Architect Guðjón Samúelsson’s design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland’s landscape.
The door to Hallgrímskirkja
The interior of Hallgrímskirkja
The impressive organ at Hallgrímskirkja
Shhhh…..
After taking a wander along the lovely shopping street Laugavegur, lauded by Vogue as Reykjavik’s coolest street, we went for lunch at Snaps.
What’s really lovely about Snaps restaurant is that they have a reasonably priced “catch of the day.” During our lunch visit, the meal was a delicious roasted halibut with pumpkin, daikon, grapes and avocado. While that seems a bit random, trust me, it was delicious!
A beautiful meal at Snaps
Final Thoughts
All in all, it was a wonderful 48 hours in Iceland. If my visit taught me anything, it’s that I’ve only seen a fraction of what this beautiful country has to offer. I would love nothing more than to come back in the future and explore!
For more of my travel adventures, click here.