Eat and Drink -
The first thing we did in Reykjavik was look for food. I didn't research which restaurants to go to since Sen, and I love restaurants and bar hop when we are in a new city. This trip was no exception. Food experience is part of our adventure. However, I asked you for some recommendations on one of my IG posts, and you delivered! Thanks to @ix2392, Sen and I tried Puffin, Whale, Horse, and Shark. Thanks to @gradytatefitness, we tried Hardfiskur (no photo, though). My favorites were Shark, Reindeer, and Hardfiskur.
I must agree that food and drinks in Iceland are pretty expensive.
Two hacks for alcoholic drinks:
1. Purchase them at the duty-free store at the airport, which is located on the same floor as the baggage claim. The alcohol there is way cheaper than what you will get anywhere else in the country. 2. go out during Happy Hours, where drinks are at 50% off. Every restaurants' Happy Hour is a little different. Still, it almost always surrounds 5 PM - 9 PM.
The most economical but tasty item we had during our trip was the Icelandic Hot Dog. We tried a total of 3 hot dog stands, and our favorite one is The Hot Dog Stand. It's super cute, the hot dog was excellent, and the staff had a great sense of humor. When you order the hot dog, make sure to order it with everything in them. The hot dog had a layer of crispy onion on the bottom, very crunchy and tasty.
I also really liked Lamb Soup.
For the rest of the days, we went and got groceries from a discount supermarket called Bónus. We compared its price with another supermarket in the city, and the price at Bónus is definitely a lot lower. Tip: check out the operating hours to the Bonus store closest to you, since it opens late and closes early.
Explore -
Here is a list of places we visited in Reykjavik:
Blue Lagoon is one of the must-visits for this trip. I know this is a "tourist trap," that it is pricey, and there are many other geothermal pools in Iceland that are cheaper or even free, but this was still a must-visit for us.
TIP: ***You must pre-book the tickets before your visit, and the tickets go fast***
Blue Lagoon is very close to the airport, so many people visit after they land or before heading to the airport. However, we paid a visit on our second day in Iceland due to our arrival and departure times. The drive from Reykjavik to Blue Lagoon is around 40 minutes. Follow the GPS until you are close to the lagoon and see directional signs, then FOLLOW the signs. The GPS will take you to a factory instead.
The water is around 98-104°F (37-40°C) and is self-cleansing. It renews itself every 40 hours or so.
TIP: apply lots of hair conditioner to your hair and tie it up before you get in the pool to prevent them from drying out by the water.
TIP: remove all of your jewelry to avoid being damaged by the water.
We got the package that provides a bathrobe, slippers, towel, a drink, Silica, and Algae masks. Before we went, I was a little concerned about not finding the robe after getting out of the pool. Still, the racks that were provided had numbers on them, so they were easy to identify. We were there for a good 3 hours. It was very worth the hype.
This church was a must-visit for me since seeing something like this in a photo is one thing, but seeing it in person, was totally different. I didn't know this building was just finished in 1986 and thought it was much older due to the design. Totally was imagining the Vikings using this church way back when GoT style!
There is no cost to go inside the church, but a small fee is to go on top of the observation deck. There was a massive line for the observation deck there, so we decided to skip it. However, definitely go to the church, have a seat, and feel the energy.
This was one of the top recommended places to visit on multiple sites, so we went. It is located next to the ocean, so it was a charming walk. The front of the Harpa Concert Hall has a tiny bridge with a geothermal river running beneath it, and I was pretty fascinated.
Inside the concert hall was very cool as well, there are gift shops, a bar, restaurant, the "walls" and "ceilings" of the place are all of these giant windows, as you can see in my photo. The windows would constantly change color from blue to pink to purple, very mesmerizing. We were there for quite a while trying to capture the colors in our photos but ended up thinking this outdoor photo looks better.
I feel like the main point of seeing this sculpture is the walk along the ocean. We did it at night, and the view was amazing! The weather in Iceland changes often, and when we got to the Sun Voyager, it was snowing, which made the experience so much better. There were plenty of parking lots across the street from the ocean, so you could park there and use that as a starting point.
Walk Around & Discover:
There were so many places to explore in the city, whether its to window shop, cute cafes, or simply walking around the streets and taking silly photos.
Hope this post was helpful to your trip planning, and let me know if you have any questions!
