Hallgrimskirkja. The iconic cathedral in downtown Reykjavik.

Volcanoes, ice, snow, wind, street art, and hotdogs

Iceland has been on my bucket list for a long time and in 2019, we finally went. I can tick it off the list now.

How did Iceland get on my bucket list? Its a bit embarrassing but I’d rather be honest about it. I have always been interested in Nordic countries and Vikings so it was always on the bucket list to visit all the Nordic countries and see the Northern Lights.

This small country in the north was first noticed by most people when the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010 and air travel was disrupted in Europe and into North America. There were so many people exclaiming “I hate Iceland” at the crowded airports and it was all over the news. Then in 2016 the Icelandic football team qualified for the UEFA European football championship and FIFA in 2018. Their fans had a very cool chant that was just one distinct clap above their heads. This drew attention to this small country to the adventurous travelers. Soon enough, my social media feed

Images of the blue lagoon, black sand beaches, northern lights, waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers, and the iconic Hallgrimskirkja church in downtown Reykjavik flooded my social media feeds on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and also various travel publications like Afar and Travel Channel was highlighting how awesome this country is. Succumbing to the popularity of this destination - it is not always cool to admit that marketing works but it does. However pictures and videos aside, Iceland exceeded my expectations. It is even more beautiful than what I can show you in my blog post and pictures.

Sun Voyager, a stainless steel sculpture of a boat by Jón Gunnar Árnason located by the sea in downtown Reykjavik

Base yourself in the capital city of Reykjavik

The convenience of basing yourself in the capital city of Reykjavik gives you more food, lodging, and entertainment options when you’re tired of exploring the natural wilderness that Iceland has to offer. There are also a number of tour operators that do day trips out of the city to visit the waterfalls, glaciers, volcanoes, black sand beaches, etc. If you are not used to driving in all kinds of extreme weather conditions that Iceland has in a day, I highly recommend that you join small group tours instead of trying to tackle the elements on your own in a rental car because that could potentially be dangerous. During a tour to the south end of island, our tour minibus encountered several cars sidelined on the side of the road in whiteout snowy conditions because they couldn’t see the road. Its both dangerous for oncoming traffic and dangerous to be stuck in those kinds of conditions. We were happy that we decided to join the tour instead of trying to brave the elements on our own.

That being said… there are so many tour operators in Iceland for every type of budget and traveler. Since tourism in Iceland is probably the biggest industry in Iceland, you would be hard-pressed to find a tour that doesn’t suit your needs.

If you’re the adventurous type of person that loves steep hiking trails and challenging climbs, there are loads of tours that take you through ice caves. I thought this would be a super cool experience but sadly, I was a bit terrified of getting hurt by slipping and falling in an ice cave because I don’t have the right shoe equipment. You would definitely need special gear for these types of tours!

Like many visitors to Iceland, I really wanted to be able to see the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights during our trip so we booked a private Northern Lights tour to try to catch them just outside the capital city. The tour guide picked us up at the hotel and then drove us to some spots just outside of the city to try to capture the auroras. We were however unlucky in those spots but on the drive back, the Northern lights came out so the tour guide parked off the side of the road and we watched the lights dance across the dark sky with the glare of some city lights. One of the things I learned was that to be able to see the auroras, the perfect conditions have to be met.

Check out the colorful streets of reykjavik

The buildings in Reykjavik are very colourful and the street art brings color to the dreary grey skies, if you happen to be in Iceland during the winter months (which lets be honest here is most of the year!).

Eat an Icelandic hotdog

Icelandic hotdogs have been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations show and are a blend of pork, beef, and lamb. Though it may seem like a hype and touristy to have the famous hotdog from Baejrins Best Pylsur it is also wallet-friendly in a country that is notorious for not being very budget friendly especially when it comes to eating out. Don’t bring instant ramen noodles, eat Icelandic hotdogs! We also ate a delicious Icelandic hotdog from Hlemmur food hal’s Skâl It was a seasonal item on their Icelandic menu so you might be out of luck if they aren’t offering it when you visit but they do have delicious pizza from Flatey pizza at the food hall.

Speaking of noodles… eat noodles at Noodle station

Seriously don’t bring instant ramen noodles packed in your luggage. There’s better noodles that you can eat in downtown Reykjavik and its found at Noodle Station

We kept walking by this packed noodle place with tourists and locals slurping bowls of soupy noodles that looked like Taiwanese beef noodle soup. The cold crisp air made us want something soup-y to warm our cold hands and we sauntered in. Instantly we’re greeted with that earthy herbal meaty smell from the big vats of soup they have behind the counter. Ordering is straight forward and the place is very simple but you will be treated to such a comforting bowl of soup and noodles with loads of flavor.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Noodle Station Selfoss (@noodlestationisl)

Visit Hallgrimskirkja church

Try pronouncing Icelandic names if you’re not a native speaker. This church is the icon of the city and towers over the downtown area with regal authority. Like all of the world’s monuments, this is your “compass” for your entire stay in Reykjavik. Using monuments to orient yourself in the city is a good way to know where you are. 74.5 meters tall, this towering church is easily the tallest building in Iceland. This Lutheran church is not very old and opened in 1986. Construction started in 1945 it took 41 years to build and was named after the Icelandic poet, Hallgrimur Petursson. The church has bells at the top of the tower and rung each hour. The interior is not as intricately decorated as other historical churches in Europe but the colossal high ceilings makes the space appear grand and important.

Opening hours:

Valid from May 20th 2024 - August 31st 2024
Church: 9:00-20:00
Tower: 9:00-19:45

Valid from September 1st 2024 - May 19th 2025
Church: 10:00 - 17:00
Tower: 10:00 - 16:30 (last entrance to tower)

Tower tickets:
Tickets are available in the church shop.

The tower ticket is valid for one visit on the day of purchase.
Adults: 1400 ISK
Children: 7-16 : 200 ISK
Discount price for seniors (67+), disabled (disability card) and students (valid student
card): 1000 ISK

Visit Hallgrimskirkja

Take a tour of south iceland

We booked a day trip tour to explore the southern regions. I highly recommend this option because we were picked up at our hotel in the morning and dropped off at our hotel at the end of the day. A convenient way to see the beauty of Iceland without having to rent a car and brave the tough environmental elements that can change in an instant in Iceland. (Scroll above to watch the video and see the whiteout conditions!)

This is the tour we booked: South Coast, Jokulsarlon, and Diamond Beach tour

The coach that picked us up was a medium sized bus so not one of those big tour coach buses loaded with tourists. There were about 20-25 of us on the bus so it was fairly a comfortable ride. I fell asleep several times on the bus while we traversed crazy snow and icy conditions. The tour guide was also our bus driver and spoke English. He was well accustomed to weather patterns and roads in Iceland. Our tour guide spoke about the melting glaciers, a bit about the volcano eruptions, Justin Bieber’s music video shoot off the coast, environmental impact of climate change in Iceland, weather patterns, and took us to Vik village, Fjallsárlón Lagoon, Diamond Beach, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, and Stjórnarfoss waterfall. Even though there were a lot of beautiful sights, the journey through Iceland was memorable.

What about the Blue Lagoon?!

We ran out of time. I really wanted to go and have a spa day but we simply ran out out of time on our 5 days in Iceland.

I guess another trip to Iceland will need to be planned in the future - perhaps during the summer months to take advantage of whale watching and puffin tours.

Some alternative lagoons Myvatn nature baths, Vök baths, Sky lagoon, Forest lagoon, Krauma geothermal spa, Laugarvatn fontana.

I love spa days and want to do more spa-vacations in the future as sometimes you truly need to unwind and relax in nature on vacation instead of out exploring all the time.