Iceland - Very Cool.

I've wanted to go to Iceland for a long time, so when I finally had it all booked up it was very exciting! Before we knew it the time had come to get on the plane and we were landing in Reykjavik and shivering in the freezing air as we waited to board the bus that would take us to our hotel.

We’d booked a Northern Lights tour for the night we arrived, as I knew that if you didn't see the lights on your first trip you could go on the tour again the next night, and the next… until you did see them! I figured we had the best chance if we had the full 5 nights to try, and as seeing the Lights was one of the main reasons Iceland had been on my Must Visit list for so long, I was determined to give it my best shot! As it turned out the tour on our arrival day got cancelled due to heavy cloud cover, so the chance of seeing them that night was gone. Instead, we explored the streets of Reykjavik near to our hotel, and enjoyed a beer or two at a couple of the many bars we passed along the way.

Waking up on the morning of day 2 we set off to see more of the city in the daylight. During Winter months there’s only around 6 hours of daylight a day, so we were determined to make the most of it! Reykjavik is a relatively small city, and feels a lot more like a town than a city. The streets are quite narrow and there were lots of festive decorations around which added to the cosy feel, despite the cold weather! We headed down to the harbour to see the Viking boat statue before taking refuge in Harpa, the striking concert hall which stands proudly on the sea front. Entry is free, and we enjoyed warming up over a hot chocolate and people watching through the glass sided building.

Harpa is stop 1 on the City Sightseeing bus tour, so we decided to hop on to see more of the far afield parts of Reykjavik that we hadn’t been able to reach on foot. I’ve used City Sightseeing in numerous other cities and always enjoyed using the frequent buses to see the city from the top deck of a bus. So, I was surprised when a small mini van arrived for the tour and found out each stop was only served once an hour! Still, we jumped on and plugged our earphones into the audio commentary and decided to do the whole loop of the tour to get a feel for the city.  In total, the tour took around 45 minutes and listening to the commentary did teach us a bit more about Reykjavik, and the buildings we were passing. The ticket was valid for 24 hours so we were able to “hop on and hop off” as much as we liked in that time, but as hopping off meant having to wait an hour to then hop back on, it wasn’t a realist option for us. Perhaps the buses are bigger and more frequent during Summer, but it’s not something I’d recommend during the Winter months.

The Northern Lights tour was cancelled again that night (more cloud, grrrr!) so after a meal and some more beers (Happy Hour is from 4pm to 8pm so we made the most of the lower prices!) we headed to bed as us girls had an early start the next day as we’d booked to visit the Blue Lagoon!

We were booked onto the first bus of the day which meant a hotel pick up at 8:30am, when it was still pitch black outside (the sun rises at about 10am!) so arriving at the Blue Lagoon in the half-light felt very atmospheric. The volcanic rocks and powder blue pools around the entrance added to the feel that we were entering another world! We excitedly changed into our swimsuit and robes and headed outside for our first glimpse of the lagoon. We’d seen it on TV and in pictures of course, but to see it for real was amazing, and just as exciting as we’d anticipated. Taking off our robes we were freezing but as soon as we were in the water it was lovely and warm! Because we’d been on the first bus of the day the lagoon wasn't too busy, so we were able to float around at our leisure and apply face packs without too many crowds.

I’d booked a massage (you must do this in advance as the slots fill up very fast) and was really looking forward to it as it was an “in water treatment” and promised to be the most unusual massage I’d ever had! I wasn’t let down – my therapist helped me onto a float and then covered me with a blanket before dunking my body under the water to warm the blanket. She gave me a lovely relaxing massage which was made even better by the floaty feeling of being on the water, and despite the cold temperature I was always toasty thanks to that blanket and regular dunkings! The massage was a fantastic and unique experience and although a little pricey, I’d certainly recommend it as it made my visit to the already awesome Blue Lagoon even more memorable.

Thanks to the early bus we were back in Reykjavik by mid-afternoon and had plenty of time to get ourselves dried and fed before the Northern Lights tour, which was finally ON that night! It was with excited anticipation we boarded the bus with the other eager passengers, and set off to the first stop of the hunt for the Lights. It wasn’t long until the excitement turned to frustration however, as our driver took us to a small café where we would “wait for the clouds to pass for 30 minutes.” That 3 minutes turned into 2 hours, and despite patiently looking up at the sky we saw only a slight slither of light from behind a cloud, and the driver decided to call it a night as that slither of light “didn’t count” and cloud cover meant there was no more chance of seeing the Northern Lights that night. Two of our group were heading home the next day, so we were all gutted and returned back to our hotels feeling dejected and tired.

We woke the next day to a hurricane warning. Not quite what we’d had in mind for the girls’ last morning in Reykjavik, but we soldiered on nonetheless and headed down to the harbour for one last famous hot dog for them, and some souvenir shopping before waving them off on the airport bus. After they’d gone we decided to shelter from the weather with a visit to Hallgrimskirkja church, which sits on top of a hill looking out over Reykjavik. We passed on the lift to the top (which offers views of the whole city but charges a fee) and decided on the free option of an English language service from the local priest.  Hallgrimskirkja is a beautiful church with impressive high ceilings and an enormous organ, so to experience a service there was lovely. We could hear the wind howling outside and being on a hill leaving the church meant we got the brunt of the terrible weather and were nearly blown away as we headed back down to warm up in our hotel room!

That evening we managed to get out to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant but the hurricane meant we had to hurry back to our room and take safe shelter. Needless to say, this was not the weather for flying, and the girls’ flight home had been cancelled – they were holed up at an airport hotel and had to phone work to explain they wouldn't be in as planned the next morning! Of course, the Northern Lights tour that evening was also cancelled too. We were starting to think we weren't meant to see them.

The next morning we woke early, as we were booked onto a Golden Circle tour. Much to our happy surprise, the tour was going ahead as the worst of the storm had passed. There was now snow falling but the worst of the wind had died down, so we jumped back on the bus and nabbed the front seats for the best views as we drove through beautiful Iceland.

The Golden Circle is a well-trodden tourist trail, but for good reason.  It covers around 300km looping from Reykjavik and back, and takes in a geothermally active valley featuring the active geyser Strokkur, the huge and impressive Gulfoss waterfalls, and stunning Þingvellir National Park where the tectonic plates of Eurasia and North America meet, albeit with a gape between them which is visible as you pass by. All three locations were fantastic, and the snow only added to the magical atmosphere. Watching Strokkur blow was hugely impressive, as was our first glimpse of roaring Gulfoss, as it’s waters crashed down. Þingvellir National Park has been used to film scenes for Game of Thrones, so people on the coach who were fans of the series really enjoyed seeing locations from the show. I don’t watch it myself, but still loved walking through the park and admiring the beautiful snowy lakes, waterfalls and rocks. It did feel like we’d stepped back in time to the years when Viking parliaments were held there and the drowning pool was in use for law breakers. Out Golden Circle day tour was fab, and I’d definitely recommend anyone heading to Iceland does one if they have the time!

Even though we’d had an amazing day already, it was about to get better… the Northern Lights tour that night was ON! Even better, we could see lots of blue sky above the snowy streets, and felt quietly confident that tonight could be the night. Back on the bus we were taken back to the national park, as earlier tours had seen the start of the lights there, and as soon as we stepped off the coach we could already see more than we had on our previous attempt. Three distinct lines were forming – white and fluffy, but not like clouds. As we craned our necks to the sky the lines got more prominent, and we could also see slithers of light coming from the cloud base where the lines began. It was beautiful, but not the green colour we’d seen on photographs… our Northern Lights were white, with an occasional minty hue to them. Apparently cameras make the greens show darker, so although the naked eye does see green on particularly strong shows, it’s more usual for the colours to be fainter when you’re looking at them compared to photos. This was proven when some photos of the night were shared on Facebook… the picture below was taken by another lady on our bus, and it appears much greener than we saw. Still, there was no doubt about it this time – we had seen the Northern Lights! It was the perfect last night of our Iceland trip, and we headed back to bed with smiles on our faces, which remained there the next day as we boarded the plane back to England, and back to reality. Iceland, you are magical. I hope I will be back again one day.

We booked our tours in advance through Wow and they were operated in country by Reykjavik Excursions. We stayed at Centerhotel Klopp and flew with Icelandair. All come recommended!

With additional thanks also to Ester at the Blue Lagoon for her help booking our packages and massages in advance.