My Iceland Solo Adventure
I’ve been wanting to take a trip by myself for a while to see
if it was something that I could do. I knew that I could “do it” it in the
physical sense but emotionally I wanted to see if I’d feel lonely or if I
wouldn’t have as much fun as I do when I travel with my partner. I’ve been with
my partner for thirteen years and we’ve taken many trips together and I’ve
always had the luxury of having a built in security guard with me as I navigate
new cities and streets. This time, I
would be all alone.
This is also a test run to the much bigger adventure I’m
planning in the coming year where I’ll pack up a bag and hit the proverbial
“road” as I explore Europe, Africa and Asia for 16 months. Solo.
Iceland was a great kick start to my solo journey. It is one
of the safest countries in the world. The people are some of the friendliest
I’ve ever met and while Icelandic is their first language, everyone speaks
English. The city of Reykjavik is very easy to get around and I had no problem
navigating the streets. They have a wonderful food and beer scene and lots of
outdoor activities to get into. It is an adventurer’s playground!
Here is everything I did and the cost, in case you decide to
take the journey to the land of Fire & Ice.
Transportation
I flew Iceland Air
direct out of JFK to Reykjavik on a Thursday evening in late January. January
is low season and you can pretty much get an inexpensive flight to Iceland. It
is a 5 hour 40 min flight from NYC.
I always use Expedia as my travel search engine for booking
flights and hotels. When you book using their “Bundle & Save” package, it
really cuts the cost down rather than just booking airfare with them and
booking hotel separately.
Stay
I stayed at Center
Hotels Plaza which is right in the heart of Reykjavik with access to all of
the shops, restaurants and bars. Center Hotels is a hotel chain in Iceland but
the Plaza location is the perfect setting without having to go too far to get
to everything.
The total cost for 4 nights stay and round trip airfare from
JFK: $884.00
Day 1
I arrived in Reykjavik Friday morning at 6:05am and went
directly to the famous Blue Lagoon Spa.
I booked ahead of time through their website https://www.bluelagoon.com/ and airport transfer that picked me
up from Keflavik airport and brought me to the Lagoon, a 15 minute drive. I
also reserved a transfer that would pick me up from the lagoon that afternoon
to bring me to my hotel in Reykjavik, a 45-minute drive.
I bought the Premium spa package that includes the entry fee
into the lagoon, a robe, slippers, locker, a reservation at their restaurant
LAVA and 2 complimentary drinks. One drink at the restaurant and a drink in the
lagoon.
The total cost for the Premium package and transfers: $140
USD (worth every penny!)
The price for lunch at
LAVA: pre fix seafood lunch (2 courses) $55 USD
Langostine (lobster) soup and Cod fish entree
Day 2
I met up with Reykjavik
Walks Food Tour at 12:30pm. Margaret was our guide and she took the group
to several delicious places to get a true taste of Icelandic food. I was not
disappointed. The meeting point was a 10-minute walk from the hotel and all of
the food stops were within walking distance. It was a perfect way to get an
idea of what restaurants were serving and many of them were worth going back to
again.
We stopped at:
Messinn - Arctic char with honey and almond flakes and plokkfiskur or Cod Stew
with potatoes, onion and celery. And the unmissable rye bread of course!
The Hot Dog stand (Bæjarins bestu
pylsur): We had the
hot dog with a combination of raw and crispy onion, ketchup, mustard and a mayo
based relish called remúlaði.
Íslenski
Barinn – The
Icelandic meat soup or creamy broccoli soup and Einstök White Ale.
*I actually
went back to this restaurant and had an amazing lamb burger and beer! They have
a great menu
Café Loki – Flatbread with smoked lamb (flatkaka með hangikjöti), rye
bread with smoked trout and cottage cheese. Finally, the rye bread ice cream
with whipped cream and rhubarb syrup.
Sjávargrillið - Chocolate lava cake with Bailey's ice cream, caramel sauce,
peanut crumble and frozen caramel popcorn. So yummy!
The price of the food tour: $126.50 (prices subject to change
based on day of the week)
Later that day, as if I hadn’t eaten enough I went down to
the old Harbor to meet up with a group at the local Brewery for a beer and food
tasting. We had 6 beers that are brewed in-house and 6 tastings of traditional
Icelandic appetizers. It was such a good time! The food and beer was so
delicious and they gave us a tour and lesson on how the beer is made and
stored.
The price of this tasting and tour: $74.00 (prices subject to
change based on day of the week)
Much later that same night, the skies were super clear and I
was told it would be the perfect night to see the Northern lights so I booked a
yacht cruise to take me out to see them. Indeed, we saw the aurora borealis and
she danced and danced for us. It was magical!
The price for the cruise: $87.00 (prices subject to change
based on day of the week)
Day 3
I woke up at 7am (still dark out in Winter!) to catch a bus
tour down to the South Coast of the island where there is a glacier and several
waterfalls and the famous Black Sand beach where Game of Thrones was filmed. We
also stopped at the small fishing town of Vik and had lunch.
The bus departed at 8am 1 block away from the hotel at the
City Hall bust stop #1 and the tour is a full day of 8 hours. It was such a
beautiful landscape and scenery. To stand on the shore of the black sand beach
took my breath away. It was definitely worth the time and money.
The price for the full day tour with transportation: $112.00
(prices subject to change based on day of the week)
Day 4
I wanted to visit a different part of the island, so decided
on a tour up to the North would be nice. On this tour we visited another
waterfall and the longest glacier in Iceland, Langjökull to explore its Ice
caves. We went half way to the glacier in a bus and then picked up the Monster
truck to take us up to the glacier. No other vehicles are allowed up that road.
This tour was also a full day and I met the tour at the BSI
Bus Terminal about a 20-minute walk from hotel or a 10-minte taxi ride. I took
the taxi ride for 1,300 ISK or $12 USD since it was 9 in the morning and still
very dark out. It was such a fun day and again worth every penny!
The price for the full day 8-hour tour: $258.00 (prices
subject to change based on day of the week)
Day 5
After all of
the adventures I managed to squeeze in, on this day, my last, I decided to just
sleep in and relax. I didn’t have to check out of my room until noon so I slept
until 11am, had some yogurt and watched the view of people in the plaza just
outside my window. My flight that evening was at 6pm and I had a transfer pick
me up at 2pm to take me to Keflavik airport. The transfer (organized by the
hotel concierge) was $40 USD pp by Flybus Transfers.
After
checking out of my hotel, I then went to Uppsalir Bar & Café down the
street for a nice lunch of fish & chips. I had the BEST solo trip in
Iceland. I would do it all over again! 😏
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