A Slice of Kate

The second part of our winter honeymoon extravaganza took us to Iceland, which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite destinations. Iceland does an excellent job of making it very easy to visit. They have busses running constantly from the airport to the heart of Reykjavik. They advertise tours and excursions robustly, and make it convenient for tourists to get to the pick-up destinations for those tours. Reykjavik itself is very clean, walkable, and full of friendly people. It’s also a super easy (read: less than 6 hour) direct flight from the East Coast. It’s close enough that you could realistically spend a long weekend there, but also completely unlike anywhere else within a 6 hour flight radius.

We arrived in Reykjavik around 4pm, and immediately got on the Gray Line Bus to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Alda, which is located right in the heart of downtown Reykjavik’s shopping district. Husband had never been to Iceland before, so I wanted to do different activities than I did on my first visit so that we could experience them together.

Our first adventure was to the Sky Lagoon, which is the new kid on the block when it comes to geothermal lagoons. Located just outside Reykjavik, the Sky Lagoon boasts a giant infinity pool that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It was dark when we were there, and the layout of the lagoon truly makes it feel like you are the only ones there, even though you know logically that the place is packed. There are nooks and crannies, benches, and ledges aplenty to provide privacy and relaxation.

There are different ticketing options, but we went for the Pure Pass, which included the traditional “Seven Step Ritual.” You start with a dip in the warm waters of the lagoon for as long as you like before moving on to a cold plunge, a sauna, a body scrub, and a steam room. From there, you can go back to lounging in the lagoon, perhaps with a beverage from the swim up bar. Our visit to the Sky Lagoon ranked within our top three favorite activities during the whole trip. It was so relaxing, and a perfect activity to end a long travel day.

The next morning, we headed out on a day tour of the South Shore. We were instructed to meet at the BSI Bus Terminal, which was an easy 15 minute walk from our hotel. Iceland’s South Shore is famous for its waterfalls and black sand beaches. Our first stop was for a quick picture near one of the most active volcanoes on the island, Eyjafjallajökull. The last time Eyjafjallajökull erupted was in 2010, and the eruption lasted for 71 days, blanketing the nearby glacier in ash and causing massive glacial flooding.

Second stop was at Skogafoss waterfall. Skogafoss is one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland at about 60 meters high. You can view the falls both from below and a viewing platform at the top (if you feel up to climbing the hundreds of steps to get there). When we were there we didn’t have enough time to traverse the steps, but we did get some incredible photos from the bottom of the falls. The pathway was frozen solid from spray, so essentially the closer you got, the more it was like ice skating as opposed to walking, but honestly I think it enhanced the experience.

Next stop was an overlook of the Solheimajokull glacier, which is an outlet glacier in the larger Mýrdalsjökull ice shelf. The glacier really comes into view about a 10 minute walk from the parking lot. If you’re interested in a more in depth glacier adventure, there are specific excursions dedicated to just to hiking and exploring the glacier and its caves. Can confirm that it was very large and icy, but also not as large as it once was thanks to global warming.

After a break for lunch, we headed to the famous Reynisfjara black sand beach. Our guide, who is best described as an Icelandic Albert Einstein lookalike, gave us a very stern talking to about keeping our eyes on the waves at the beach. Apparently, they have claimed tourists before because they look fairly innocuous from afar, but come in hard and fast. Despite the danger, though, the beach was gorgeous. I’ve been to a couple black sand beaches before, but this one definitely takes the cake for most atmospheric.

Finally, we made our last stop at the day at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. Seljalandsfoss’s claim to fame is that there is actually a path that takes you behind the waterfall (insert “back side of water” joke here). The path was closed when we visited because it was too icy, but should be accessible if you visit in summer. Bonus Seljalandsfoss fun fact: it was featured in a Justin Bieber music video.

On our last morning, we had a few hours to kill, so we explored Reykjavik a little bit. Since it was December, they had Christmas decorations up in full force. In Icelandic culture, Christmas is celebrated by the 13 Yule Lads who visit children’s homes in the lead up to Christmas, leaving either gifts or a potato in a shoe left on the windowsill. Each Yule Lad expects a different offering depending on their personal favorite traits. There is also the Christmas Cat, which is essentially the mangy pet of the Yule Lads and who wants to eat children who are not gifted with clothes for Christmas. Cats, am I right??

Even though we were only in Iceland for one full day, it made a major impression on us. We’re already trying to talk friends and family into joining us on our next trip there. If you’ve been to Iceland before, let me know your favorite activities so we can add them to the list!