Iceland in winter is wild! Our weekend adventure was an adventure, but for all the wrong reasons!

The drama started as soon as we got to Manchester Airport when it transpired that I’d only paid for 15kg of luggage, which was clearly not going to be enough for the both of us considering we had lots of bulky winter clothes. I managed to add extra allowance in the easyJet app but paid airport rates, costing nearly £80. I then got held up at security as I hadn’t noticed an erroneous bottle of hand sanitiser at the bottom of my backpack. Honestly, you’d think I’d never flown before!

Fortunately, the flight was drama free although a strong headwind added about 40 minutes to the flying time. The driver for our taxi wasn’t waiting in the arrivals hall with my name on a card like he was supposed to be. To be fair, he rang and said he was running a bit late but was on his way, so fine. In the end, we waited about 15 minutes which, whilst annoying, wasn’t the end of the world. 

Taxis in Iceland aren’t cheap and the most popular method of getting from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik is either Flybus or Airport Direct. These coaches run on a regular schedule and cost 3900isk (about £23) per person. Considering a taxi from the rank at the airport is around 20000isk (£115), the bus is obviously much cheaper. 

I’d booked our taxis via booking.com and the rate was excellent, not much more per person than doing the coaches, and much cheaper than anywhere else. That should have been the first clue! 

The major downside to using the coaches, and the main reason we paid the extra for a taxi, is that coaches aren’t allowed in to Reykjavik city centre, so you have to transfer from the coach to a minibus at either the BSI Terminal or the Bus Hostel which adds at least 30 minutes on to your journey. If you’re short on time, I’d recommend stomaching the extra cost for a taxi, but hopefully you’ll have a better experience than we did…

We got in the car and set off down the main road to Reykjavik. All of a sudden, the car started to loose speed and juddered. We carried on a short distance then pulled over at the side of the motorway for the driver to check the engine. He said the car was out of  water, so we gave him water that we had and set off again. The same happened again. The car wouldn’t go above about 30mph and engine warning lights were flashing like a Christmas tree. 

The driver made a phone call and it was arranged for us to swap vehicles at a factory in the middle of nowhere. As we juddered down the motorway with hazards flashing, I text my mum to say goodbye, fully expecting that we’re about to be robbed and murdered. 

At the factory, we were bound and gagged and bundled into the boot of another car. Well, at least that’s what I thought was going to happen. We actually just transferred to another car and got on our way. Relived that we’d made it to the hotel unharmed, I text mum again to let her know. 

Our journey back to the airport was just as eventful. After waiting in reception for 45 minutes, leaving 2 voicemails for the taxi company, sending 3 texts and a WhatsApp, we had to accept that no taxi was coming to get us. Fortunately, there was a taxi rank directly outside the hotel so we jumped in and got on our way. I’d allowed enough time for a delay so we still made it to the airport in time.

I emailed booking.com on the way to the airport to let them know what had happened and had a response within 20 minutes promising a full refund and 10% off a future booking with them. I practically fell off my seat. Whilst I wouldn’t recommend City Taxi Reykjavik, I can’t fault booking.com at all for how they handled the situation. The promised refund arrived in my account the next day.

Airport and taxi dramas aside, the rest of the trip didn’t go exactly as planned!

The weather was atrocious. The day before we flew out, Keflavik Airport was closed because the weather was so bad. Flights were delayed by up to 9 hours! Fortunately, we were on time, but all of our excursions were cancelled because of high winds, snow storms and road closures.

We had planned to explore the South Coast – black sand beach, glaciers and waterfalls. We’d done the golden circle on a previous trip – not that we could have done it again anyway because it was also cancelled. Our northern lights excursion was cancelled – it was too cloudy and snowing to see anything anyway. Looking for alternatives that were still running, we booked a trip to the lava tunnels which was cancelled just as we arrived at the bus station. 

Whilst disappointing, this is Iceland in winter. You should prepare for and expect disruption. The weather is fierce and changes quickly. The taxi driver told us that 6 people had died on Iceland’s roads since the new year, most of them tourists. It staggers me that people think they can drive around Iceland in winter with little to no experience of these conditions.

Not wanting to be deterred, we made the most of our time and visited some of the many indoor attractions in Reykjavik. 

We spent an enjoyable morning at Perlan, a museum all about the unique aspects of Iceland and what makes it such a special place. 

We hopped in a cab straight from the hotel which was 4000isk (£23) and saved us a 40 minute walk, but meant we arrived at the museum before it even opened! 

There’s loads of interactive exhibits as well as short films showcasing the best bits of Iceland. The 10 minute film about Iceland’s volcanos was particularly interesting, not least because there’d been an eruption in the weeks before our trip and the ground was still moving, indicating that another eruption was coming soon. I also enjoyed the 25 minute film about the aurora borealis although I would have preferred to have seen them in real life! The seats in the theatre are super comfy and I’m sure I fell asleep for a few minutes! Another highlight was the ice cave, kept at an impressive -15c!

There’s a bar and cafe at the top of the museum, as well as an observation deck. As Perlan is perched on a hill, it’s quite exposed and the wind almost blew us off our feet as we stepped outside! It literally took your breath away and took all your strength to walk in to it; it was awesome! No chance of taking any photos or videos for fear of my phone being blown out of my hand! Instead, we set up in the cafe and made a time-lapse video of the storm blowing over the city – it’s mesmerising! Lunch of ham and cheese croissant, 2 drinks and 2 brownies was 5200isk (£30), so if you’re on a budget, a sandwich from the supermarket would be about 1000isk (£6).

After lunch, we headed out in to the storm to walk to the BSI bus terminal, hoping to catch the bus to the lava tunnel. The walk only took about 20 minutes and being pummelled in the face with hailstones added an element of adventure! The excursion was cancelled just as we got to the bus station. 

There’s luggage storage at the terminal, some toilets (200isk, £1.15 – pay by card or coins) a Sbarro pizza place and excursions desks. We didn’t hang around and started walking back in to town. 

With volcanos on our minds and disappointed that our lava tunnel trip had been cancelled, we headed for the Lava Show instead. It took us about half an hour to walk from the BSI terminal but at least the hailstorm had passed!

The 60 minute show runs every 2 hours and there’s standard and premium entry. Premium tickets get a pre-show drink, view from a balcony, a backstage tour of the furnace and a souvenir. It’s quite a bit more than a standard ticket (9900isk vs 5900isk), so we didn’t bother. 

The show itself was fascinating and very well presented by Maddison. It wasn’t too scientific and the heat as the lava enters the room is awesome! I really enjoyed how Maddison was able to play and manipulate the lava as she explained how lava interacts with ice and gave a potted history of some of the more well documented eruptions in recent years, including the one a few weeks before our trip (the same volcano erupted a few days after this trip). The show is a little out of town but is walkable and the hop on, hop off bus goes there. There’s a couple of other attractions nearby, such as Flyover Iceland and Whales of Iceland but we didn’t go to those so can’t comment on how good they are. 

After walking back in to town, we kept our learning to the science theme and headed to the Phallological Museum, hidden away near to the H&M. Besides the giggles and sniggers, it was actually interesting and informative. With different specimens from mouse to whale and fun facts about the reproductive antics of different species, it was a fun way to spend an hour. There’s a bar cafe too so you could have some penis shaped waffles or a delicious blueberry mojito. Whilst the cocktail was as expensive as the entry for the 2 of us (around 6000isk, £35), we each got a couple of glasses from it. 

The one excursion that we’d pre booked that wasn’t cancelled was the Blue Lagoon. Because coaches can’t pick up from the centre of Reykjavik, we made our way to one of the designated pick up points around the city, which was at City Hall. This was quite a good spot because it’s quite sheltered from the weather. Some of the other stops are fully exposed so when it’s raining and snowing like it was when we were there, it would get very cold. You can be waiting for up to half an hour, although we only waited a few minutes before our bus arrived. We made 2 further pick ups then headed to BSI Terminal and finally to the Bus Hostel. The journey took about 30 minutes but the coach was almost full when we arrived so we didn’t wait long to set off again to the Blue Lagoon. Whilst it’s a slick operation, and I’m in favour of keeping large coaches out of the centre, it’s a lot of dead time pootling around. 

We arrived at the Blue Lagoon at 1000 and it was fairly quiet. The changing room had multiple areas, each with around 20 lockers, and most areas were pretty empty. The Blue Lagoon has a requirement to shower before entering the water and I’d read that they were strict on showering nude, but no one enforced showering nude and plenty of guys showered in swim shorts. There’s a couple of private cubicles to shower as well as open ones. Even the open ones are solo spaces with partitions so you’re not on display, and shower facing the wall so if anyone is looking (and they’re not), all they’ll see is your arse. There’s a couple of cubicles to change in as well if nudity bothers you. 

We didn’t eat at the lagoon (there’s a cafe and fine dining restaurant) but did have a couple of drinks. The sparking wine is actually pretty good value as it’s the same price (1950isk, £11) as a normal wine and the same measure – about half a pint! Everyone is limited to 3 alcoholic drinks, which is probably wise when the wine is served as half pints. There’s beer, cider and soft drinks as well as smoothies and slushies too. The first drink is included with your entry. It’s a swim up bar so you don’t need to leave the warmth of the water but you might find your hand gets cold holding your drink out of the water!

A silica face mask is also included in your entry, which is really fun to do, even if your face feels like it’s freezing off! We also paid for an extra exfoliating mask which was 950isk (£5.50). The face mask bar is also swim up and there’s a mirror built into the side of the lagoon so you can see where you’re smearing it. 

The lagoon is massive and whilst it got busier whilst we were there, there were always quiet spaces – there’s actually a dedicated quiet zone right at the back which hardly anyone was using. The busiest spots were around the drink and face mask bars. There’s also a couple of steam rooms and a hot waterfall. 

The water is a delightful 38c on average although some spots are warmer and some cooler. If you’re lucky, it might hailstorm or blizzard like it did whilst we were there which was such an amazing experience! Occasionally, steam would rise from the water and block out everyone else, making it feel like you’ve got the place to yourself. If the sun manages to break through the cloud, how the light bounces off the milky blue water is really spectacular. 

I didn’t take my phone in to the lagoon but plenty of others did, and you can even buy a waterproof case at the swim up bar. Whilst most phones are waterproof to a point nowadays, I’m not sure they’re silica proof. I saw one guy drop his phone, and you can’t see the bottom of the pool, so it took a few attempts to dive down and find it. 

We spent around 3 hours in the water, and could have easily stayed longer, had we not booked a bus back. It was spectacularly relaxing, and I’d absolutely do it again. Universally, everyone I spoke to said how awesome it would be to see the northern lights from the lagoon so I would definitely try and do that. 

There’s a couple of lagoons that you can visit (Sky and Secret being two of them), and a lot of debate about which is better. For me, the Blue Lagoon is the OG and an iconic landmark of Iceland and I loved it. 

Date of trip; February 2024

Price paid; easyJet flights from Manchester, including the excess luggage – £230.00pp. 3 nights at Centre Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik – £150.00pp, including 1 night free using hotels.com rewards. Return taxi from Keflavik to Reykjavik – £80.00pp booked with booking.com. Perlan museum entry – £32.00pp. The Lava Show entry – £35.00pp. The phallological museum entry – £17.00pp. Blue Lagoon entry and transfers from Reykjavik – £120.00pp.