How To Spend a 24 Hour Layover in Reykjavik, Iceland

In a matter of years, Iceland went from being an arctic island few visited to being a top tourism destination. I honestly had no intentions of ever visiting Iceland but while researching flights to London through Skyscanner, we found airfare with WOW Air to be the least expensive. The only catch was we would have a layover in Reykjavik – a place I had never even heard of.

After more research, Allie and I found WOW Air’s Stopover program, which for no additional charge allows you to extend your layover on return flights between North America and Europe. It seemed like a no-brainer to extend our layover and explore yet another country together. And, I am so glad we did because Iceland was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
** Disclaimer: WOW Air abruptly stopped flying in March 2019 but recently announced they will be selling flights again come March 2020.

How To Get To Reykjavik:

You’ve undoubtedly seen pictures of everyone checking Iceland off their bucket list on your Instagram feed. But what you might not know is that when flying into Iceland, you land in Keflavik which is a good 45-minute drive from Reykjavik, located on the coast of Iceland. This is where you will want to explore for a 24 hour layover because it is the country’s capital and largest city.

Allie and I arrived at Keflavik at 2pm, jumped on a shuttle bus that took us to the rental car facilities, and picked up our keys. I cannot recommend renting a car enough. It is basically a necessity if you plan to actually see anything during your stay in Iceland. We went with National, of course, and have nothing but great things to say about their staff and services. They walked us through the Iceland money system (ISK) while we waited for our car to be warmed up and for that I am forever grateful! The ISK to USD conversion can be difficult to understand so thank goodness for this website, which was a true lifesaver!

Where To Stay:

We stayed in Kopavogur, which was a town in between the airport and Reykjavik. This was the perfect location for such a short visit as it was about 15 minutes from downtown and 7 minutes from the Blue Lagoon – which we absolutely knew we wanted to do. We ended up using booking.com to rent out a studio apartment, which was super nice and had free parking! Another perk – it was across the street from Ali Baba, an awesome mediterranean restaurant!

When To Go:

Iceland is supposed to be beautiful during the summer months, however, we wanted the best chance we could get to see the Northern Lights. Iceland is ranked one of the best places throughout the world to see them, and the prime time to catch the Aurora Borealis in Iceland is November through April! So visiting Iceland when it was cold and snowy was the plan!

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What To Do:

Driving to Reykjavik from the airport may take a bit of time, but the views make it all worth it. The landscape is unlike anything you have ever seen. I’ve said it and I’ve heard others say it but Iceland feels like a whole different planet. It feels uninhibited and very Mars-like. Allie used the word “barren.” Even though it was only a little after 3:30pm, the sun already began setting and boy did Iceland bless us with a beautiful sunset.

We checked into our apartment and since our flight was delayed we were ravenous, and took our hunger out on the supermarket “Kronan.” Iceland is overall very expensive so buying snacks was our effort at saving money so we wouldn’t have to spend it on a huge meal. We did end up getting chicken shawarma and rice next door but until then the caramel cinnamon rolls and sour cream and onion chips held us over.

We drove the 10 minutes into downtown Reykjavik and roamed the Christmas-y streets. Every corner you turned in the downtown area was full of art work on the walls, on the streets, and on the buildings. It had a super artsy neighborhood scene. We walked around bookstores, stores selling gelato and finally settled on a coffee shop so we could connect to wifi. We shared a latte and ice cream cone at Eldur & Is and truly experienced the Icelandic culture as almost no one spoke any English. Usually I am great at traveling overseas but Iceland was my first experience that left me totally and utterly confused. I didn’t understand the language, the GPS instructions, how to start the rental car, the landscape, etc.

We re-routed ourselves toward the Old Harbour and Hallgrimskirkja church. First of all, you really can’t miss the church since it stands tall against the city. But once you do find the church, it is easy to use it as a focus point in getting around the bustling streets of Iceland. You can’t get lost as long as it’s in your sight. While roughly 50% of Iceland’s entire population call Reykjavik home, the city does not feel crowded or even appear to be a large city. It’s pretty small and very walkable. You can probably get from one end to the other in 20 minutes. If you’ve been to Boise, Idaho or Indianapolis, IN then you’ll understand me when I say it has a small city feel for a bigger city.

We walked to the waterfront and took photos in front of one of Reykjavik’s more popular sculptures – the Sun Voyager. I’ve heard it’s a great place to catch the sunset but it was still beautiful and fun to look at at nighttime. The sculpture is an “ode to the sun” and is supposed to convey the promise of undiscovered territory. Speaking of undiscovered, we had no luck with the Northern Lights. After collecting postcards and walking downtown, we drove to the Grotta Lighthouse, where we were told is the best place to view the Northern Lights as it is away from the city and the north-westernmost point of Iceland. Unfortunately due to excessive cloud coverage and a full moon, we had a very slim chance at feasting our eyes upon the green skies.

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After giving up, we went to bed early because we wanted to be wide awake for our last few hours before our flight left the next day. Reykjavik is home to a ton of museums, including the The Icelandic Phallological Museum… if you’re into that. But unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explore museums because we really wanted to experience the Blue Lagoon. You must buy tickets ahead of time and choose a time slot to go. You can do so here. We chose to go from 8am-10am because the sun was expected to rise around 9:30am and we had a flight to catch in the afternoon. When we arrived it was literally pitch black outside. We checked into the spa, quickly showered, and headed outside.

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Here are some things you should know if you’re planning to go to the Blue Lagoon:

• Make sure you bring a swimsuit, towel, cash (for lockers), hair tie, and a change of clothes.
• There are different packages you can buy while visiting. I think the Comfort package is the best one if you’re not looking to spend an arm and a leg.
• Comfort Package includes: entrance, silica mud mask, use of towel, and 1st drink of your choice
• The cost, depending on time of year, can be anywhere from $50-100 USD. The time slots early or later in the day tend to have the cheaper deals.

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The Blue Lagoon was unexpectedly massive. I’d been to hot springs before but never ones that huge! I was amazed to learn that the Blue Lagoon is actually man-made and is not a natural geothermal bath like most people think. It was formed next to a geothermal power plant that drills for steam, and due to the excess water, the lagoon was made. Or at least that’s how I understood it. The lagoon was steaming hot. We expected it to be the temperature of a hot bath but it easily was 102°F, if not hotter.

By 9:30am, the sky started to lighten for us but the sun didn’t actually rise until well after 10. With the comfort package, we got face masks so we swam over to where the worker was distributing them and lathered our faces. We also got our complimentary drinks. Allie got a carrot, ginger and apple juice and I got a blueberry smoothie. Little tip for you, especially if you are lactose intolerant like me, Skyr is an Icelandic term for dairy product… the more you know.

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After taking a million and one photos, we changed for the airport, and walked around the Blue Lagoon property. If you are going to Iceland, I really think it is an experience you should splurge on. I also highly recommend wading into the waters right before heading to the airport like we did because there was no better way to relax our muscles before a long flight back to the states. The water is supposedly great for your skin too due to the minerals and algae. The gift shop at the lagoon sells skincare products made from the rich waters. You can even find these products at the airport and being sold on the WOW airline before departing. Whether it has proven health benefits or not, it was just a great way to warm up since Iceland is so cold at this time of the year.

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Our last stop in Iceland was to grab a coffee and sandwich at a cute cafe. We also stopped by a Viking Park to take in the Iceland views one last time. It’s truly an area surrounded by so much history and culture. This country quickly became one I adored even though I never planned to visit. Now I can officially say I have visited where Aria from Pretty Little Liars used to live, and that to me is an accomplishment!

Have you been to Iceland or plan to go? Let me know in the comments below! Also don’t forget I love seeing your trips and adventures, so please tag me on Instagram and follow along! Until next time!