Why Iceland?
- Iceland is the only Nordic country I have not visited.
- United began seasonal flights from Newark to Reykjavík, so I wanted to go before the season is over.
- I wanted to go glacier hiking, and perhaps be out of my comfort zone.
I recently spent a few days in Iceland. It was a last-minute trip (read: I saw a cheap fare and bought the ticket), but quite enjoyable and relaxing.
With travel cancellations and delays, I arrived Reykjavík on a beautiful, sunny morning and checked in to my hotel at Apartment K; however, my room wasn’t ready so I headed out to Harpa, a concert hall and convention center close to the harbor. It’s a beautiful building, in which you can see the effects of sunlight onto the hexagonal cubes (?) on the building’s surface during the day, or the dancing lights mimicking the northern lights in darkness.
While I tried to take a photo of myself (pictured above) without a tripod, I dropped my mouse and then… yeah, it was a disaster.
I then walked around the old harbor, and accidentally ended up at Omnom Chocolates and its factory. The store staff gave me quite a few chocolates to try, and I ended up with $80 worth of chocolates to carry around on a beautiful, sunny day. My favorite was the chocolate malt balls, specifically the mango + passion + milk one.
The harbor area was very quiet, even on a weekday. The only traffic I saw were people going to the supermarket. Other than that there were no tourists (I’ll explain that later).
After finally checking into my room, I quickly headed out again to the Hallgrímskirkja, which is the Church of Iceland, known for its modern architecture. Visitors can take an elevator to the top of the church and get a nice view of the city.
Since it was a beautiful day – one of the few sunny days they’ve had all summer – I had to keep going. I walked further down to Perlan, which is a museum with an observation deck with a 360-degree view of the city and surroundings.
I then realized I hadn’t eaten, so I headed to Aktu Taktu, their local fast-food joint, for the cheapest possible meal. Over $10 later it was… just meh.
Now that I have more energy, I made a pitstop at the Kringlan Shopping Mall and then the 66°North outlet before going towards the water to get a glimpse of the island of Viðey, on Kollafjörður Bay. This is where I stopped and had a little peace and quiet from tourists like myself. Well, most tourists are actually on day excursions to the main sights such as The Golden Circle, so not many folks are in town during daytime it seems.
By the time I got back to my hotel room again, it was basically dinnertime, but I had to take a nap before heading out to Fiskmarkaðurinn (fish market) for dinner. I figured I am in an island country, I really should have some fish…
Knowing how expensive Iceland can be, I was very careful when ordering. So I ordered a rock shrimp appetizer, and then three types of nigiri sushi and that was dinner. The appetizer alone was 3.900 ISK ($36). My total bill came out to be 7.670 ISK ($71). No tip required.
Since it is summer, the official sunset time was 11:15pm. I took the bus out to the Grótta Lighthouse to see the sunset. Sadly it was a bit overcast so there wasn’t much of a sunset, but still made for a nice midnight sunset.
Practical Information
Airport to City Transportation: Most people use Reykjavík Excursion’s Flybus because there’s basically a monopoly on airport to city transportation. The local bus company Strætó also offers transportation into the city; however, they are much less frequent and you must make a bus transfer. It’s better to use the bus in the city, and download their app to buy tickets – it’s the easiest way.
Tipping: not required.
Cash: Iceland is basically cashless. I didn’t have to exchange money nor take money out of an ATM. Ever. Find a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees and you should be set. Be sure to call your credit card company before you leave the country so you won’t run into any issues while in Iceland.