Surviving Iceland

Iceland was recently ranked by TripAdvisor the #1 place for young professionals to vacation. So, we did. Here’s my comprehensive guide on how to survive Iceland:

Transportation

• In downtown Reykjavik, taxis are readily available and are hailed pretty easily. A 10–15 minute ride will cost you about $25.
• Hitchhiking is common in Iceland and you can trust most of the locals. Figure out your compensation, if any, before you get in the car. Some won’t take American dollars, some won’t take Euros either, see currency section below.
• Recommend renting a car through Blue Car Rentals at the Reykjavík-Keflavík Airport. Don’t get the curbside service. The rental service has an upcharge for them to deliver the car to your terminal, but it’s a 5 minute walk from the front door to get to the rental car building. They also have the typical rental companies — Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, Avis, etc.
• Make sure you get a vehicle that is allowed to travel on “F-roads”. F-roads are pretty much any streets off the main interstate. Several of the smaller vehicles ride very low to the ground and some of the sights are unaccessible in those low-riding vehicles. You will get stuck and fined if you try.

Currency

• Icelandic Krona is the official currency of Iceland. 1000 ISK = about $8.
• Typical meal will run you about $16–20 a piece, a little bit more expensive than the US. Drinks will be $10–12 minimum. If you have access to a kitchen in your location, I’d recommend buying groceries from Iceland’s favorite grocery story, “Bonus” (large pink pig mascot), and cooking at home.
• Some businesses only accept Euro, some only accept Krona, it’s a toss up either way whether any will accept American dollars.
• Credit cards are the best way to get around in Iceland. Iceland is known for not being a paper-currency country. They would prefer you use card. Their chip-reader technology is lightyears ahead of the United States and work very quickly. Discover is accepted in some places. Visa/Mastercard is accepted everywhere.
• Most of the souvenir shops will offer you a tax-free option. Feel free to take it. The process at the airport is a simple kiosk that you drop the reimbursement form off and they process it pretty quickly.

Night Life/Drinks

• In June, Iceland will only have about 4 hours of darkness. You’ll be able to site see and explore well into midnight.
• If you plan to go out and experience downtown Reykjavik’s nightlife, you’ll want to do as the locals do. Pregame at home (drinks will run you about $10 minimum out at the bars), go out at 1:00–2:00am when the sun starts to set and stay at the barsuntil 5:30am when the bars open the curtains and the sun rises.
• If you’re looking for bar suggestions downtown, we had a good time at Lebowski’s, The Viking, and Keke’s downtown. Stay away from “The American Bar”. It’s a trap and everything is way overprices. You’ll notice something is sketchy by the way that they worship Lenny Kravitz.
• If you plan to consume liquor during your time in Iceland, I’d recommend buying it Duty Free at your departing US airport. Iceland has a heavy alcohol tax and very few liquor or alcohol stores.

Must-Sees

• Blue Lagoon Spa ($50) — some places will tell you to avoid it, but I really enjoyed the experience. It’s a touristy hot spring/spa. With the cheapest package, you can get a mud mask, access to the showers afterwards, sit in the steam cave, and experience a nice hot spring. I’d recommend making your reservation online and getting there at 8:00am as soon as it opens to avoid large crowds. Bring your own towel here. They have free lockers available to store your belongings in while you’re in the springs.
• Thingvellir (Pingvellir) National Park (Free) — Nice hiking location, explore some history in the national park. This is the site where the Republic of Iceland first declared their independence. There’s also a small, but beautiful waterfall in this park
• Hveragerdi Hot Spring River Trail (Free) — This hot spring took a bit of a hike to get to, about 2.5–3 miles of hiking. It’s a pretty easy hike, but plan for about an hour of hiking before you get there. It gets pretty cold in the high elevations of themountain, so dress warm for the hike. They have small changing dividers where you can change in and out of your bathing suit after your hike. Don’t hop into the river as soon as you see the walking platform. The further up the river you go, the hotter the river is. Bring snacks with you and hangout for a little while in this one. It’s a beautiful site.
• Gullfoss Waterfalls (Free) — Massive waterfalls and great photo opportunities. You’ll likely get wet at the lookout point, so bring a rain jacket or poncho.
• Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral (Free) — Beautiful cathedral in the middle of downtown Reykjavik with plenty of parking right around it. Will be a good place to park and go explore or shop downtown. Make sure to walk inside and see the organ. If you’re lucky, the organist will be playing and you’ll hear those massive pipes. It’s one of the largest organ pipe collections in the world. There’s also a statue of Lief Erickson outside that the U.S. donated to Iceland as a gift in 1930.
• Baejarins Beztu Pylsur Hot Dog Stand (<$10) — If there’s any food that Iceland is known for, it’s the hot dog. Icelandic hot dogs are made from lamb and use a natural lamb skin casing that give it a different taste and bite than a typical Ball Park Frank. Get it with all the toppings, because “when in Rome…”. Several famous U.S. diplomats and famous people have visited this tiny hot dog stand.
• Geysir Geyser (Free, along the “Golden Circle” route) — This was one of the most unique attractions we visited, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. A geyser is simply a small pool of boiling hot water that generates pressure and erupts from the ground every 3–8 minutes. It’s definitely a crazy site to see. You can sit there and watch it explode 3–4 times before it gets old.
• Glacier Lagoon (Free) — Beautiful glacier with several chunks broken off. It’s beautiful to sit there, walk along the shore for a couple hours. There are also several friendly sea otters that will swim right up to the shore and sometimes get out of the water to see what you are up to. Feel free to climb the hills and check out the views from above.

Other Tips

• Download Google Maps on your phone and, when connected to wifi, plan your trip for the day and download an “Offline Map”. You’ll be able to use your phone’s GPS without using any data. Otherwise, Iceland is pretty easy to get around the old fashioned way with a map and road signs. It’s once you get off the beaten path on some of the “F Roads” that it gets confusing.
• Iceland will only have 3–4 hours of darkness, so it’ll be really easy to stay in Eastern Time Zone whenever you leave. You can continue to explore and visit most of the free sites through midnight before the sun sets.
• Temperature will be 40–50 the entire time. I got away with a long sleeve shirt, pants, and a rain jacket for most of the week.
• There are a TON of AirBnB’s in Iceland. The locals are pretty nice and I’d recommend living as the locals do, rather than a hotel or hostel.
• Almost everyone speaks English, so you won’t necessarily need to learn any Icelandic. All road signs are in Icelandic, though, so you might want to read up on what each one means before you hit the road.
• There are a ton of beautiful waterfalls and lighthouses. Before you leave your lodging place, check Google to see when the most popular times to visit are and try to plan to be there when the least amount of people are. You’ll have a better, less touristy experience at these locations then.

Let me know if you plan to take a trip. I might have some more secrets to share!