Reykjavik Travel Guide

*Backpacks & Bubbly – Top Pick for Drinks With A View*

Sky Lagoon

I cannot recommend this place enough! Located about ten minutes from downtown Reykjavik, it’s super easy to get to by taxi or local bus. Sky Lagoon is typical Icelandic Lagoon with unreal infinity pool style vies out over the harbor. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon, or an evening relaxing. Their swim up bar serves drinks and makes this that ultimate place for grabbing a drink with a view.

Bonus points that on nights in the winter this is a great place to see the Northern Lights if they’re out!

You do need tickets to visit. Those can be purchased here. The cheapest costs about $50, but it comes with a free drink!

Fair warning, after your first drink, the drink prices at Sky Lagoon are a bit high (although standard for Iceland) Drink menu and prices for drinks at the Sky Lagoon bar can be found here. But in general, a beer is about $10 USD, a wine $12 and a cocktail $17!

Top Things to do in Reykjavik

Soak in the Sky Lagoon

Visiting the Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik is an absolute must! The oceanside geothermal lagoon offers stunning panoramic ocean views as you soak in the relaxing water. It’s a great place to see the sunset, the northern lights, or just the Icelandic coastline.

They also offer a 7 step “experience” that involves soaking in the lagoon, a cold plunge, a sauna (with the most stunning views) a cold fog mist shower, cleansing body scrub, a steam & a shower. This was a super cool, refreshing experience before heading back to soak in the lagoon and grab a drink from the swim up bar.

Cost & Tickets: Tickets start at about $50 and can be purchased here.

Getting There: busses run from downtown Reykjavik (it’s about 10 minutes from downtown) or you can get a taxi easily!

Explore Iceland’s South Coast

The South Coast of Iceland is absolutely stunning and features some of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. It’s doable as a day trip from Reykjavik either by renting a car or taking a guided tour! See my full South Coast of Iceland Travel Guide here. Or keep reading below for the highlights!

If I did this trip again, I would rent a car so I could explore on my own, but on my last trip I took a guided tour in a small bus (less than 15 people) and it was still awesome! It was an all day tour that hit most of the highlights of the South Coast of Iceland:

• Skogafoss Waterfall –The stunning 60m drop waterfall that was featured in Game of Thrones is a can’t miss in Iceland and is your first stop on the way from Reykjavik through the South Coast. Try to go when it’s sunny to see the most epic rainbow! I was speechless
• Reynisfjara Beach – the infamous black sand beach is your next stop. Admire the dramatic, moody coastline & the basalt formations looming out of the water. Watch out for the unexpected large waves, they’re no joke – you should stay at least 30 feet back from the coastline. It may not seem it, but it can be exceptionally dangerous!
• Vik – the charming town of Vik is the farthest south you’ll go on this trip. Places farther than Vik would be quite long for a day trip! The viewpoint at the chuerch overlooking Vik is one of the best places to get photos. Then wander through the tiny town of Vik for lunch. There is a cozy restaurant, The Soup Company, that’s the perfect place to warm up before your next stop. Try the three soup sampler! Oh, and the bread is amazing!
• Solheimajokull Glacier – Next up is Solheimajokull Glacier. You can hike about 20 minutes in from the parking lot to see the best view of the volcanic ash covered glacier and the glacier lagoons that have formed from the ice melting 🙁 You can also take a separate tour to only the glacier that includes a glacier hike where you walk up on and around the glacier.
• Seljalandsfoss Waterfall – Your last stop is the stunning Seljalandsfoss (and the hidden waterfall nearby if you want to hike in to a watery cave to explore) Seljalandsfoss is a stunning tall, narrow waterfall that you can walk behind for the most epic views. This tour got us to Seljalandsfoss at sunset and watching the sun set over Vestmannaeyjar (the Western islands) from behind the waterfall is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had!

Other South Coast Highlights not included in this tour, but definitely worth a trip if you have time!

• Diamond Beach
• Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River
• Bruarfoss waterfall

Experience the Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is a must-see when visiting Reykjavik. The stunningly blue geothermal waters are a perfect place to unwind! The Blue Lagoon in-water spa also offers a variety of face masks, for treating your skin while floating in the silica-rich waters!

Cost & Tickets: Tickets start at about $60, include a face mask and a free drink. They can be purchased here.

Getting There: The Blue Lagoon is located about 40 minutes outside of Reykjavik, near the airport. You can add transportation when buying your ticket through the Blue Lagoon website for another $50. They will pick you up and drop you off at the bus stop nearest your hotel. It’s super convenient. Keep an eye out there’s tons of bus pickups for excursions. The Blue Lagoon and airport busses are often combined.

Go Northern Lights Hunting

If you’re visiting Iceland between Nov-March you have a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights. It’s based on a factor of clear skies + Northern lights activity. You’ll want to get out of the city to have the best chance of seeing them. If you have your own car you can venture on your own (although I do recommend being careful on the dark windy roads and make sure you’re not stopped in an unsafe spot!

You can also take an organized tour from Reykjavik. There are several options from small group tours to large coach bus tours. I opted for the second just to save money, and I have to say it wasn’t the most pleasant experience driving around for hours on a coach bus with 50 other people for hours searching for the Northern lights.

People were tired, grumpy and a bit rude if I’m being honest and I wish I opted for a smaller group tour. We also never saw the Northern Lights unfortunately! You can see tour options here.

Tour the Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is a popular day trip from Reykjavik with a series of highlights worth stopping to see! Similar to the Southern Coast it can be done by renting a car or taking an organized day trip. I wish I had rented a car, but the tour was still a good way to see the highlights!

• Thingvellir National Park – This national park features dramatic, moody views of the coastline & is a UNESCO world heritage site. Known for being the birthplace of Icelandic democracy.
• Geysir – Geysir is the original “geysir” and known for being the inspiration for the name of all other Geysirs in the world. It’s located in a geothermal area bubbling with activity. You’ll notice the ground slightly smoking wherever water is visible. Geysir itself only erupts very rarely these days, but right next to it is an active geysir that shoots bright blue, burning hot water high into the air every few minutes
• Gullfoss Waterfall – Gullfoss is the most well popular waterfall in Iceland (although truthfully I preferred Skogafoss & Seljalandsfoss) The vast waterfall pours tons of water into the gorge below. If you happen to visit on a sunny day you’ll be treated to a series of rainbows as your explore the waterfall from above and below.
• Kerid Crater – Kerid is a volcanic crater lake on the Golden Circle. It honestly feels like something on a foreign planet. The large crater is filled with bright blue/teal water & surrounded by deep reddish rock/dirt that you can hike around that makes you feel like your on Mars or something.

Check Out the View from Hallgrímskirkja

Hallgrímskirkja is a large church that dominates the Reykjavik skyline. You are able to pay to take the elevator to the top for epic 360 views of Reykjavik and beyond. The colorful houses of downtown make for great aerial photos! It costs about $7 to go up!

Wander Downtown

Reykjavik’s main downtown area consists of a few streets and can be easily explored in an afternoon or morning. Make sure to check out:

• Rainbow Street
• The Sun Voyager
• Main streets of: Laugavegur, Austurstræti & Hafnarstræti

Experience the Nightlife

Reykjavik is known for having quite the nightlife scene, especially in the summer, when the sun literally never sets. Check out some of the clubs in bars located in downtown Reykjavik in between all your adventurous excursions!

Try an Infamous Icelandic Hot Dog

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur is a hot dog stand located right in downtown Reykjavik that has been serving it’s infamous hot dogs since 1927. They’re open late, late every night for all your hot dog cravings after enjoying Reykjavik’s epic nightlife.

Getting to Reykjavik

You’ll need to fly to Iceland. Keflavík is the international airport located about 40 minutes from Reykjavik. This is the airport you’ll be flying into. There is a smaller airport right in Reykjavík, so don’t get confused! I met someone who took a cab thinking it would be cheap because he thought the airport was close to downtown, only to find out it cost $150!

From the airport there are bus transfers to get downtown. Tons of different companies run these busses. They’ll take you from the airport to the local bus station in Reykjavik closest to your hotel, and pick you up from the same bus stop to go back to the airport. You can compare different companies, but they cost mostly the same price & offer similar services.

It costs about $52 for a round trip ($28 one way) I used FlyBus

Getting Around Reykjavik

Reykjavik downtown area is really walkable! There are a few main streets all located near one another that have the majority of restaurants, bars, shopping, hotels etc. So for the most part you can get around Reykjavik on foot.

There are also local busses if you need to get anywhere that’s a bit too far to walk. All the details can be found here.

Taxis are also easy to find. I took a few taxis to and from Sky Lagoon because the bus times weren’t convenient to my schedule and it was easy and reliable. The cost was inline with the rest of Iceland (not cheap, but expected)