Iceland

Top things to do in Iceland:

- Buy alcohol at the airport - a beer in Iceland is $9AU and a glass of wine is $12AU. You can get a bottle of wine at duty free for $12AU so if you want to have pre drinks before the pub crawl do this to save some cash! 

- The golden circle drive (Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir and Parliment Alpingi - all driving distance)

- Hire a bike and ride around Reykjavik coastline

- Reykjavik pub crawl (Friday and Saturday nights)

- The Blue Lagoon

- Go Whale Watching

- Eat a famous Islendingar Borda Ss Pylsur Hot Dog

- Go swimming in the ocean at Ylstrondin

- Try the fish at the Icelandic Fish and Chip restaurant

Gullfoss Waterfall

Geysir

Hire a Bike and Ride around Reykjavik

The Blue Lagoon

Whale Watching (Humpback Whale coming up for air)

Try a Delicious Icelandic Hot Dog

Go Swimming in the 'Warm' Icelandic Ocean - Yistrondin

On the 28th of June I flew into Keflavik airport in Iceland. 

Once we arrived we caught the fly bus ($35AU return) to our accommodation. The Bus Hostel is relatively new and is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Reykjavik. The hostel had large bunk beds and private bathrooms. Hire a duvet and you will never want to get out of bed, they are so warm and fluffy!

Bus Hostel Common Room

Bus Hostel 10 Bed Room

One of my favourite things about Iceland is that in summer it's daylight 24/7 so you aren't restricted from doing certain things due to nightfall. 

On our first night we walked to the city centre at 11:30pm where we found a cute Italian restaurant that  is open until 1am in the summer. After dinner we had a quick walk around and then headed back for bed because we had a long day of travelling. 

The next day we had a bit of a sleep in and booked a trip to the famous Blue Lagoon for the afternoon to help prepare ourselves for the famous Reykjavik pub crawl that night. 

The Blue Lagoon was truly beautiful and although expensive ($90AU inc return transport) it was worth it for the view and relaxation!  We headed back to our hostel at 7pm to get ready for the night ahead..

Our first stop on the crawl was the Micro Bar. Here they only serve beer and have over 50 different varieties. I don't really like beer so we moved on after a drink to the English Pub. Here we met many friendly Icelandic people who showed us all the popular places to go on a Saturday night. 

First we headed to Opid, a bar that has lots of bands playing and a great outdoor section. This is where we tasted our first Gulf beer and Icelandic liquor which is made from potatoes, it tasted like licorice.

Opid Bar

Then we headed to Austur but it was too busy so we went to Hressingarskalinn where we spent the rest of the night dancing to old 90's music. Before we knew it, it was 5am and I was ready for bed but not before we tried Iceland's famous hotdogs! These small, warm, crunchy rolls are worth very dollar they cost ($3AU). Apparently they are Bill Clinton's favourite and I can see why! 

That afternoon, once we got over our sore heads we hired bikes and rode down the road to Yistrondin - A beach that has 2 natural hot pools and a small swimming area of warm water (this is from waste water from houses nearby). Being a Sunday, there were lots of locals frolicking in the hot pools, playing soccer and sun baking. There were even some locals swimming in the cold side of the ocean (8 degree). Mind you it was only 15 degrees, but when the sun is out in summer Icelandic's love to sunbake and make the most of it.

After checking out Yistrondin we rode to Old Town Reykjavik and booked a midnight whale watching cruise ($80AU) at the old harbour. By this time we were starving and decided to give the famous Icelandic fish and chips a whirl. This restaurant is famous for a reason. I ordered the wolf fish in batter with chips ($15AU) and it was incredible. I've never eaten fish that has just melted in my mouth like this before. I highly recommend it!!!

Icelandic Fish and Chip Restaurant

Then it was time to depart on our whale watching cruise. First the boat cruised to and Island where the puffins live and mate during summer. Then we went out cruised out of the bay into the ocean to spot some whales. The first whale we saw was a Minkie which looked like a dolphin. Then we saw a huge blow of water in the distance... We quickly started chasing it and bomb! A giant humpback jumped out of the water (about 80m  away from the boat). We continued to follow the humpback for the next half hour but unfortunately didn't get to see it jump again.

Whale Watching Cruise

On the Monday we hired bikes again and rode all around Reykjavik, checking out the shops, restaurants and tourist attractions before booking an Golden Circle afternoon tour with Greyline Iceland Excursions. On the tour we saw more of the amazing Icelandic landscape including: The Parliment Alpingi, the Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir and Strokkur. These are all sites you can drive around and see yourself if you feel comfortable driving in an unknown area but otherwise I highly recommend the tour because you learn so much about the Icelandic culture, history and people from the tour guide.

Geysir's

All in all Iceland is extremely colourful, intriguing and beautiful! I'm so glad I got to see this country with my own eyes as I've never seen such a beautiful landscape before.

Reykjavik City View