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Can anyone help me plan a trip to Reykjavik please?

31 replies

PinkCamellia · 09/03/2024 18:44

We go next week for four days. I’ve only booked the golden circle and lagoon tour so far. Everything is really expensive so trying to only book things that are really worth it. Has anyone been (particularly in March) and can recommend any trips please or answer the following?

  • are the aurora tours worth it? I know you can’t be guaranteed to see the northern lights but if they are visible, is it possible to see them from the city?
  • is it worth booking the museums in advance or can you do it on the day? One of my DC has social anxiety and not sure if they will come to everything so I’m trying to keep things flexible if possible.
  • how cold is it? Do we need salopettes or will jeans/joggers with thermal tights ok?
  • Any restaurant recommendations please? I was told an average restaurant costs £60 for a main and drink per person - is it really that bad?
  • anything that is a ‘must’ to see or do please?

I haven’t been on holiday for 6 years and never alone with the DC so trying to be as organised as possible. I’d be so grateful for any advice Flowers

OP posts:
Loadsofmoggies · 09/03/2024 18:50

You've only got a 15% chance of seeing the Northern Lights - even with perfect conditions

it is very expensive.Reykjavik Fish is a small chain and we had nice food there

Whale watching is ace - very expensive tho and need to book in advance.

Enjoy your trip.

Nextbitoflife · 09/03/2024 18:59

Go to the local open air swimming pools every night - they are amazing with hot pots and super clean.
ive been a few times.Reykjavik Street Food ( another small chain) was great and not too pricey with lamb hotpot with free refills and free waffles and jam for desert. Bullen burger and the famous hot dog stand ( you will find it) great for kids. You have to do a whale watching trip. I wouldn’t bother with the golden circle or blue lagoon personally. Super touristy. I would rather do a Northen lights tour if you don’t have a car. ( which I would def do if possible!) The art galleries are fantastic. Not likely to be so cold at all - colder than Uk but not so bad. Thermals and normal clothes and a big coat fine. Whale watching tours have gear you borrow included in the price - as do some of the other tours. The city is very cosmopolitan and stylish - with full on ski wear you look a bit daft imo!

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 09/03/2024 19:02

We went in November - it is possible to eat out more cheaply. Here are some places we are more cheaply, which satisfied the grumpy teens too. We only had a single beer each, which kept the price down. We also had a big "blow out" meal at the Hard Rock Cafe on our last night. I compared the cost the the London HRC menu online when we got home, and Reykavik was only £16 more expensive for starter/main course/pud and drinks for 4.

Street Food Station in central Reykavik- About £15/head for meal and drink

Really tasty fish stew - www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083399562338

Little cafe on the Rainbow Street, good for cakes and hot chocolates! on Rainbow Street. www.babalu.is/menu.html

Kr1000 is about £6

Reykavik Fish - massive fish and chips, also burgers etc, about £23/head - several branches around Reykavik reykjavikfish.is/

Food hall in old bus station. The Tacos from Fuego Fuego were awesone www.hlemmurmatholl.is/english. Was £25/head ish for meal and drink

Lebowski Bar was right next to where we were staying. We didn’t eat there, but it looked fun and reasonably and they do a Happy Hour 4-7 pm lebowskibar.is/en/

I'm an outdoor swimmer, and I went for a swim at the geothermal beach at Nautholic , about 30 mins walk out of the centre.

Braginn - chips, Tacos, burgers etc - I next to Nautholik beach. About £25/head.

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IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 09/03/2024 19:22

We went on a Northern Lights boat trip from Reykavik harbour , which I really enjoyed, and we did see the lights. We also went on a whale watching boat trip, which was fantastic, although not recommended if you get seasick.

It was between -5 and 0 degrees when we were there in November. We wore jeans and long johns and thermal base layers, jumpers and down jackets in the city, and thermal walking trousers and long johns on the boats and Golden Circle tour. Woolly hats and skiing gloves too. Google suggests it's a bit warmer now, nearer 6 degrees.

Binglebong · 09/03/2024 19:29

Just got back. Make sure you get some yak tracks- there is snow everywhere. It mostly doesn't get cleared.

For seeing the northern lights if you have a car go to the Lighthouse - but it will be cold!

My favourite was visiting the Lava Tunnel, absolutely stunning. We also went to the lava show where they melt old lava so you get a close up view of it.

This was my favourite meal - we went veggie and I was delicious. Lamb eaters thought there's was good too. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d14055764-Reviews-Lamb_Street_Food-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html

There is a central church where you can go up to the tower for views all round Reykjavik.

Make sure you take power packs for your phone as you'll take a LOT of pictures.

Have fun!

OldTinHat · 09/03/2024 19:32

The Penis Museum and the Whale Museum are a must. Plus a trip to the top of the cathedral. There's a fabulous noodle bar near the Penis Museum which is very cheap and tasty.

Definitely the Golden Circle. We also booked for the northern lights tour (this was in a January and the snow fall caused that to be cancelled - but book it anyway and for your first night then you can keep putting it back if it's cancelled and then get a refund if it never happens).

The Viking Museum and Volcano museum are also excellent.

We also stayed four days in Reykjavik and it was amazing. The supermarkets aren't too expensive for getting snack type meals.

Have a fabulous time! I'd love to go again.

SingaporeSlinky · 09/03/2024 19:36

The famous hotdog stand will do for a lunch, or get a couple for a cheap dinner. Hotdogs are fab and only a few pounds. Braud & Co bakery for pastries, normal prices and huge, so very filling. We went every day while in Reykjavik. For a few days, it’s easy to eat cheaply as long as you’re ok with not having a massive sit down meal.

OldTinHat · 09/03/2024 19:41

Oops, sorry, just read - no, we didn't book in advance for any museums, we just turned up.

And I'd forgotten about the hot dog place, that was fab!

When we went, it wasn't silly cold until the Golden Circle Tour stopped at where the tectonic plates meet. That was really, really cold!! We wore jeans, layered tops, scarves, hats, gloves, socks and thermal socks doubled up and walking boots. We did have thermals at the ready for the Northern Lights but didn't have to use them as we didn't get to see them 😆 It did snow a lot when we were there.

Bolarpear · 09/03/2024 20:05

I loved Reykjavik OP, we went in May so had no chance to see the Northern Lights, but it is still one of my favourite breaks away and will definitely be going back.

Definitely load up on layers, decent waterproof coats, hats and scarves, we got soaked on the tours. We did the Golden Circle and Lagoon tours too, and also one where we were driven up to a glacier in a monster truck to go on snow mobiles. Terrifying but fantastic.

It is expensive, there's an Appy Hour app which is useful for bars (appreciate it might not be that kind of break though but we made the most of it) and plenty of snacky places to eat. The Lebrowski bar is nice and chilled, the cathedral is beautiful and it's a nice, relaxed city to stroll around.

thecatsthecats · 09/03/2024 20:09

You're better off going for a Aurora hunt tour than the coach ones. They drive to the same carpark every night, regardless of the weather forecast, even if it's totally overcast but with good skies elsewhere.

AuroraGoddessSparkle · 09/03/2024 20:24

I've been twice, in late March and April. Both times it was bitterly cold, but not snowing. It was damp though, so I'd not recommend jeans for that reason. I wore a north face ski jacket both times and would have been frozen without it.

Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle tours are both well worth it. The first time I went we did a whale watching tour (and did not see any whales) and a northern lights tour but did not see them. From what I recall your chances of seeing the lights then are really low. I don't think you need to book museums. We just turned up on the day. I recommend the Whales of Iceland Museum and going to Videy Island where there is a peace monument.

Food is really expensive whether you self cater or eat out. The first time I went we stayed in the Hilton and stocked up at breakfast, the second time we stayed in an Airbnb and ate out more.

PinkCamellia · 09/03/2024 20:25

Thanks so much everyone - there’s so much good advice here that I wouldn’t have got from the excursion apps. I’m glad to hear everyone has enjoyed Iceland so much. I’m in the pre-travel stress zone, worrying about how much it’s all costing but this is helping me to feel excited!

What footwear will we need? My two ND teens want to wear trainers so I might have a job persuading them to wear something else but I won’t hear the end of it if they have cold wet feet!

Also, is it easy to get around the city by foot and bus? Predicting lots of complaints about all the walking.

I would really like to go to the penis museum but might have to go on my own as I think my teens would die of embarrassment going there with their mum 😆

The trip is for my 40th birthday so hoping to find a nice restaurant to celebrate and a supermarket for a cake. Must put candles on the packing list!

OP posts:
Theimpossiblegirl · 09/03/2024 20:48

You can buy wine and beer before leaving the airport. I also suggest taking snacks. It will save you a fortune! Have fun.

Simonjt · 09/03/2024 20:56

Its a very small city, so you won’t actually be walking around that much.

The blue lagoon has views of a powerplant, personally my favourite is secret lagoon, but everyone likes different things. The golden circle tour will mean a lot of time sat on a bus and about 20-30 minutes at each place, so make sure you have plenty of entertainment etc for those who aren’t happy to just look out of the window. Don’t bother with pick up buses, the city is so small you’re never far away from the bus station, unless of course you choose and out of city hotel, in which case public buses are cheaper.

Its wind more than cold thats an issue, so you’re better with layers and then an outer windproof layer.

We didn’t need to pre-book any museums when we were there, a free walking tour we did on day one gave us a ten percentage discount at most places if we booked online, I can remember the name of the company who did the tour.

Lots of shops, including corner shops don’t open until 10am, so get any snacks for the day the day before.

MrsCoyote · 09/03/2024 21:07

thecatsthecats · 09/03/2024 20:09

You're better off going for a Aurora hunt tour than the coach ones. They drive to the same carpark every night, regardless of the weather forecast, even if it's totally overcast but with good skies elsewhere.

Can you recommend some good aurora hunt trip, please?

Netcam · 09/03/2024 21:41

We went one April for 5 nights and self catered in an apartment. We had an amazing time, but it was freezing. You need layers, I recommend merino base layers underneath clothing, outer waterproof trousers and a padded, waterproof parka. Salopettes wouldn't be bad, but might be too hot when you go indoors anywhere. I think I wore 2 layers of merino leggings under trousers, with waterproof trousers on top. I wore 2 pairs of gloves and wished I'd brought spares as they got quite wet. It is much cheaper to eat out at lunchtime than the evening, we treated ourselves to one nice lunch out during our trip. The rest of the time we bought food from the supermarket and made packed lunches to take out with us. We did trips out to various places for 3 days which were amazing but felt the lagoon was overrated and overpriced. As for footwear, I would bring leather walking boots for when you leave the city, plus something comfortable for the city, all with thick wool socks. Have an amazing time.

Puffinshop · 09/03/2024 22:09

It's not that cold right now and there's no snow on the ground in the capital. The migratory birds have started to arrive which is always a happy sign that spring is not too far off. It might snow again but we're over the main bit of winter. I'm wearing trainers and a thin hat and gloves most days except if it's very windy - the wind can be bitter cold still.

You should download the Hopp app and use the scooters. They are the best way to travel around different parts of the city, if you want to go beyond 101. The buses are not great.

Puffinshop · 09/03/2024 22:12

I wouldn't go to the Blue Lagoon if I were you, under the threat of eruption very close by. It would not be fun to experience an emergency evacuation. I don't think it's at all sensible that it's open, but you know, gotta make that money.

Puffinshop · 09/03/2024 23:01

As for your specific questions:

  • are the aurora tours worth it? I know you can’t be guaranteed to see the northern lights but if they are visible, is it possible to see them from the city?

Yes, you can see them from the city if they are strong and it's a clear night, I see them outside my house often. But not as well as you will see them from the countryside of course. I've never been on an aurora tour but I imagine some operators put in more effort than others. If it's a likely night you could try going somewhere like Öskjuhlíð which is close to downtown but less light pollution.

  • is it worth booking the museums in advance or can you do it on the day? One of my DC has social anxiety and not sure if they will come to everything so I’m trying to keep things flexible if possible.

No, you don't need to book museums. But check which days they are open because some are closed on pretty random days.

  • how cold is it? Do we need salopettes or will jeans/joggers with thermal tights ok?

Ski wear would be overkill imo. It's been about 2-12° recently. Thermals are a fine idea to bring but you probably won't even need these except for northern lights watching, i.e. staying fairly still outside in the middle of the night.

  • Any restaurant recommendations please? I was told an average restaurant costs £60 for a main and drink per person - is it really that bad?

Haha no. That's like 10,500 ISK, you don't need to pay that much. A main course will be around 3 to 4000 in most places. A beer like 1500 - 2000 or something like that. If I go to the pizza restaurant near us that we love (Flatey, recommend!) I can get my favourite pizza for 2990 and a large peroni for 1790. You can spend 10,500 per person if you want of course, but you certainly don't need to. Other reasonably priced fast food kind of places include Lebowski and Just Wingin' It. I like Tres Locos and Sushi Social for a celebration meal that is more 'fancy' but still not insanely priced, or Fish/Grill Market. You have to book at those.

  • anything that is a ‘must’ to see or do please?

You'll already know all the things to do in Rvk. You know, go up Hallgrímskirkja, go inside Harpa, see Sólfari, the Tjörn. 101 is very small and that's where most of the tourist stuff is. You can see it in less than a day. The National Museum is good. Árbær open air museum is fun if you like that kind of thing. There are loads of good pools. Most central with good slides is Laugardalslaug in 104 but there are better ones if you're willing to go further. You can also scoot along the coastal path, see Ægissíða, Nauthólsvík, maybe go around Seltjarnarnes.

The supermarkets you want are called Krónan (yellow coin logo) and Bónus (pink pig). The others are more expensive, some dramatically so - don't buy anything from a 10/11 for example. You can't buy alcohol in the supermarkets, just the special off-license, and if you want to have something to drink in your accommodation it is by far the best option to buy it at the airport duty free on your way in.

Madcats · 09/03/2024 23:13

I've not been to Iceland for decades, but the last trip was in March. (In my defence I am sat waiting for teen DD to get home on a lift share, so I might as well do a spot of Mumsnetting)

  1. Check when sunset is. It was light until gone 9:30/10 I seem to remember.

  2. Pack suncream! We spent a late afternoon/early evening in an outdoor pool and went slightly pink.

  3. Warn your DC about showering. Let the shower run for a bit before entering the room unless you like the smell of sulphur.

The Golden Circle Tour is worth doing: with luck it will still be a bit snowy.

Also consider horse riding

Binglebong · 10/03/2024 00:14

Seeing someone mention discounts reminded me - we got a link from one of our tours. You may as well use it if you want.

Can anyone help me plan a trip to Reykjavik please?
Can anyone help me plan a trip to Reykjavik please?
VerityUnreasonble · 10/03/2024 06:07

I'm in Reykjavik at the moment (just about to leave to go home!).

It's not been that cold really, I have a good coat and hat and other than that have just had cheap fleece lined leggings on. DH wore trainers the whole time we've been here, although he did bring decent socks.

If you are going to do a northern lights boat trip, book it for your first night. Lots of them will let you go again the next night if you don't see anything / let you swap your tickets for whale watching if you don't want another try at aurora hunting. Our boat trip cancelled the first night as no activity but let us join the next night and was amazing (but definitely gloves and jumper required - although they did have things you could borrow if needed).

I really enjoyed the view / food from the resteraunt at Perlan. The museum itself was quite fun, planetarium, ice cave although didn't take that long to get round and tickets were around £30 for adults. But the view from the revolving resteraunt / cafe is worth a trip I think. We got the bus there, single tickets are about £3 for adults. There is a city hop on hop off bus too (maybe £20 for a full day?) which goes to a few different places but other than Perlan I think we walked pretty much everywhere.

Hot dogs were delicious and surprisingly cheap (£4 each?)

Lots of museums are open late on a Thursday night and there is a "flea market" near the harbour open on weekends if you want a bit of a potter round.

Have a lovely birthday!

Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 10/03/2024 06:15

We went to Messinn for an amazing fish meal. If you go main course drink only
It wasn't that much and nicer food for the money than the pizza shop we went to another night. Just looked it up and a fish pan which was massive was about £25. I think pizza was about £17.

I never paid anywhere like £60pp

Netcam · 10/03/2024 09:32

Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 10/03/2024 06:15

We went to Messinn for an amazing fish meal. If you go main course drink only
It wasn't that much and nicer food for the money than the pizza shop we went to another night. Just looked it up and a fish pan which was massive was about £25. I think pizza was about £17.

I never paid anywhere like £60pp

I remember we went there too, it was amazing. We went at lunchtime and the same menu was about half the price as at dinner.

Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky · 10/03/2024 09:34

@Netcam I think my daughters would go back to Iceland just for that. We went 2 nights from the 5 we had there.

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