This is a question that’s come up on the Iceland travel Facebook group so many times that I’m going to write an entire blog on the subject: “my flight gets in at 6am and I can’t check in to my AirBNB/hotel until 3pm. What can I do in Reykjavik?”.
Really, the answer to this is “leave your luggage somewhere and then just do whatever you’d do in Reykjavik on a normal day”. But the people on this group are incapable of doing their own research, so we have to pretend that this is a completely different question to “what to do in Reykjavik?”.
The obvious answer is “go to the Blue Lagoon”. Most tourists asking the question are first-timers who are probably here for their once-in-a-lifetime trip, so many of them are going to want to go to the Blue Lagoon at some point and when you’re trying to kill time before you can get into your accommodation, you might as well get your bucket list item ticked off. There are buses directly from the airport (and the one I’ve linked will then transfer you to Reykjavik afterwards), because this is such a popular thing to do, but if you’re hiring a car, you can drive yourself or you can shell out for a taxi. This is going to come up again later, so I’ll say it nice and early: there is no Uber and the locals recommend time and time again using local company Hreyfill. There’s also luggage storage in the car park for big plane-sized bags which won’t fit in the changing room lockers. Make sure you book your Blue Lagoon ticked separately in advance: it’s very rare to be able to just walk in nowadays and a transfer is not admission. You don’t need to go all out for the premium experience, you don’t need to go to the Retreat – just book the absolute basic package. I promise, it’s enough. You get towels included, I think you get one free (prepaid!) drink and you can pay for as many more as you want (within the limits of the alcoholic ones being restricted to three per wristband). You don’t need a robe – you’ll only wear it from the showers to the poolside and then you’ll hang it up among hundreds of identical ones and you’ll never figure out which is yours again anyway.
When people have decided to go to the Blue Lagoon, the next thing they ask is what time they should book admission for, based on what time their flight is due. Sorry, can’t help. That’s an unanswerable question. How long does it take to taxi, maybe get the bus transfer to the terminal, how long is it going to take to get through passport control, how long is it going to take to get your luggage? No idea. Depends on the day, the time of the day, how many flights come in the same time, how many people have problems, how fast the baggage handlers work. I waited the best part of an hour for my luggage once, which was a terrifying thing. On the other hand, if everything’s working smoothly, you can be through the whole thing in ten minutes.
What if you don’t want to go to the Blue Lagoon or what if volcanic activity has closed the Blue Lagoon? Well, the next thing people recommend is the Sky Lagoon. I have my reservations about this. It is lovely, but it’s the one lagoon in Iceland not owned by Icelanders and it shows. They sell “the Ritual” as a luxury experience, whereas I’m very inclined to see limiting access to the steam room and sauna to one visit per visitors as an incredible audacious thing when you get unlimited access to steam rooms and saunas at every other pool in the entire country, including that little swimming pool in that village where ten people live and five people pass through as tourists per year.
Or there are the local pools – if I find myself in Reykjavik at an awkward time of day, ie with a midday flight or arriving into the city in early evening, I’ll go straight to Sundhöllin, which is the public pool right in the heart of downtown Reykjavik. It’s about £8 per person, you get to stay there as long as the pool’s open; it’s got an outdoor lane pool splash pool, hot tub, cold plunge pool and steam room in the new extension, it’s got Reykjavik’s oldest (and coldest!) pool inside and upstairs on the balcony, it’s got a sauna and two (very) hot pots. If you want to experience Iceland’s geothermal joys on a budget, go to Sundhollin. If you want to add a 50m outdoor lane pool to the fun, take the bus out to Laugardalslaug.
But if you don’t want to swim? Well, the only difference between this particular day and an ordinary day in Reykjavik is luggage. If you’re in a hotel, they will almost certainly store your luggage for you. No problem. If you’ve got an AirBNB or the kind of guesthouse I favour, where there’s no reception and you let yourself in with a code, the best option is probably going to be the storage lockers at the BSI, the big central bus station. Luckily, this is where the airport bus generally drops off so you don’t need to make a special journey but you may have a little bit of a walk back to pick your luggage up again later or you might want a taxi (as I said, use Hreyfill; if you’re nervous about calling an Icelandic company and asking for services, hotel receptions and the lovely people at the tourist information inside City Hall (follow the honking geese and it’s the building over the water) will make the call for you. Ask me how I know. I’m a millennial! I don’t like phoning strangers!
Ok, now you’ve got rid of your luggage! Now we’re just planning a day in Reykjavik! Admittedly, it’s a slightly short one, because as soon as you can check into your accommodation, you’re going to abandon Reykjavik for the joys of a nap after an overnight flight and a day of killing time in the world’s northernmost capital. Honestly, if you’re arriving tired early in the morning, sitting in some hot water is a really good thing to do. Let the warmth lull you, enjoy spending your acclimatisation time appreciating Iceland’s natural geothermal wonders and just relax as hot water commands you to.
But yeah, not everyone’s into hot water.
Well, let’s start with some museums and galleries. I will never not recommend the Lava Show – take a stroll around the edge of the Old Harbour, maybe stop in one of the teal restaurants at the side of it for a seafood lunch and make your way to the Grandi district, which I’m inclined to view as the Shoreditch of Reykjavik, not because it’s particularly hipster-y but because it’s been regenerated over the last decade into the place to be. There are a few large supermarkets here, so if you can carry some food, it’s not a bad place to do your shopping. But it’s also home to several interesting exhibits. Lava Show is my favourite, the only place in the world where live lava is brought into a theatre setting (apart from their other branch out at Vik), and introduces you to everything you could ever want to know about volcanoes.
FlyOver Iceland is amazing; a massive concave screen which you “fly” over, visiting some of Iceland’s most beautiful scenery with swoops, breezes and the occasional mist of water. Especially in winter, you might want to prepare for your Northern Lights excursion by visiting Aurora Reykjavik. Or maybe prepare for your whale watching boat trip by visiting Whales of Iceland to learn about the local cetacean population. My other favourite recommendation is the Saga Museum, a walkthrough of waxwork figures showing stories and legends from Iceland’s history and sagas. I know waxworks can be a bit divisive, a bit uncanny valley, but you can always stand to learn more about a country’s history and it has a dressing-up room where you can put on a tunic and brandish a sword.
Back in downtown Reykjavik, the obvious draw is Hallgrimskirkja, the big grey church on the hill. The best way up to it is via Skólavörðustígur, which you probably know as “Rainbow Street” for the rainbow that’s been painted on it for less than ten years. Do try to get used to the actual names, though. “Skol-a-voor-thu-stee-gur” isn’t as hard is as it looks. Hallgrimskirkja isn’t actually a cathedral, it’s just a parish church (the actual cathedral is the little dark grey church by the Pond) but because it’s the biggest church in Iceland, and the most striking, it tends to get used for all the big occasions. It’s free to go in and have a look around but you can’t miss the tower tour. Go into the gift shop and buy a tower ticket, then go to the lift/elevator by the front door and go up to the top. There are two floors at the top, one of which is more sheltered than the other (you’ll want warm clothes if you come up here in winter!) and you get spectacular 360 views over Reykjavik and right across to Reykjanes.
Or you could just do a tour of the cafes and bars. Cafe Loki is the place to go for traditional Icelandic food and as a bonus, it overlooks Hallgrimskirkja. Brauð & Co is a very popular chain of Icelandic bakeries, which I gather does amazing cinnamon buns, although I haven’t visited one myself. For coffee, Reykjavik Roasters is popular or you could try Iceland’s national coffee chains, Te og kaffi.
If you’d like to do a bit of shopping, look beyond the “puffin shops”. Everyone loves a bookshop and Iceland is particularly good at books, with a phenomenon known as “the Christmas book flood” happening in November and December when a surge of books are published ready for Christmas. Pennin Eymundsson is kind of the equivalent of Waterstones or Barnes & Noble – it’s hardly an irresistably cute independent bookshop – but it has a good collection of English books and a healthy selection of souvenirs – grab yourself a readable one, like a saga or a bit of Nordic noir. For sagas, I really like The Saga of the Volsungs although it’s undeniable that Egil’s Saga is the jewel. For crime, try Arnaldur Indriðason, Ragnar Jónasson or Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. If you want something a bit more classic, there’s always Iceland’s Nobel Prize winner, Halldór Laxness, or if you want something a bit lighter, try Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. Or if you just want to enjoy the scenery, pick yourself a shiny coffee table or photo book, which go from the massive too-big-for-budget-airlines down to the literal pocket-sized. Then go upstairs to the cafe to enjoy an Icelandic coffee with your new Icelandic book.
If you don’t want to look at books – and why would you not want to look at books?? – you could pop into Fótógrafí, the little rustic-looking photo shop on Skólavörðustígur. It’s a den of cameras from the modern to the ancient and you can buy photos of Icelandic scenery or life in the city in sizes ranging from the kind that wouldn’t look out of place in a palace to a little envelope of 6x4s, like the ones I bought last year. Or if you want your hand-knitted lopapeysa, the traditional jumper with the ring-neck pattern (or some wool to make your own), you can cross the road and walk 38m downhill to the Handknitting Association shop.
I think that’s probably enough. By the time you’ve done all that, your accommodation will be available and after that, you’re free to do whatever you want. Probably a bit more of this list.
I Am A Polar Bear 