This 4th of July, I embarked on my first international adventure since before the Pandemic. Traveling is one of my biggest passions and while I’m grateful for the opportunity to focus inward on my personal development and explore more locally, I jumped on this opportunity as soon as it was safe and allowed to do so. Iceland began allowing US citizens to visit their beautiful county in April 2021 so when we stumbled across the tickets while searching for a present for Alisha’s birthday, we knew it was fate. Cheap fares + bucket list destination = a trip of dreams on the books.

Day 1: Welcome to Iceland

We landed from our red eye in the morning and were greeting by rainy weather. It wasn’t too cold - mid 50 degrees F. After promptly renting a car we headed to our Airbnb in Reykjavik to drop off luggage and freshen up before we headed to our first big destination - the famous Blue Lagoon.

Airbnb: It was SO cute but a bit far from main downtown area where there were bars + food. It wasn’t hard walking there (25 minutes) and despite being able to walk back since it was daylight still at 12:00am, we took a taxi back which was easy to grab from downtown.

Our first meal in Iceland at Braud & Co ended up becoming one of our favorite. It had delicious, fresh bread and pastries that we would purchase an assortment of with some hummus, egg, or tuna salad. We aren’t big American pastry people since they’re so sugary and heavy but these were incredible!

Blue Lagoon had been one a Bucket List destination for all of us for so long so we were truly pinching ourselves as we were sipping champagne there. The silica infused blue water lived up to the hype! Many might think that this destination is too much of a tourist trap, which I won’t deny, but I think it’s worth a visit upon arrival. It’s proximity to the airport makes it a great day of arrival activity, which happened to be just what we had needed since we were tired from our red-eye flight.

We spent a few hours in the lagoon nourishing our skin with the face masks that come with our package. The package we chose came with champagne at the Lava Restaurant so we purchased an appetizer and dessert here while we dined in our robes. Major vibe alert.

Pro Tip: Make sure to add some conditioner in your hair before you enter the spa and tie your hair to AVOID getting the silica in it. It took DAYS for our hair to return to its normal texture.

We ate our dinner at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur - the famous hot dog stand visited by the Kardashians, Bill Clinton and many more before a night out. It was a Thursday so places closed early (1:00am lol) and there weren’t too many people out but we really liked Petersen svítan. It was a cute rooftop bar. We knew that the sun set late here but didn’t know that for the approximately 3 weeks of Summer, the sun DOESN’T SET. It was incredible but also really screwed with our sleep schedule.

Day 2: Western Iceland

We were eager to begin our first full day in Iceland as we got ready to explain more of the Western region. Our day started with breakfast from Braud & Co. I wasn’t kidding when I said this turned into one of our fave spots. We got coffee from Kaktus Espressobar and then picked up some breakfast before heading to Deildartunguhver. The Deildartunguhver Hot Springs are the most powerful hot spring in Europe.

It happened to be right by another geothermal spa - Krauma. It wasn’t our plan to stop here but since it was so close we couldn’t NOT go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. This spa was super different from Blue Lagoon. It had the different temperatures for us to practice cold water immersion before our polar plunge in the Glacier Lagoon. The view was also super different, the green Icelandic landscape just made it so much more surreal of an experience.

After that, we ventured to Reyholt to explore the home of Iceland’s most famous writers and scholars, Snorri Struluson.

The final activity of the night was our first waterfall of the trip - Barnafoss. It was a series of small waterfalls on top of a lava bed - so pretty. It reminded me of a baby Burney Falls.

We ended our night with dinner at The Settlement Center. This was probably the most average meal we had of our trip so I probably wouldn’t recommend but there weren’t too many options near us. The ice cream, however, was excellent - BIG Icelandic ice-cream fans.

Airbnb: Absolutely loved our Múlakot 5 Cozy Cabin with incredible views in Borgarnes. We stayed here for two nights and it really felt like a home away from home.

Day 3: Snaefellnes Peninsula

Our day began by returning to Reykjavik to pick up the final addition to our Icelanders group. After that, we decided to eat in the city before heading north for the Snaefellnes Peninsula. We grabbed coffee from a coffee shop nearby and food from Cafe Loki. The food wasn’t great but it was right by the Hallgrímskirkja Church. After that, we navigated to Stykkishólmur. We ate some bomb fish & chips and ice-cream here. After spending some time to explore the area, we headed to Helgafell for a quick climb. It is known to be a sacred place. and believed that if you hike to the top of the mountain without looking back or uttering a word you will get 3 wishes fulfilled. Needless to say, we couldn’t last one way without talking - classic. On our way to the Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall we drove through the super cool Berserkjahraun lava field, felt like the type of background that was a gorgeous screensaver background. The waterfall was beautiful and it was right by Mt. Kirkjufell.

Day 4: Golden Circle

Our fourth day happened to fall on July 4 and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the independence of our country - by leaving it lol. Today we did the Golden Circle, the famous stops near Reykjavik that many people who are only able to visit for a short period of time do. It started by grabbing coffee and pastry from a local bakery in Borgarnes after bidding adieu to our cute Airbnb. Then, we went to Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park where we did the Öxarárfoss Waterfall hike.

After that, we had booked an activity for snorkeling in between two continents in the Silfra shore. It was SUCH a cool experience, the coordinators did a great job with the instructions and gear since the water was freezing. This is also the only place in the whole world where you can snorkel or dive in between two continents - North America and Europe!

The package we purchased was the Hot & Cold Tour which included admission to the Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths (can you tell we might have a spa obsession at this point?). It was different from the first two we went to but nothing compared to Blue Lagoon.

We ate a late lunch at a nearby restaurant and went on to the Stokkur Geysir to see one of the largest geysers in the area.

Next, we made our way to Gulfoss, one of the most breathtaking waterfalls I’ve seen!

Our final stop before heading to Reykavik for the night was the Kerid Crater.

Since it was our last night together, we went to Sushi Social for dinner - by far our FAVORITE food place not only of this trip but some of the BEST sushi I have had in my life!! It was a great ambiance and we were able to celebrate our dear Alisha’s birthday on her final night with us.

Airbnb: We stayed in Reykjavik since we had to drop Alisha at the airport the next day. This place was simple and fit our need for the night!

Stay tuned for 7 Days in Iceland (Part 2) coming out next Friday!