Landmannalaugar, Lobster Soup & The Blue Lagoon

After an intense day filled with hiking until the wee hours of the morning, we had a much needed lengthy sleep. We woke up just in time for lunch, and got to enjoy the amazing views of the mountains, streams and colours while we ate. Unlike the fantastic weather that was here before we went to sleep, somewhere along the morning it started to rain again. Because of the changes to our schedule from the exclusions of the F-roads close to Landmannalaugar, today ended up being mostly open. We only had the Blue Lagoon planned and that wasn’t until 8pm.

We thought, “since we’re here”, why not try a better trail. We took the Laugavegur line but split off following the white markers to return to the campsite. This loop took us roughly 2 hours to complete and was quite a wicked hike. It was at times very taxing but full of fantastic scenes. There were moments where we’d have to practically hug the side of a mountain. Definitely not for the faint at heart.

It unfortunately didn’t go high enough to see many mountain peeks though, so if you want to see those kinds of views you may want to stick to the red trail markers for at least a little longer, or try a different one altogether. We were able to walk among some lava formations and trek through snow. We even got a little taste of the geothermal activities that are throughout the whole area. If you’re short on time though you may not have many other choices, and a hike in Landmannalaugar is better than none at all! This area is considered one of the best hiking trails in the world, you really can’t miss it.  You may notice my lack of photos for this portion of our adventure….I can assure you it wasn’t because of lack of interesting subject matter! It was raining so much, that every shot had water droplets on my lens. It was raining so much, my camera bag soaked right through! I had to take all of my gear out and safely store them in my suitcase. Not ideal that’s for sure. For the remainder of the day my bag was wide open on the floor in front of our heater. It took the whole day and night to dry out and even still, the next morning was still slightly damp.

I really didn’t plan well for excessive rain on my gear.

We left Landmannalaugar around 4pm for Grindavik to finally indulge in that amazing lobster soup we heard about from our dive master. Whether it was because we were all rained out or just really looking forward to that meal, we made remarkable time by not adding any stops along the way! We drove right from point A to point B! We arrived into town and found Café Bryggjan, the quaint port side restaurant, for 7pm. It was quite busy but we were able to get a table, and we sat and enjoyed the warm food while watching the world cup. If you are planning on going to Blue Lagoon or find yourself near this town, make sure to have some food here! It was my favourite meal we had at a restaurant.

After our delicious soup, we made our way to the Blue Lagoon.

Wow, this place is impressive. Beautiful buildings and quite large. It is definitely made for the high volume of people they see through here. When we first went in, it was very hectic, and basically stayed that way until we entered the lagoon.

If you’re going with a travel companion of the opposite sex you will be separated at the beginning to shower and get ready, but there’s a large area just before you exit the building to meet up again. The lagoon itself was amazing. So steamy, and warm and relaxing. Just what we needed after our crazy schedule over the last week and a half. While the entrance fee was the most expensive compared to all the other geothermal hot springs, it does includes a towel, a locker, a silica mud mask, and a drink. Any drink on their menu. There’s no restrictions! We ended up choosing the Blue Lagoon because of the location and our timeline. Most of the other geothermal hot springs just didn’t match up well for us. Because of the size of this lagoon, there’s quite a few pumps around that likely keep the water at an enjoyable temperature. This makes sense, but my husband and I were a little shocked they didn’t try to hide them better. While I don’t care they need to supplement the hot water, seeing them ruins the otherwise perfect ambiance. That would be my only complaint. Otherwise if you’re wondering about going here, I can’t imagine why you shouldn’t! The hot shower alone was glorious.

We ventured around the warm waters for 2 hours and then left to camp for the night.

Krýsuvík & Home

Waking up on our final day, knowing we’d be leaving this wonderfully scenic country in a few hours, made us a little sad. But we were looking forward to sleeping in a real bed again! Nothing quite like your own bed as they say. I love traveling and have been to several countries throughout Europe but no place has left me wondering if I’ll ever see anything this magical again. Probably because most places have the right amount of beautiful scenery and normal scenery. Well Iceland is LITERALLY all beautiful. I think part of our exhaustion was strictly from our eyes and brains trying to comprehend the magnitude of these stunning landscapes.  Obviously I will be in awe again, many more times as I travel to new destinations, but for a moment I really wasn’t sure.

We didn’t have much time left over on our last day as we had to have the van back for 2pm, but we attempted to squeeze in a hike through the Krýsuvík geothermal trails. This was fairly close to the town we camped in, but as we left, the roads were barricaded off for a bike race. This would have given us access from 427 to 42. We were told to go around the other way which would add quite a bit of extra time to the drive, but we didn’t have any other choice. We drove around, and then lo and behold we came up to another barricade.

There was a dirt road off 42 at this point, so we presumed this was another way to the park. We were wrong. We drove all the way down this F-road type back road, only to find out there is no way to Krýsuvík except the main road that was closed. Funny thing is as we merged back onto the paved 42, the barricade was now moved out of the way. We had very little time, but decided to just go for it.

The drive there was very scenic and reminded us of along the coast.  We made it to the geothermal park and had under 30 min to explore. It clearly is a wonderful spot and we were glad it sort of worked out, if anything for that drive alone, but 30 min is not enough time to see this area. We only got so far as the wooded pathways. It looked like there was a smaller footpath you could take to see more.

We made it to the rental company for 1:40pm, had one last meal, cleaned up and handed the keys in.

Our adventure of a lifetime has winded down.

The check in at the Reykjavik airport went very smooth, but waiting to board the plane was insane. It’s obvious the airport was not designed to hold the amount of tourists that visit there now. I wish I had took a photo of where we had to wait. It was packed! I don’t think I’ve ever used that word in a more truer description. There were 4-5 gates all in this little quadrant. And all gates were leaving within an hour of each other. You could not walk through the mass of people. My husband and I sat off to the side to avoid being squished and many others started doing that too because really… there was no more room left anyway.

We made it on the plane and remained in awe of everything we were so lucky to experience these past 11 days.

I hope my experiences have intrigued you to visit Iceland and plan your own adventure or at least been an interesting read.  Any questions? Let me know!

Been to Iceland? What were your favourite things?