5 Mistakes You Make When You Arrive in Iceland

When you're planning a trip to Iceland it's common to overlook how important the arrival day is. Nailing day 1 and making everything as easy as possible from the minute you step off the plane until you go to bed the first night sets the stage for your trip. My goal is to make that arrival day as easy as possible - that's what we're talking about in this video!

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// PLANNING A TRIP TO ICELAND?

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[ThePinoyAggie]

We started our trip to Iceland with a visit to Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik. We arrived at around 9:30 AM in Keflavik, picked up our car, and drove to Sky Lagoon. We ate brunch at the cafe inside Sky Lagoon introducing ourselves to some Icelandic food. We then enjoyed the lagoon doing the seven steps ritual and a couple or more glasses of Gull beer and white wine. Our jet lag was gone and we were ready for the next day's adventure.

[BillHong.]

A possible alternative to the Blue Lagoon for those heading into the City is the Sky Lagoon, on the tip of the Kopavogur peninsula. It's an artificial creation, and smaller than the Blue, but the experience is very enjoyable, with some optional experiences that are invigorating, plus a fantastic ocean view. We also spent our first evening in Reykjavik at a concert in the beautiful Harpa Concert Hall, before heading out on the road the next day to Snaesfellsness. Can also recommend the camper van experience.

[hoser]

We nailed our first day thanks to your vlog and guide. The airport transition from landing to rentail car to Trawire. Then hit the Blue Lagoon at 7am, Grindavik, Fridheimars for lunch, skowly hit Selfoss and then the Golden Circle big sites, dropped the crowds, hit Reyjavik, famous hot dogs and chased it all with a night walk to Reykjadular hot river. Honestly thanks to your guide. ❤

[JorgeLopez-nqjj]

Went to Iceland last June. I found a flight IcelandAir JKF to Keflavik arriving 11:00 Pm. Stayed at the Aurora hotel next to the airport, didn’t have to worry getting a rental car on the arrival day. Everything worked perfectly, no jet lag. Next day we stated our 7 day Iceland trip fresh

[dickginkowski]

My tips (8x in Iceland). Inspect and thoroughly photograph your rental car to prevent false damage claims. First stops at Costco and Ikea (which has a breakfast bar). There's a Bonus next to Costco. Great place to stock up on water and soda plus muffins for breakfast. You can also get some lunch sandwiches. Note that Costco gas is cheapest in Iceland. Another stop may be Byko Hardware Store. Your hotel may not have enough outlets and you can get a three-in-one adapter. I prefer guest houses that have kitchen facilities. Lunch will usually be our restaurant meal. Then another trip to the market and we'll cook dinner. And helpful to know where there are public toilet facilities. On the way back to the airport stop at Costco for gas. Not necessary to have a lot of Icelandic money but knowing PIN for your Visa is critical for the gas pump.

[alonsolopez]

I landed in Iceland at 5 am got my rental at 6 am and hit the golden circle with my bags in the car when I got back to Reykjavik at around 8pm. It was time to eat shower and check in and slept like a baby…I suggest you do the golden circle the first day coming from America

[jacquibiggart]

We did blue lagoon after we landed, loved it and we could check our suitcases (since we hadn’t checked into our hotel yet). The only downside was we were tired from the red eye (coming from Toronto) then sitting in the warm cozy hot spring. I got sooo sleepy 😂

[fabolous]

I live in The Bahamas and ready for a change in scenery and the Nordic countries are looking so welcoming

[humboldtfisher]

In mid-May, we flew from Seattle WA and arrived at 930AM (which was 230AM our time). Took Fly Bus to Reykjavik = super easy. Had time to check into our lodging at Snorri's Guesthouse and take a nap. Woke up, went into town, walked around for about an hour and then did the Food and Drink Tour, which was BIG fun! After three nights in Reykjavik, we took the Fly Bus back to airport to pick up our rental van from Camp Easy = great company. The only van rental company we heard bad things about was Go Indie. We did a 10-night loop around the Ring Road, went in a counter-clockwise direction. Jeanie's videos were very helpful in planning our trip!

[ashamoosai]

I thought I was the only person who did the night before thing!! 😅 great trip

[live.travel.]

Your tips were so helpful many years ago on my visit.
I got in bright and early, got my car- which I camped in because I was solo and wasn’t spending extra money. Went to the campground later, bonus for groceries and ventured a bit in the city

[garrydelday]

Superb advice Jeannie for both visitors from the west and east, landing times are such a big determining factor in what you can do on day one. Planning day one is essential according to where you are coming from, we arrived from Europe and put off hiring a vehicle until the following day (simply wasn’t worth paying for a day where you can’t use it) better to get a taxi to your first nights accommodation, we chose Keflavik for that £15 from the airport, Reykjavik is nearer £100. So for visitors from Europe I would strongly recommend staying in Keflavik for your first night, then pick your rental up from the airport the following morning. The opposite may apply to visitors from North America (get your rental straight away and head for Reykjavik) 😉👍

[carolynBulldog]

A few years I flew into Iceland for a 5 days. I stayed at Hotel Berg in Keflavik(recommend highly) They picked me up at airport and stored my luggage as I got there at 0900. I got their rental car and drove to Blue Lagoon and vegged out for day until my room was ready in the afternoon. My cat naps at Lagoon gave me energy for the rest . Had a great arrival day!

[boatlover]

Just got back from Iceland. Flybus is okay but pack your patience. Figure out the bus stop numbers on day one, it does kind of make sense when you get it as far as tours. Don't expect any bus to be on time or have enough room for everyone. They always did eventually bring another bus sometimes 30-45 minutes late standing in the cold. We got a second bus from Blue Lagoon to Reykjavik on day one, the bus driver dropped us at what we learned was the second best stop for our hotel, gave us poor directions and didn't bother to get off the bus and even open the luggage door. (Russian sounding frizzy hared red head lady if they care) I did enjoy Blue Lagoon. Currently it is not along the way to Reykjavik, rather a 45 minute or so detour each way when it is open do to recent volcanic activity.

[adamwenz]

Great advice, as always. Thanks for the video! When we came to Iceland in June 2022, we arrived at Keflavik airport at 9:30 am and then eventually made it to Reykjavik at around 12:30 pm. We were able to leave our luggage at our accommodations, and then walked around the city for a few hours. I agree about the later afternoon "wall" that you mentioned. We made it until 6:00 pm and then slept for about 10 hours! We were glad we didn't have any tours planned for that first day! The 24-hour daylight that time of year was something I didn't get used to during our 8 days in the country. Looking forward to the next video!

[shelleybergen]

Your videos help me plan the most amazing trip last year! We absolutely fell in love with Iceland. We loved just wandering around Reykjavik, sitting in quaint little coffee shops, the harbour! Amazing, amazing city and country. The people are so friendly and helpful! I had emailed our hotel to see if we could store out luggage until check-in time and they said sure! When we got to the hotel at around 8:00am to drop off our bags, they told us that our room was already empty and cleaned so we could check in then! It was fantastic! Because of you I knew about the Fly bus so had pre-booked that, I knew about Kronan and Bonus, tours etc. Do thank you for your great and informative videos!!

[carableu]

I would definitely book an accommodation for the night before. I’ve actually never been able to check in early in Iceland. Well worth having a room ready.

[ovrowner]

Thank you for providing this content. My wife and I recently took a cruise to Iceland and stayed three nights in Reykjavik. Your videos were helpful for things to do while we were there and much appreciated.

[MojganSHaji]

Jeannie, been following you for a while and I've been trying to visit Iceland since 10-15 years ago when I had a connecting flight to EU thru Reykjavik....finally my day is coming, Sep 10, 2023. Thank you for all your advice, can't imagine going there without all your great videos and guidance.
This will be first of a few more visits there, unless if things go horribly wrong 😂😢
🙏🙏

[AA__]

I literally “LOLed” when you mentioned falling asleep standing up @ 4PM. Has happened to me on trips to Iceland and European destination multiple times! :) Great advice as always!