Honeymoon in Iceland – Day 12: Visiting Reykjavik

Long story short of our Iceland Honeymoon day 12: With small steps and much sorrow in our hearts we are heading towards the end of our visit in Iceland, but before we leave we must visit its capital, Reykjavik – a town that hosts two-thirds of the country’s total population of 320.000 people (and 800.000 sheep).

What did the last Icelandic day bring?

The answer: Lots of surprises! Because we still had the car in the morning we thought to leave our luggage at the hotel we were spending the night in, but when we got there we couldn’t find anybody at the front desk. We gave them a call and we found out the check in starts only at 15:00… great, we had to find another way to dispose of our bags.

We made our way to Happy Campers HQ to drop the car that has showed us Iceland, that has kept us warm and that has provided us with a cosy place to sleep during many nights. To be honest, the moment was extremely sad as we truly started to realize that our holiday was coming to an end… I will sure miss this country and all the wonderful places we managed to visit! While we waited in a queue to physically hand over the car we looked like crying children that had to give up their favorite toy. The only difference was we didn’t yell “Please just one more day!”, even though on the inside our souls were screaming with all their might.

The guys at the renting center gave us the perfect solution for our bags – at the bus terminal you can find different sized boxes you can rent for storage. The price for the largest box, with a height up to 90 cm was 1200 ISK for 24 hours with only one opening of the container in this time – which means you put the luggage in and you open the box when you want to pick it up. We deposited our stuff and we started on foot in the direction of the city center. We were in luck as the people at Happy Campers gave us a lift to the bus terminal and also they informed us we don’t need to use public transportation to reach the heart of the city as it is quite close.

The bus terminal is close to the domestic flight airport and it take 10 minutes on foot to reach the city center – from the center to our hotel about 20 minutes – from the hotel to the bus station approximately 15 minutes. As I locked our luggage I started feeling revived again, glad that we still had one day left to explore a bit of Iceland under the tourist status.

The most expensive burgers we ever had

Out of need (the hunger was kicking in) we made our way to the Old Harbour and the first restaurant we stepped in was Geysir Bistro – we probably chose this place driven by the nostalgia that was slowly getting settled in our hearths and by the thought that we had said our goodbyes to the fairytale nature sights of Iceland. It seems that Icelanders really love burgers as all around the country you can see multiple places that were specialized in serving such a dish. Since neither of us fancies fish or sheep meat products we thought we should try something from the local cuisine – might it be even the international burger.

The food was really nice, the service was excellent and the food was tasty and well done but the prices, even though not that high for an Icelander, were quite expensive for us as we paid about 36 euros for two burgers without any drinks. But yeah, these are the prices you can expect in Iceland: a soup is about 1600 ISK (10 euros), the main dish is between 2000 and 6000 ISK (14 – 40 euros) and a 0.33ml beer is about 1000 ISK (~ 7 euros). This was the first time we ate food not cooked by us in this country :).

Aurora Museum

Because we had a lot of time at our disposal, taking in consideration the central area of the capital is pretty small, we decided to visit a cute museum, Reykjavik Northern Lights Center – a special place where you learn about how the Aurora is formed, how it is perceived in the folklore of different nations, you learn how to successfully photograph the phenomenon and you can relax with some chill music while watching different clips and pictures.

At the exit, you will find a small souvenir shop and a lounge area where you can get some complimentary tea or coffee for the admission price of 1600 ISK (11 euros) per person.

Next to the Reykjavik Northern Lights Museum you can also visit the Saga Museum, an interesting place where you can learn all about Vikings and you get the chance to try out some traditional Viking clothing, armour and weapons for your amusement and photo session.

The Reykjavik Opera House

Icelanders have one of the most atypical and at the same time interesting opera houses I have ever seen – Harpa – a building made of hexagonal glass with a multitude of colours that give it a futuristic look, but at the same time respecting the simple, minimalistic northern architecture.

The Sun Voyager

Next we are going to visit another Reykjavik symbol – the elegant metallic sculpture that depicts a Viking vessel – The Sun Voyager. You simply can’t miss taking a picture of this thing while visiting the capital – it is totally unacceptable!

The heart of Reykjavik

Of course, we couldn’t miss the renowned church, Hallgrimskirkja, that is calmly watching over the city or the fabulous rainbow street.

We started roaming mindlessly on the small streets of the central area and while we were window shopping I’ve found the perfect souvenir for my wife, a pair of handmade earrings made out of silver and lava. The perfect way to remember Iceland!

Reykjavik has left me the same feeling I received from Ljubljana – a small, coquette and extremely peaceful city, full of nice people and interesting sights.

I’d like to make another remark on the city and on the country on a general level – modesty. You can find it everywhere you look; the many small museums,  the public and personal houses, the governmental buildings, all of them have a specific fineness and subtlety that disregards the common aura of opulence or bad taste you might find in some other places. I think the best name for this country could easily be Niceland!

With much sorrow in our souls, we depart this volcanic wonderland. We will miss it so much!

Hope you found the information helpful and accurate, but remember, if you have any questions drop them in a comment below!

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