So... has anyone ever been to Reykjavik?

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 7:43am

I'm trying to plan a vacation. I don't vacation often, nor do I have specific criteria to narrow my options, but one place I'm interested in is Iceland. Reykjavik is a small city. I went to Key West a few years ago, and on the fourth day, I was ready to leave. I hadn't gotten bored, but I could fell it just around corner, so I'm wondering if 8 days in a city of 120,000 people would be overkill.

Thanks. I love you all, with a few exceptions.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 9:57am

Funny you should ask.

Along with about 1200 other homosexuals, I plan to attend the International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) annual swim/dive/syncro/water polo meet to be held in Reykjavik May 30-June 2, 2012 and have done some homework.

Key West in the dead of winter will be warmer than Iceland in high summer. When I am there the median day temperature will be in the 50s F, and sun will rise about 3:30 am and set about 10:30 pm. On the other hand all the pools are heated geothermally

Friends who have gone have said 5 days is plenty. Since I (and the other homosexuals going to swim) have an agenda, most of us are staying about a week. Icelandic Air advertises stopovers to/from Europe for no extra money. You could go to London for a theatre weekend and stop in Reykjavik too.

Have fun. Better yet, come to the IGLA meet. There are no qualifying times.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 10:32am

Reykjavic?

Damn near killed ya, Vic!

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 11:10am

Thanks for the response, WOSQ!

My travel dates are fixed and soon -- the end of this month into the beginning of February -- but I appreciate the IGLA suggestion! If I were more activity-driven, I'd consider it. I'm more the eat-in-restaurants, stroll-the-streets, gape-at-geography, drink-in-bars type of vacationer.

Your friends have said 5 days is plenty, and, yes, that is definitely my concern. Not that it wouldn't just be nice to relax away from home, but I don't want to get restless and still have four days to go. You mentioned the London stopover. I've been trying multi-destination options on sites like Travelocity and Priceline, including PIT-REK-LON, but it only turns up insanely expensive options. At your mention, I just went directly to the Icelandic Air website and looked at their London page, and while it allows for the booking, I still can't find anything about a London leg being included in the price of a round-trip from Reykjavik to the States or, even a deal that's under the cost of two separate round-trip tickets.

But a London pop-over is something I'm very interested in. Do you have any more details on this? Feel free to take it to PM if you'd like!

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 12:10pm

Actually, I have! I went several years ago as part of the Icelandair stopover deal (en route to visit a friend in Paris). I was there in early September.

I was there only for a couple of days, so I can't present myself as too much of an authority. Eight days just in Reykjavik definitely sounds like overkill, as I found the city to be pretty dead at night. But if you plan day trips elsewhere in Iceland, there might be plenty to keep you occupied.

My three suggestions:
*Definitely visit the lagoon, but a few hours there is more than enough unless you're planning to have a massage/treatment of some sort.
*Schedule a horseback ride if you can. Icelandic horses are unlike any other horse in the world, as their breed is pure pretty much from the Viking times thanks to heavily regulated importing rules. But keep it to a few hours unless you're used to riding a horse, because Iceland's geothermally heated water on saddle sores is, uh, quite painful.
*Eat a hot dog. Seriously! I laughed when I saw them selling hot dogs at the lagoon and grumbled something about damn Americans having to get their fast food anywhere, but it turns out they're quite the delicacy there (usually served with remoulade). The culinary landscape of Iceland isn't exactly exciting, and the food is quite expensive, so in retrospect, I'm sorry I missed out on that.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 12:42pm

Thanks, Calvin! I sent you a PM!

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:01pm

I've never been, but I thought I'd butt in with my two cents anyway. I'm a fan of architecture and the beautiful new Harpa concert hall was opened last year, which might be worth checking out. It houses the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and I believe Kiri te Kanawa will be appearing next month.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:03pm

I've been wanting to head there for a while, and travel and lodging seem to be pretty affordable. Keep us posted on your experiences.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:17pm

Iceland Air has the most uncomfortable seats I have ever flown in. People were sitting on their heels to keep their butts from going numb. When we were in Reykjavik, they called for our flight to Stockholm and a stranger next to me said, "We might as well wait until the last minute. You know these benches are more comfortable than those seats!" We were sitting on a metal bench.

It's damn cold this time of year. lol The stopover idea sounds great, though.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:24pm

Ha, oddly enough, I got the best sleep I've ever gotten on a transatlantic coach flight on Icelandair. It's because the flight was fairly empty and I was the only person in my row on the way over, so I pulled up all the armrests and just slept across all three seats. :)

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:26pm

Thanks for the info, Jay! I'm loooking into it as I type!

I don't really mind winter temperatures all that much. The other primary option right now is Israel, and even there highs are only in the 60s right now. From what I can see, Reykjavik is having about the same weather as Pittsburgh, so it's not like vacationing in the tundra.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:32pm

The cold really isn't that bad. Actually, it's kind of refreshing sitting in the water at the blue lagoon, getting out in your bathing suit in 30-degree weather and walking into one of the saunas.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:38pm

Calvin, I'm looking at your stopover link right now. If I can find a route that my dates work out for, this deal is amazing. Thank you so much

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/19/12 at 1:40pm

Very happy to help :)