Iceland

When planning our Europe trip we decided to book plane tickets through Iceland Air so we could do a stopover in Iceland; a brilliant idea on their end to get Iceland on the map for tourists. Anyway, we decided to do a stay over for 3 days, here's how our time when in Iceland:

We arrived midmorning at the airport, got our bags, and made it to the bus. The airport is about a 45 minute bus ride from Reykjavik city center. We booked our bus tickets in advance and went through Reykjavik Excursions Fly Bus. I always recommend looking up where the airport is from your accommodations and making arrangements beforehand of how you're going to get there. Especially after a full day of travel (and with kids) you don't want to be stressed out trying to figure out how to get where you're going.

On the bus ride we were able to see some smoke from the active volcano at the time - which was pretty cool!

Once we arrived at the bus station, it was a 19 minute walk to our apartment. Didn't seem so bad, so we decided to walk. Bad idea. It was a steep uphill the whole way on very uneven sidewalks. We had 4 suitcases, a pack n' play, a stroller, a car seat and 5 backpacks.

It was definitely a very sweaty and tiring start to the trip. Once we reached out apartment, we decided to unpack and go explore. Trying to stay up and get adjusted to the time change. We stayed at Skolavordustigur Apartments . We had a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment with a full kitchen and living room area (the images below are from their listing on Booking.com). It was great for our family and an amazing location. Just steps away from Rainbow Road and an 8 minute walk to Hallgrímskirkja; the largest church in Iceland.

Our initial walk around town we were on a mission for food. When we travel we try to only eat local, authentic cuisine. A quick google search and Ryan found this Icelandic Street Food restaurant.

I had the traditional Lamp Soup in a bread bowl and Ryan had the Spicy Tomato Soup.

The girls had complementary waffles at the coffee station.

Unable to hang any longer, the kids and I headed for bed at just 3pm. The sun is up all day and night in Iceland, so sleep feels strange. When you wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but it still looks like it's noon, is bizarre. Luckily, Ryan and I both brought eye masks which saved us. For the kids, we programed their white noise on their iPad to turn off when it was appropriate to wake up and we explained to them that even though the sun is still awake, our bodies need to be sleeping. We gave them Olly Sleep Gummies to help them adjust to the time change. For Calder, we have this amazing blackout cover for the pack n'play so for him sleep stayed normal.

Our first full day we had a Puffin Boat Tour scheduled, however due to the high winds that day it was canceled and we had to reschedule for another day. So our plan instead turned into walking around the city and exploring. We ended up hopping on one of the sightseeing tour buses. A great way to be able to learn more about the city, stop at different locations, and not have to worry about transportation. In this case Calder and I ended up taking a nap on the bus (oops).

We knew Iceland was going to be colder than the other locations we were traveling to and we came prepared (or so I thought). I had thick fleece jackets and gloves for the kids and I, long pants, and a blanket for Calder in the stroller. What we were not prepared for was the wind. It was SO windy! We were all cold for most of our visit. We stopped in one of the local outdoor clothing stores and purchased some hats and Ryan a traditional Icelandic sweater (I'm still jealous I didn't get one too).

We also went through and toured the Hallgrímskirkja Church. This is the largest church in Iceland, located at the top of the hill in Reykjavik. It is a Lutheran parish church. There is also an observation tower you can pay to go into where you get incredible views of the city!

When we were done with the church tour, we walked across the street to a bright yellow restaurant called Cafe Loki where Wrigley fell asleep at dinner and Ryan partook in eating Fermented Shark and dried Cod.

On our second full day we were able to go on our Puffin Boat Cruise!

Before we set off though we walked around town some more and got some traditional Icelandic hot dogs. Their hot dogs are made from mostly lamb and have a sweet mustard on top. Ryan and the kids where big fans!

Finally for the Puffin Cruise we used Puffin Cruise with Expert Tour Guide from Reykjavik. I booked through the Viator App which overall I had a good experience with - more on that later. The tour was a little over and hour which is a great timeframe for young kids. We met at the central office and took a very short walk to the boat. The kids where required to wear lifejackets. It was hard to get good pictures of the puffins with our phones, but we could see them through the binoculars that the tour provided.

On our third and final day in Iceland we wanted to go look at either some geysers or waterfalls. We didn't rent a car so we were limited to how far we could go on such short notice. We found one geyser that wasn't too far so we decided to walk.

We got lost. Apple Maps said the geyser was right next to us, although there was in fact no geyser. We circled the area multiple times, but never found it. While we were wandering through the pretty park type area we saw hundreds of Holtasoley - the national flower of Iceland. We decided to keep walking and just see where the path took us. Much to our surprise we came upon the sea and watched a group of women swimming in the ocean! We walked out on a jetty admiring the view and turned around to realize there was a thermal pool built into the side of the hill behind us.

We didn't have our swimsuits with us, but interested if we could come back we asked someone if Calder was allowed to go in the water. Most of the thermal pools have straight rules for children under 2 years of age.

Not only were we told that Calder could join us in the pool, but they rent out swimsuits and towels! So, we went for it! We put all of our stuff in lockers, rented some suits and took a dip in a thermal pool where we were the only tourists there! It was incredible! It was the highlight of our time in Iceland for the whole family (except Calder who was too cold). Ryan even went into the ocean (all the way) and jumped back into the pool. He said it was definitely the coldest water he's ever been in, but worth it to say he did it.

We finished our trip in Iceland with dinner at Sægreifinn for some Lobster Soup and fish Kabobs. We got lucky and were there waiting for it to open and got a table, but it was hopping. I highly recommend making a reservation.

Would we recommend Iceland?

YES! A big 'ol yes!

What we learned for our next trip to Iceland:

1. Bring thicker jackets & winter gear (even in the summer)
2. Rent a car and do the Golden Circle
3. Stay at least 5-7 days
4. Wait for the kiddos to be a little older for more access to thermal pools