I’m going next week and I haven’t booked any tickets yet. The websites are saying there’re fully booked.

Will I be able to purchase tickets from local excursion companies?

Any advice before the Mrs kills me…

We just booked through a local company without any issues. Proposed to my missus there, pretty awesome place. If you do get in worth going to the spa bit and quaff champagne

Cheers. Did you book through a local company before you got there?

I’m checking loads of local companies and they seem full booked.

Nope we booked everything via the hotel when we arrived. It was quite a nice boutique place so maybe they had deals. Btw if you go hiking on a glacier it is fckin cold and windy, pretty dodgy.

Cool. Thanks for the info.

What time of year did you go?

Or go to the Lake Myvaten one. Rather more exclusive (mainly due to it being the other end of the island!). Should just be able to roll up there and buy tickets on the door. Its worth the trip up there for some of the other weird and wonderful stuff in the area (and a meal in the Cowshed Café).

Look for packages. Silly things like towels and drinks included can be much better value.
Move away from the building, its quieter and look ( feel ) for an inlet. Oooooooo 😀
Its a bit commercial and very busy as you go in but once in the water people spread out a bit.
You can fart as much as you like and no one knows.
If you like hot tubs etc look for the small local ones. There’s one behind and left of the cathedral (looking at the front door). Looks a bit run down but great fun.

Theres a place called the secret Lagoon..basically the same without all the touristy things..

We went in September. Really fantastic trip. Would love to go back and spend longer cycling round it and camping.

Even the tour of the geothermal power station was great. Looked like something from a bond film.

Deffo +1 for Myvatn Nature Baths. Bit of a hike from Rejkavik mind you, but a much more wonderful experience than the Blue Lagoon.

We booked via the tourist office in Reykjavik about a week before. One of those things that you think is going to be so cheesy that you’ll hate it but it’s cheesy and you end up liking it. I wouldn’t go again but equally I wouldn’t have missed it.

Myvatn is excellent! Highly recommend it

We got a combined ticket: the bus from the airport to Reykjavik dropped us at the Blue Lagoon, then we continued the journey on a later bus when we were done.

secret lagoon is great but no bar!

Blue lagoon- it’s nice and all but…..a bit touristy and manufactured for my tastes. The photos don’t show the power station in its full glory like you see from the lagoon.

We went straight from the airport with timed tickets bought online. Still had to queue for an hour and half to get in- they were going up and down the line giving out free coffee and cake and for £30 each you could ‘upgrade’ to some premium package that meant you could jump the queue. There in early December 2015. It was a good first event and I would not suggest you miss it but after 800 miles of awesome independent touring and vast open spaces we would have found it a very flat, over hyped and crowded last experience if we had done it at the end.

We have always just pitched up and paid and have never had a problem. There are however far better places. The secret lagoon is nice, the various hot springs around Myvatn are superb. My favorite is (was) Grotagja which you are nor really supposed to use because of rockfalls/ high temperatures. Hey ho!

Are you averse to a bit of a walk into the hills? The route is not waymarked but the hot pools in the stream are totally sublime.

More information here:
http://unlockingkiki.com/reykjadalaur-hot-springs-iceland/

Enjoy

I think they’ve just had record snowfall in Reykjavik. Some pretty epic photos doing the rounds on instagram.

Thanks for the info peeps.

Ambrose – that hike looks amazing.

I’ve just seen the snowy pics on instagram. I’m thinking a car might not be a great idea now.

Get the folks at Iceland Activities in Hveragerdi (40 min east of Reykjavik) to take you to the hot river and volcanic bit up the valley. If you don’t want a spa then a much better day out with an Icelandic family showing you round.

If you want to diy it mail me and I’ll scribble down how to find it.

Can’t believe Blue Lagoon is that busy this time of year – we went on an August Sunday lunchtime in 2012 and just had a 20min queue.

The photos don’t show the power station in its full glory like you see from the lagoon.

Probably because it’s not very big or very close

I’m not actually convinced you can really see it at all from in the water. Certainly not an issue in the couple of times I was there

‘ve just seen the snowy pics on instagram. I’m thinking a car might not be a great idea now.

Very easy to get the bus out tbh, and the car gets in the way of any enjoyment of the bar

Chuck, PM me for a chat. The walk is not long, difficult or taxing. You’ll possibly need a map though. I was there one March and the water at 42 degrees. Mmmmmmm 🙂

if you go hiking on a glacier it is fckin cold and windy

Who knew?

I was in Reykjavik last weekend. Amazing place! And yes, they had the biggest snowfall since 1937 whilst we were the. Was fun!

A couple of us walked from our Airbnb up to Vesturbæjarlaug which simply seemed to be mainly locals and better for it. Wasn’t expensive and there was a rather good cafe over the road. Fab cake.

Rachel

I’m not actually convinced you can really see it at all from in the water. Certainly not an issue in the couple of times I was there

No, you are right, definitely can’t be seen from the water….

To be fair, it felt much more oppressive when we were there because there was a big building program for extending the hotel so there were some big cranes in the area which added to the industrial feel. When finished (which it probably is now) it probably obscures the power station….so you just get to look at a hotel on the water’s edge instead.

My favourite swimming experiences in the rough Reykjavik area was hooking up with some locals for a bracing (1.4 Deg C) sea swim around the outside of Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach then a good natter with them (in their woollen swimmers and hat!) in the geothermal ‘hot tub’ and steam room. Also a hike up to Seljavallalaug; digging the snow drift from the changing room door and a private swim for two up in the mountains. It’s not 40Deg, it’s not got a bar but it feels a lot more special imo. The reason it’s there is quite cool too. But then again doing the Blue Lagoon is still nice it is cheesy touristy way.

Did a ride past the springs in Hveragerdi valley, lots of dark holes gurgling and venting steam to ride past 😆

Yeah we rode up there with the kids. Had an ace day. Biking through warm ford water is slightly surreal…

Convert I’m pretty sure that is taken way out of the actual blue lagoon.

The is being built on the far side of the current buildings in that photo.

Either way, its touristy, its expensive, it’s great, go.

Ambrose – that would be great but I’m such a luddite I can’t figure-out how to PM.

Gutted. So it looks like they’ve recently changed their policy.

You must require a ticket to gain entry. Tickets are sold through their websites.

The best slot was 6pm on a Monday 20th. 🙁

Blue Lagoon? Pah. You want to find the Brown Pond.

Perhaps a bit more helpful, there’s a fantastic walk/ride north from Hveragerði taking in natural hot springs and stinky steam.

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=Hveragerði