The only stop I had on my way to England for study abroad was in Iceland. I flew through on Icelandair and with this airline, you can do what they call a “stopover” in Iceland. A “stopover” is essentially a longer layover in Iceland so you can go out and enjoy Iceland on your way to your next destination without the extra cost of a big gap between flights. For my stopover, I only had a bit less than 24 hours, so I decided that I would go and hit something on my bucket list- Iceland’s Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon has gained popularity on social media and as a tourist destination in recent years. The blue of the water in the lagoon has drawn much attention and Iceland has become a much more touristy place because of it. I thought that going to the Blue Lagoon on my stopover was a perfect use of my short time there.
Before going to the Blue Lagoon, I did a ton of my own research on the place and the best way to do it. I wanted to create this blog post to share my own opinion about how to get the most of your time and money at the Blue Lagoon, along with just my general experience and any tips I could suggest. So without further ado, let’s get into the details.
Entrance to the Blue Lagoon needs to be purchased in advance. There are some tickets that can be purchased day-of, but I would not recommend doing this, especially if you’re going during peak season. There are three different packages you can purchase. The first is the “Comfort” package, and it is the least expensive starting at $55. This price includes your entrance to the lagoon, a silica mud mask, the use of a towel, and one drink of your choice. The second package is the “Premium” package, priced starting at $78. This package includes entrance to the Blue Lagoon, a silica mud mask, use of a towel, one drink of your choice, a second mask of your choice, slippers, the use of a bathrobe, a reservation at the Lava Restaurant, and sparkling wine if you choose to dine. The last package is the “Luxury: Retreat Spa” option, coming in starting at a whopping $621. This option gives you access to the Retreat Spa, a private changing room, and access to the Retreat Lagoon and the Blue Lagoon.
Considering you’re likely not loaded with money, the “Comfort” and “Premium” options are really the two options to choose from. I personally decided to spend a bit extra for the “Premium” package, despite reading reviews saying it wasn’t super necessary. Surprise! People were right. My first recommendation when it comes to visiting the Blue Lagoon is to just stick with the “Comfort” package. The additions of the “Premium” package aren’t exactly worth the extra $23 or so dollars you’ll be spending. What I would suggest is to bring your own flip flops or shoes you don’t mind getting wet and are easy to slip on and off and to also bring your own bathrobe. These were honestly the most useful things I got with the package I purchased, but you can easily just bring your own and save a little extra cash.
Another reason I selected the “Premium” package was because of the Lava Restaurant reservation. Due to the fact that I knew I would be spending the majority of my time in Iceland at the lagoon, I thought it would be smart to have somewhere to eat. Well, fun fact, there is also a snack bar at the Blue Lagoon in addition to the bar. The snack bar has pretty much all you could need and I ended up eating my actual lunch here. When it came to the restaurant, it was quite fancy and the food was rather expensive and consisted of a lot of fish dishes. I ended up opting to just have dessert, which while delicious, probably wasn’t worth the price I paid. Unless you’re really coming to the Blue Lagoon to treat yourself and go all in, you likely don’t need a reservation to the restaurant (although as someone who isn’t a fan of wine, whatever kind of sparkling wine I got for free during my dining was lovely).
The only other thing that I haven’t mentioned that is included in the “Premium” package but not in the “Comfort” one is an additional mask of your choice. Everyone who comes to the Blue Lagoon gets access to their silica mud mask, which I must say, felt so wonderful to have on after a long flight. However, they do have other masks as well, which you pick from to have for free if you have the “Premium” package. Personally, I did enjoy both masks, but if you really wanted to have more than one, you can always just purchase a second one and you’d still be saving some money.
Now that I’ve given you all of the info on the package differences and what I recommend, let’s talk about the Blue Lagoon experience itself. I chose to have the Blue Lagoon bus pick me up at the airport, as it goes straight to the lagoon. This was a great decision on my part, because I didn’t have international data in Iceland and booking a car seemed like a hassle. I would recommend getting transportation to the Blue Lagoon from the airport if that’s where you’re coming from, but if you’re needing to be picked up somewhere else, booking a taxi should be just fine.
I was definitely warned about this next part, but I wasn’t quite prepared for what I was about to experience. Personally, I arrived in Iceland on September 18th. This is not peak season or anything and let me tell you, it certainly isn’t warm. In fact, it was quite cold outside and the strong wind and rain made it even worse. This is fine when you’re just walking from the airport to the bus, but when you get dropped off in the Blue Lagoon parking lot, you have to walk down a winding path to get into the actual entrance. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that by the time I got inside the welcome area, I was almost in tears due to how cold I was. If you’re going to Iceland when it is not warm or sunny (which is a lot of the months out of the year) be sure you bundle up. Wear a big coat, hat, scarf to cover your face (boy did my face get some wind burn), and gloves. Trust me, this will be worth it, even if the walk isn’t super long. People around me were running from the parking lot to the entrance, but I was holding a large duffel bag and that just wasn’t an option for my tired self.
So once you survive what feels like walking through the tundra to the entrance, you go inside and check-in. Here you will receive a plastic bracelet that will be used to lock and unlock your locker, as well as pay for anything you choose to purchase. Do not lose your bracelet. It would suck and you have to pay for losing it. After checking in, you head to the changing rooms. While it was off-season, it was still a bit busy, but I was able to find a locker and shove all of my gear in it. I read on a lot of blogs that it was really hard to get the lockers locked and unlocked, but I personally had no issue. Simply follow the instructions and you should be fine. If you’re having a hard time, just ask a staff member to help you.
Once you’re in the changing room, be sure to change into your swimsuit, which you are required to wear in the lagoon. After this comes the infamous showers. I also read a lot of posts about how you have to strip down naked in the shower area and shower off before going to the lagoon. The way that it was discussed, I truly believed I was going to walk into a giant showering area and just see a bunch of butts. This was not the case. There are private showering stalls and it really was not hard to get into one. I opted for the shower stall just because it was easiest and I didn’t feel like I was missing out on any bit of “culture” by doing this (as some blogs suggested). After you’ve showered, you’re all set to head to the lagoon. There is a space where you can hang up your towel and put your bathrobe and/or shoes. This area was a bit chaotic just because it was a sea of white towels and bathrobes that all looked exactly the same, so be sure to find somewhere to put your stuff where you can easily locate it when you come back in.
There are two different ways to enter the lagoon. There is a set of double doors that leads out to a deck-like area that has steps that lead you into the water. However, because it was very cold, and I was in a swimsuit, I opted for the other option: a small wading pool, starting inside, that has a huge door you open that leads you straight out into the warm water. When you step out this door, you are greeted by a lava cave that I spent a little time in to get my face out of the cold. With that said, the biggest piece of advice I can give you about the lagoon is this: explore the whole thing. When I first arrived at the lagoon, I was sleep-deprived and confused and cold. I felt very underwhelmed upon my first gander around the lagoon because it seemed small to me. I actually got out to go grab lunch at the snack bar and was bummed that I had spent so much money on something that didn’t seem worth it. After I had a bit of time to relax in the snack bar, get some food and water in me, and after my lava restaurant reservation, I went back out to the lagoon and had a completely different experience than when I first walked out.
When you first walk into the lagoon from the big door in the water, it is quite shallow waters. Due to the fact that it was so cold outside, I was working very hard to try to immerse my whole body in the warm water. This was hard and I was crouching down trying to get warm. Well, surprise, if you go further out into the water, it gets deeper, and in some spots, even warmer. There is a lot of the lagoon to discover, so make sure you do go out and see everything and not just stay in one spot. There is the bar in the water, where you can get alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, the mask bar, a waterfall, even a sauna. The more of the lagoon you go enjoy, the better your experience will be. Once I finally got out and explored, I felt so happy and so relaxed. That, to me, was when it really felt worth it.
Overall, I think that the Blue Lagoon is worth it, if you do it right. Make the most of the time you have there. If you can, don't go when you're tired and hungry, and make sure you don't overspend on unnecessary things. Make sure you give yourself enough time to go out and enjoy all that it has to offer. If you have anything further questions, please feel free to comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP!
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