Hello there! How are you, I feel like it’s been ages! I’ve missed this, so I hope you have too – either that or you’re just thinking oh god here she goes again, hopefully not hehee. So, I do apologise that it has been a while, but I went off on some travels for a few days & then you probably saw it all over the news here in England because we’re so dramatic that we had a ‘Beast from the East’ covering us in snow for a couple of days. Anyway, as you can probably tell by the title, this blog is about my trip to Iceland! Unfortunately, we were only there for a few days, I say unfortunately because it is such an amazing place! I cannot wait to tell you all about it, although I was not there for long I felt I learnt a lot of tips to help me when I visit again, which I certainly will be!

So, it wasn’t myself that booked this trip it was my partner bless his cute heart! Now if you’re reading this babe, it was a great holiday but don’t take offence to any of my tips it’s all just learning curve. Basically, we had package deal booked from an online booking website, now this was your flights there & back, 3 excursions which were boat trip to see the Whales, boat trip to see the Northern Lights at night & an all-day excursion doing the golden circle, we also had a hotel booked for 4 nights with bed & breakfast. However, package holidays are typically a promising idea, but what we learnt with this trip is that when you’re going somewhere like Iceland where the weather can be so unpredictable & the cost of going out for dinner is extortionate (although the food is amazing!). The package holiday may not always be the best option, we’ve done them before to places such as Ayia Napa or Zante but with those kinds of places you have a sort of guarantee that you’ll get to do most of the things that you book because the weather usually stays the same & the food is fairly cheap.

Anyway, let’s get on to day 1, so unfortunately, we were all ready for our flight on Friday the 23^rd of February, supposed to take off at I think 7:30am & then just as we did there was a problem with the door on the plane, nothing serious just needed fixing. So, we were stuck waiting on the plane for another 2-3 hours & then finally took off, this was frustrating because we were only in Iceland for 4 ½ days so it was sad that this had to set us back, fortunately it was a smooth flight and we landed safely. TIP 1 – when my partner booked this holiday we only had cabin luggage, in which I told him to make sure we can have at least 1 more luggage put in the holdall, this was due to the amount of layers we were bringing, thick coats, big walking boots & thank god we did as there would’ve been no way we could squeeze it all into 2 cabin suitcases. So, we arrived, got on our coach & made are way to Reykjavik the capital and main city of Iceland. We got on our coach & after a 40-minute drive got dropped off, walked to our hotel which was the Centre Plaza, checked in, got changed & then we went to go pick up our car. TIP 2 – Always, always bring waterproofs when you are going to Iceland, even if it’s the summer just bring them! TIP 3 – The best way to get around Iceland is really by car, thankfully I had watched a travel video on YouTube a few days before & suggested the idea to my partner in which I am so glad we did. However, when we went to pick up the car the weather was horrendous, it was pouring it down, rain, snow, hail & the wind was so strong I had never felt anything like it. Luckily after speaking with the car dealer we decided to delay our pick up as it was too unsafe to drive & it was about 4pm so it was just safer that we waited till the next day.

The food – Ok, due to us staying in a hotel that unfortunately didn’t have a kitchenette where we could make our own food we did have to go out for dinner each night. For the day time as our breakfast was part of the package we filled up on that as much as we could, & then just bought a couple of I must confess unhealthy snacks for if we got peckish in the car. Although, we did eat at a restaurant called The Burro which was a Mexican type restaurant, are meal came to about £160 but it was a 6-course dinner & the best food I have ever tasted! So just for a special occasion one night I must really recommend that restaurant. TIP 4 – When travelling to somewhere like Iceland I would recommend going with an Airbnb or a hotel which does have a kitchenette, especially if you are out there for a long time because it is just not affordable (unless you’re rich) to go out for dinner each night, it will really eat into your budget. It also means if the weather is playing up you can just stay in and cook a nice meal.

Oh, I feel like I have so much to talk about but really don’t want to drag too drag on, so I will try wrap this up as best I can. Anyway, on the Saturday we finally picked up our car which was really nice! I think we rented it from Blue Car Rentals and the man who works there is lovely! My partner drove the car but found it very easy to drive on the other side of the road as the roads were always so clear. We would drive for hours and hours listening to our music whilst we drove to the amazing tourist attractions, you never really felt like you were driving for long because the landscape was so vast & beautiful, with the weather always changing so they were certainly never boring drives & we occasionally stopped off safely at the side of the road to just take in how amazing it all was! On our trip we saw the Gullfuss Waterfall & the Giesers in the same day, another day we went & saw the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall & the Black Beach & then on another day we did the Blue Lagoon. TIP 5 – Always plan ahead on your trips if driving yourself, check the weather, make sure you have maps in the car with you, along with food & ideally a GPS system in the car as this really helped us get around, although their signs are pretty easy to follow also.

I could go on for paragraph after paragraph telling you how beautiful those places were, but you just must go see them for yourself & you certainly won’t be disappointed as they are breathtakingly beautiful. Due to the weather we never did the two boat excursions as they kept getting delayed & cancelled. TIP 6 – Never book any excursions (apart from Blue Lagoon) until you are there, as majority of them you will need to judge on the weather. TIP 7 – Don’t be upset when you can’t get that perfect Instagram selfie, I thought I was going to get these amazing pictures of me in the landscape but no, due to the weather I was completely wrapped up & all you could see was my eyes but at least I was warm!

So there you go in the long & short if you ever visit Iceland – Book longer than 5 days if you want to see as much as possible, book an Airbnb or somewhere where you have access to a kitchen, Rent a car if you can, bring lots of layers & enough suitcases to hold them (only really applies in the winter months), don’t go there with the expectation of seeing the Northern lights because we didn’t but it didn’t take away from the magical trip, don’t book anything until you’re here, plan your routes and just have a great time! Iceland really is a wonderful place and I don’t think I’ve even seen half of it yet, so we will certainly be making a return trip. (PICTURES BELOW)

See you soon. x