My blog has been stagnant for a week because I’ve been in Iceland. I got back Monday, but yesterday was my birthday, so I just focused on me.
Iceland was awesome and so beautiful! This is just one example:
Back in September, my sister called me and said there was a great Groupon to Iceland for about $800 with airfare and hotel from NYC. The trip included daily breakfast.
I was sold. Seeing the Northern Lights has always been on my bucket list, so I bought the Groupon on the spot and on Feb, 25, my sister and I were Iceland bound.
It;s only a five hour flight from JFK and six hours coming back.
Iceland is home to 130 volcanoes and uses geothermal heat to power the island.
Iceland is home to 130 volcanoes and uses geothermal heat to survive
It has about 320,000 residents in the whole country, with the majority in Reykjavik.
I came to see the Northern Lights, but I was also excited to see the Blue Lagoon. I have to say, I think the Blue Lagoon ended up being my highlight. It was spectacular. We spent two hours in the geothermal water. There’s a bar there and they limit everyone to three drinks, which was a good thing because no one was drunk and obnoxious.
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After soaking in the water for two hours, we ate lunch at LAVA, a restaurant that overlooks the lagoon. We had a three course meal and it was lovely.
On our third day, we took a Golden Circle tour, which took us to the tallest waterfall in Europe. 
And on our last night, I finally saw the Northern Lights. Dennis Sawchuk, a man I met on our tour, took these photos of the Northern Lights. I wasn’t able to capture them. I will update this post later. Right now I have a toddler climbing all over me trying to get attention
rotisseriechickenqueen 
So beautiful! Are there any additional sites you recommend? I’m going next month and I cannot wait! I know I’m on the tail end of the season, but I’m still hoping to catch the northern lights!
It’s so amazing! I crammed all that into three days, so that is all I could fit in. A few bits of advice though, bring a tripod and manual camera if you want to capture photos of the lights. There’s no way you can do it without it. Also, if you’re a fan of the Game of Thrones, that was partially filmed in Iceland and there is a tour that takes you to those locations. If you like lobster, the Lobster House has some of the best I’ve ever sampled. It’s expensive but worth it. There’s also a foodie tour that you can combine with a Great Circle tour. If you haven’t already, make reservations NOW for the Blue Lagoon. The day I went, it was sold out by noon. Bring chains for your shoes because the streets, sidewalks, parking lots are covered in ice. It’s so slippery. What tour company are you using? We used Gray Line and I was NOT impressed at all. I would’t recommend them.
I’m doing a self-tour! I’m planning to rent a car (although I just saw the price of gas) and camping in a few spots. I’m also going for three days and I’m really squeezing everything in! The first day I plan on seeing everything within the Golden Circle Tour, with an additional stop at Hjalparfoss. The next two days we plan on doing the southern part of the ring road tour with camping stops at Skaftafell and on the way back to Reykjavik, we’ll camp out at Landmannagaur. I’m so excited!!!
Also, thanks for letting me know about the Blue Lagoon. I squeezed that in right before we head back to the airport, so I’m a little hesitant to make a reservation.
That sounds wonderful! If you’re a wine drinker, bring your own. They don’t have good selections at all. I’d also pack as many snacks as you can because it’s expensive. Definitely book the Blue Lagoon in advance or you may not get in and that was a highlight. I’d say a self tour is great because I was not impressed with any tour guide (had three different ones). It’s so pretty there! I travel a lot. That was my 57th country, and love to share advice, so if you’re ever going some where, post where you’re going and I will give you tips if I’ve been there. Also, a wind breaker is a MUST. It’s so windy there! Crazy windy.