Planning a Trip to Iceland? Check out Blue Lagoon

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Planning a trip to Blue Lagoon in Iceland?  Want to know what to expect? I would love to share my trip report to help in your planning!

Blue Lagoon is a popular tourist destination in Iceland where you can soak in the natural geothermal heated water. Freshwater and Seawater are combined deep in the earth and are warmed.  The pretty blue color is because of the silica in the water reflecting off the light.  The water is replaced naturally every 40 hours! The water temperature is between 98 and 104 degrees F.  It is a relaxing place to visit!

We left Minneapolis at 7:30 pm from the Humphry Terminal which is where Icelandair flies out of. This is a great small terminal!  I love flying out of it because the lines for everything (except the coffee at Caribou) are short.  We waited 5 minutes to pass through security.  I have never flown Icelandair before but was quite comfortable.  On the way there we were in the Comfort Plus seats which was great for sleeping because there is more room to spread out.  Two seats are next to each other with a console in the middle.  My friend and I both had aisle seats across from each other so we both had to try to sleep next to a stranger.  I was thankful for the extra space.  These seats also include a meal and alcohol.  We did not take advantage of the meal  because we wanted to sleep!  The flight from Minneapolis was only 5 1/2 hours and when we arrived in Iceland it would be 6:30 am!  I would definitely recommend the comfort plus seats for an overnight flight. For other parts of our journey we sat in the standard seats and it was just too difficult to sleep.

 

 

When we arrived at Keflavik airport (KEF) we followed the crowd to baggage claim.  I was worried that it would be difficult to navigate but most signs are also in English.  From here we were headed straight to Blue Lagoon, which is about 20 minutes away.  It makes sense to visit this place either on the way from or to the airport.  If we were to return after we had already headed into the city of Reykjavik we would be backtracking quite a bit.  It would add 50 minutes each way and cost more for a transportation, which is expensive.  We were able to include the transportation from the airport and to our apartment with our Blue Lagoon Ticket.  It is required to buy a Blue Lagoon ticket ahead of time.  When you do, you choose a time slot and times and days can sell out.   We bought ours from Blue Lagoon directly which was about $115 USD but included transportation from the airport to The Blue Lagoon, the ticket to enter with the Standard package, and transportation to a bus stop near our Apartment in Reykjavik 50 minutes away.

 

After leaving baggage claim there is a sign for bus pick up.  We noticed there were two areas of busses, one right outside and the other a short walk under a covered canopy.  Be sure to ask and make sure you are at the right bus area. We had some people on our bus have to get off in the pouring rain and go back to the other bus area.  There are buses for Flybus which was our ticket and for Greyline, which also has may excursions in Iceland.

When we arrived at Blue Lagoon, there is a small building that you can drop off your luggage.  It costs $5 bag.  When we got in we did find out there a a small number of large lockers just past the reception area on the way to the locker rooms that would accommodate our bags. (free)  We would have had to have our bags in line and since we had backpacks without wheels we were glad to pay the 5$ to get them off our hands.   Even with the assigned time and it being early in the morning, we had to wait in line to enter for  about 10 minutes, not bad!.  There is a separate  shorter line for those who buy the premium package.

Packages

The Standard package includes a silica mud mask.  This package alone is $75 (ours was more because of the included transportation)   We brought our own towels but they can be rented for around $8  Other packages available are:

Comfort– includes Entrance to Blue Lagoon, Silica Mud Mask, Use of Towel, 1st Drink of your choice, Algae Mask (this would have cost $20 more)

Premium– all of the previous plus use of Bathrobe, slippers, optional reservation at LAVA restaurant, Sparkling wine if eating at the restaurant ($40 more)

Luxury -package is about $240 per person and also includes Spa products, entrance to exclusive lounge and Private Changing area (price is per room for 2 guests $480

(Note- prices vary based on exchange rate and time of year, as well as time of day of visit- these are approximate for when we visited in October)

For us the standard package was great.  If we had chosen to buy a drink it would have been about $10 but we brought a water bottle and filled it up.  I did end up purchasing an expensive plastic case to put my phone in.  The one I had brought was too small and I did not want to chance the silica in the water ruining my phone.

When we got to the desk we showed our voucher (we printed at home) got our wristband (this is used to open lockers and make purchases), and went to find a locker.  They are set up as rooms with open sides.  We went to the very last one which was less busy.  There are really no other areas to change that are private except for with the premium package.  This really was not a big deal though.  We discovered there is just one bathroom that can be used and there was a long line for it.  The rest are in the shower area, so best to have already changed into a swimsuit to get to them.  After changing we headed to the showers.  They all have doors and have shower gel and conditioner in them.  There are attendants standing near telling people to be sure to take off the swimsuit to shower.  They want every one really clean.   They recommend putting conditioner in our hair and leaving it so that the silica from the water does not dry it out or make the hair crusty.  After the shower we head out to lagoon.

There are racks to hang up towels and robes.  The lagoon can be entered from the outside of the building or the inside, but stepping outside seemed to be much more popular, although the air was quite chilly!   The water was amazing!  There is a mask bar that we went to from the water to get our silica masks.  Everyone can do this one. There is a bowl of silica paste and you dip your hand in to get some and apply!  If you upgraded you can do an algae one as well.

We were happy to see a gal with an iPad near the bar offering to take pictures.  She then instantly emailed them to us.  This was great!

When we were done, we showered and used the shower gel and conditioner provided.  I would recommend bringing your own shampoo. There is a large mirror with plug-ins and hand held hair dryers to use.   Our ride to the city by bus left every hour so we picked a time and got ready and went.  On the way out the wristbands are collected and you pay off any charges that were made, including for the bags we left when we arrived.

 

We were there early in the morning and happy to see the sunrise as well as some blue sky.  Our expectations of the trip were to have rain and clouds every day so it was a nice surprise!  In all we spent about 3 hours at the lagoon.  The bus was outside when we left and we headed to the city of Reykjavík.  Blue Lagoon is a great place to visit. I have read that there are other thermal pools to visit with less tourists.  Maybe someday, but we were really glad to visit this one. It was beautiful, relaxing and very convenient for our short visit.  Day 1 will continue in next blog report! Please comment if you have questions and subscribe to get updates on our journey.

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