Iceland Day 1 - Reykjavik

We arrived at the Keflavík International Airport in Iceland around 6 am. After clearing customs, we were met by a driver (who was arranged by Nordic Advisor when they planned our trip). He drove us the 45 minutes to our hotel in downtown Reykjavik. It was really nice not to have to think too hard when jet-lagged - we didn't have to deal with our rental car (yet), directions, parking, or logistics. We were dropped off directly at our hotel.

We stayed at the Hótel Frón which was in a great location on Laugavegur right in the center of Reykjavik. We were close to shops and restaurants and could easily walk to the attractions that we wanted to see. We were able to check into one of our two rooms when we arrived in the morning. They also let us eat breakfast. The breakfast was generous and included cereal, skyr yogurt, breads, meat, cheeses, fruit, and a few doughnuts along with juices and hot drinks.

Hotel Fron has a variety of room styles in several buildings. We were in the rear building where the rooms seemed a bit older and had a small kitchen area. One room was a bit larger than the other (which happened at several locations on our trip). Not fancy but comfortable, and we loved the convenient location. The street we stayed on was filled with lots of colorful street art.

We walked to the unique Hallgrímskirkja church which is the most striking landmark of the city. It was designed to resemble the basalt rock pillar formations that you frequently see around Iceland. We wanted to get there before the crowds to take the elevator up to the viewpoint at the top. Up there we were able to see amazing views of the city, the harbor, and the mountains.

The view of the colorful buildings and roofs from above is very striking!

We wandered around a lagoon area for a bit, then headed to see the Harpa Concert Hall. It is another building with unique architecture and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful honeycombed glass colors reflected on the floor inside.

Then we walked along the harbor to see the Sun Voyager statue.

Lunch was Icelandic hot dogs at the Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur hot dog stand, made famous when Bill Clinton ate here. The hot dog is lamb-based and is traditionally covered in ketchup, mustard, fried and raw onion and remoulade. (I opted for just the ketchup and fried onion.) I'm not a big fan of hot dogs, but these were pretty good.

We returned to our hotel in the afternoon to rest and refresh for a bit. Later we wandered the streets to do some souvenir shopping. We ended up at Cafe Loki for dinner where we had some traditional Icelandic lamb soup and rye bread. We especially liked the bread which has a sweet flavor. We also had our first experience with sticker shock on the food prices - about $25 for one meal!