Reykjavik: No Ordinary World
2 holidays for the price of 3 (part 1)
What’s happened to Reykjavik?
The first time I came, for my birthday in Oct 2011, I remember it being icy cold, the smell of the shower and that the whole of the city existed on one street where we saw about 6 people total.
Cut forward to March 2024 and I saw more people on one turn of a street corner than the whole previous trip. I’ve checked, and the population of the capitol has only grown from less than 120K to 139K, but somehow, it’s now bustling. I can only put it down to tourism, with visitors potentially outnumbering the locals, just like many other tourist destinations.
Getting the bus from the airport still feels like landing on Mars but there is a lot of construction going on. The city has grown exponentially.
You only need to look at how the main street which we could once walk all the way down and only encounter a handful of people is now full of stuff shops and tourist excursions, Outside the hotels stand many coaches coming and going from the many attractions that exist outside the city. This is a good thing.
Reykjavik, previously the most expensive place on earth (although we hadn’t spent 24 hours in Zurich then), is now almost affordable for visits from the UK. There is far more choice of restaurants, coffee shops and amazing things to see. It's a young city and seemingly, young (scientists) are coming to study and then stay, which helps keep the prices of things more competitive.
They now have food halls, the most affordable way to eat. Much like Time Out in Lisbon (reportedly coming to Birmingham) and the Food Hallens in the Netherlands, Posthus Food Hall has a variety of food outlets and a communal area to eat once you have collected your food. For us, this was from Yuzu Burger.
Even better is the Grandi MATHOLL Food Hall where I enjoyed the Indian comfort food from Annapurna. After this we went to the Lava Show, the most promoted destination in Iceland, which did what it promised - showed us actual lava up close. This is publicised even more than the Blue Lagoon. Now there is another lagoon closer to the city and now that they’ve managed to get a handle on the sulphuric smell, that may well be a visit for me next time.
Once again, the highlight was the big day trip, this time one that allowed us to explore South Iceland. Our guide was excellent, although there was a worrying half hour about getting the right bus as EVERY tour company and bus seemingly - and understandably - has the same pick-up point. That's after the half-hour walk to the pickup point, which we chose to do seeing as we’ll spend a lot of time sitting today. We did get to go and get a takeaway coffee from the newly relocated Kaffata. Other coffee shops: Hygge Coffee, Reykjavik Roasters, Kaffi O-le (in the Radisson hotel) and last stop, Kaktus Espresso Bar.
We don't want to boil Grandma today
The road trip will be remembered for this phrase, uttered by our witty guide when referring to volcanic lava spilling out onto cemeteries. Guides are best when they crack jokes. We saw a lot of little churches, seemingly mainly needed for the cemeteries but also as designated meeting places when volcanic episodes happen, built as they are on hills. The guide recommended we see Kafka on Netflix. Rather than a documentary this turned out to be a classic grey Scandi drama with some supernatural thrown in. I’ve persevered (halfway through) but there is only so much grey-jumpered moodiness I can take.
When we arrived back in the city from the South Iiceland tour, we enjoyed our last dinner of the trip in Ban Thai, which seemed loved by locals.
The weather in March was markedly more palatable than the last visit for my October birthday, so I was able to see a lot more. We walked past all the embassy buildings that look like large family homes with no security presence. This is the first time I’ve noticed how many cats are around the city. We had this in Athens, too.
My clear memory of the first visit is the Harpa Concert Hall, which seemed even more stunning this time, as I could see it without any cold wind hurting my eyes.
Reykjavik is still one of the priciest places I have been to. The difference is that they now seem to recognise this if the slogans on t-shirts in tourist shops are anything to go by. And there is so much more choice for eating out. Plus we’ve since spent 36 hours in Zurich, the home of the £20 fast food burger. Ouch.
On the final day it snowed, which seemed a farewell as we left this magical country and embarked on the next adventure in Toronto. Two holidays for the price of three.
March 2024 via Icelandic Air
