[Trip] Iceland – Exploring around Eyjafjallajokull Volcano

Today will be our last day of the tour, we will be exploring around Eyjafjallajokull Volcano, and thereafter, a drive to the beautiful geothermal landscape, world famous Blue Lagoon.

Eyjafjallajokull Visitor Centre

Where?

Operating Hour:

1 May – 31 May 

10:00-16:00

1 June – 31 August 

9:00-18:00

1 Sept. – 30 Sept 

10:00-16:00

1 October – 30 April 

11:00-16:00*

*Closed on Weekends, Christmas, New Year and Easter.

Cost:

Adult

850ISK

Children (Below 12 Years old)

Free

What to see?

A 20 minutes video about what had happened here in 2010 when Eyjafjallajokull Volcano erupted. This incident has caused a major change in the landscape and farmers were facing a lot of challenges at Þorvaldseyri Farm.

The Eyjafjallajokull Volcano sitting behind the Þorvaldseyri farm:

Little thought

The visitor centre is situated right opposite of the sleeping giant, Eyjafjallajokull Volcano, where we have a full view of the beautiful scenery. As for the video, i think it was quite educational because i got to learn something. If you are on a self drive, perhaps you can give it a miss, however, do stop by at the front of the Þorvaldseyri farm to take some photos when the weather is good.

After spending an hour at the visitor centre, we had a brief stop at a town called Hveragerði to have our simple lunch at this bakery shop, Almar Bakari :

When we were driving on the ring road (route one) back to the city. There was a horse farm along the road side, our tour guide decided to stop over and let us have a closer look at these beautiful Icelandic horses having their break time:

Reykjanes Peninsula- Blue Lagoon

The most visited geothermal spa in Iceland situated in Reykjanes Peninsula, home to the world-famous Blue Lagoon. A place to relax and re-energise ourselves after the long journey.

Little to know:

-The blue lagoon is not exactly blue, it is milky white. However, when the sun shines on, it reflect the sunlight turning it into blue. During summer, it looks green.

-Water temperature is between 37-40°C (98-104°F)

-Blue Lagoon is mostly around 0.8-1.2 m deep. It’s deepest point is 1.6 m

Where?

Operating Hour:

1 Jan – 25 May 8:00 – 22:00

26 May – 29 Jun 8:00 – 23:00

30 Jun – 20 Aug 8:00 – 00:00

21 Aug – 1 Oct 8:00 – 22:00

2 Oct – 31 Dec* 8:00 – 20:00

Guests are allowed to stay in the lagoon for 30 minutes after closing.
* See below for opening hours during Christmas

21-23 December 8:00 – 21:00

24 December 8:00 – 15:00

25 December 8:00 – 16:00

26-30 December 8:00 – 21:00

31 December 8:00 – 17:00

1 January 8:00 – 21:00

Cost?

The cost is covered in our tour package. If you are interested to book it online, for the standard package:

5,400ISK

What to see?

We chose not to go inside the lagoon for a warm dip even though it was in our package. Since we were there, we made full use of the time to explore the surrounding. In order to have a better view of the blue lagoon, our tour guide told us that we can walk up to the second floor, where there is a balcony to look over it. Besides the second floor, there is one more viewing area behind the bistro cafe.

On the second floor:

The ground floor, this is what it really looks like at the blue lagoon~ ah uh ain’t no what you see on Instagram. On the right side, there is a lagoon bar, where you can get quick refreshment without leaving the pool. Everything spent inside are charge to the bracelet provided at entrance before you enter the lagoon, and simply make the payment when you are leaving.

On the left side of the lagoon, there is a common area where you can hang your bathing robe.

We got ourselves a sandwich which cost 1,150ISK and had a seat beside the floor-to-ceiling windows at Blue Cafe. We had the interior view of the lagoon and it was good place to pass time.

There are other light snacks, ready-to-go bites at the cafe as well.

We had some time left after our snack, so we went out and had a stroll around the lagoon. If you have enough time, please do that the stroll around the lagoon, because the view outside of the lagoon was much more beautiful than inside.

Little thought

Even though, we didn’t go into the blue lagoon to have a warm dip, I didn’t regret it. The place was a beauty on the outside too. When you enter the lagoon, it is like a “community pool”, except that you can have a drink and no swimming allowed.  However, for its price, i don’t think is worth the money. We couldn’t cancel or opt for other option though, because it was already added into our tour package, so we had to be there with our tour group.

Sighting of Northern Light

On our last night in Iceland, sighting or chasing of the northern light was not part of our plan. If you have been following my previous post, you would have know that we caught the northern light the day before, and we were contented. Hence, what happened on our last night in Reykjavik was really a big surprise for us.

This happened when we were heading back to our hotel after dinner for a good night rest. Just as we alight from the bus, we noticed that there was this green light hovering above our head. We thought, what was that ? Luckily we were quick to realise that it was the northern light. We rushed back to our room dropped our bags, brought our tripod and camera and hurried across the street, where there were lesser light.

This was what i took that night, and the northern light lasted for around 20 minutes before it slowly vanished into the thin air.

We left Iceland with a wonderful and amazing memory, every stop and turn made us awe in its beauty. The people here are friendly and nice,  and most importantly, it is a safe country as compared to other Europe country. Therefore, it is a recommended destination for even for female solo traveler.