Week 121 · Iceland · May 2016
Iceland,
Iceland & Athens — sounds much more intense than actual life. Iceland was a stopover on the way back from Europe that lowered the airfare by 50%, while Athens is Athens, GA. Happy to be picking up Bobo.
Arrived late on Friday night from London and Sharon had flown the red-eye from the USA the prior night — just 1 hour further from DC than LAX. We had 1.5 days and did the quick tour of the southwest corner of the island — the Golden Circle and the Blue Lagoon for a day, and visited fjords and the tallest waterfall in Iceland for the other half day before heading to the airport. It is just below the arctic circle, so it was still a bit brisk.
Icelandair has long offered free stopovers in Reykjavik of up to seven nights on transatlantic flights between North America and Europe at no extra airfare cost. The logic is straightforward — Iceland sits almost exactly halfway between the US East Coast and continental Europe, making it a natural waypoint. WOW Air, which Sharon used for her last-minute ticket, was a now-defunct Icelandic ultra-low-cost carrier that at its peak offered round-trip fares from US East Coast airports to Iceland for under $200 — it ceased operations in 2019. The stopover strategy remains one of the best-value ways to add an Iceland trip to a Europe itinerary.
The Blue Lagoon is a manmade attraction that uses the wastewater from a geothermal power plant. Basically too much water to get rid of, so it was discharged into a lava field and people figured out it was a nice spa. So it was then commercialized and is very nice.
Apparently Reykjavik is a big party town and although we had a great location, by 10pm Saturday night I was falling asleep after a long week. We then did a drive north of Reykjavik looking for a waterfall — nice scenery but too long of a hike.
"Iceland was a stopover that lowered the airfare by 50%. Highly recommend if taking a Europe trip from the East Coast."
Travel logistics — I did a stopover on Icelandair — no extra charge. Always thought about it but only acted when my normal United/BA option was priced way high. Original plan was a half-day stopover alone with a guided tour — but my trip was extended so I was stopping over on the weekend and added a day. Highly recommend if taking a Europe trip from the east coast to consider, if you have the time. A good way to deal with jet lag. Sharon came on WOW airlines — although the last-minute ticket was more expensive than I would have liked, you can buy in advance for under $500 round trip to Iceland from BWI.