Grindavík
Grindavík was our last stop in Iceland, and honestly we chose to stay here for purely practical reasons… It’s close to the airport (20 minute drive), close to the Blue Lagoon, and I found an AirBnb here that I liked. We only had one night here, and while I wasn’t super excited about Grindavík before our trip, I really enjoyed this little village.
Although we didn’t do any grocery shopping during our stay there are a couple of stores in town, with more options the closer you get to the airport. There were several restaurants to choose from, but for our one evening there we ate at Salthúsið- it was so so good! We had a fried camembert cheese appetizer, and I had the lamb- both were wonderful!
Things to Do
The Blue Lagoon
The main attraction in this area is the Blue Lagoon, the most popular geothermal pool and spa in the country. It’s a short 10 minute drive from Grindavík, and about 20 minutes from the airport in Keflavík.
We spent between an hour or two at the Blue Lagoon, and while we enjoyed our time there, I’m not sure we’d go back to the Blue Lagoon specifically, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, this was the single most crowded place we went on our entire trip. The crowding was worse in some places, and once we were in the pool we could spread out a bit, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable. Secondly it was the most expensive thing we did in Iceland- and there are a lot of other geothermal pools to soak in that are more budget friendly.
The facility itself was beautiful and clean. They had lockers to store your belongings, and showers to use before and after soaking. I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details here- there are tons of other blog posts on the Blue Lagoon that cover it all. I will say that I read this tip on another blog and was super glad I followed it: use the free conditioner in the shower and apply generously to your hair before bathing in the lagoon, and leave it in while you soak in the lagoon! It will protect your hair from minerals in the water that will dry it out. Rinse it out when you shower after your soak.
So should you go to the Blue Lagoon? If you enjoy hot springs/geothermal pools then yes, I think it’s something worth experiencing at least once. However if soaking in a hot spring isn’t your thing, or you really dislike crowds, then maybe this isn’t the attraction for you.
Cost: $196USD for 2 people (basic package, included: entrance to lagoon, silica mud mask, one drink, a towel)
Parking: Free
The Aurora Borealis
We were super lucky and got to see the Aurora Borealis (the northern lights) while we were in Grindavík. Obviously this isn’t the only place to see them, it’s just where we saw them. It was the last night of our trip, and while we didn’t come to Iceland specifically to see the Northern lights I was really hoping for a chance. This was the only night of our entire trip that the sky was clear and the solar winds were active enough for a decent probability of viewing the aurora- it was also our 5th wedding anniversary. I used an app called Aurora to look up the aurora forecast throughout our trip- it was free and super useful (no one wants to sit outside in the cold waiting for the aurora when the probability of seeing them is super low). They came out right as we finished dinner and danced for a little over an hour. When they first began they were a barely visible light grey, as they really got active they became green, and there were very short bursts of purple mixed in. It was one of the most beautiful, amazing things I’ve ever seen and it was the perfect end to a wonderful trip!
Tip: Grindavík is small so there isn’t a lot of light pollution, which makes it easier to view the aurora. If you’re wanting to photograph the aurora it might be worth driving a bit outside of town though as the light pollution from town will be more obvious on a long exposure shot. We are definitely not professional photographers, these photos were taken by my husband Cody on his Samsung smart phone using a tripod.
