I just got back from a 2 day bachelorette trip in Iceland. Why Iceland? Because if you follow flight deals like me, Wow Air and Iceland Air are always having crazy cheap flight deals to Reykjavik. It was cheaper to fly to Iceland than Napa. So, the real question is, why not? With a group of 11 girls, naturally our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, but as you’ll read below, it should be everyone’s first stop…
Getting To The Blue Lagoon
When figuring out logistics for my Iceland trip, time was a factor because I was only there for 48 hours, but cost was a big consideration too because Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world.
We chose to go to the Blue Lagoon straight from our flight in. You should either go right as you arrive in Reykjavik or right before you fly out for two reasons:
1: You will save time. The Blue Lagoon is right by the airport. Therefore, you go from the airport to BL (20 mins), then from BL to downtown (40 mins). Instead of 45 mins from the airport to downtown then another 45 mins from your hotel to the BL and then another 45 mins back to your hotel if you were to do it in the middle of your trip.
2: You will save money. This eliminates two transfer costs. BL will book the transfer for you and only charge you a one way fee to get you from the airport and to downtown afterwards. For great cheap food options, check out my next blog post.
Since so many people chose to do this, the Blue Lagoon makes it very easy. When you go online to buy tickets, you book the transfer at the same time. You select what time they should pick you up from the airport, and you select your drop off location for when you’re done. All hotels and common apt rentals spots are listed. You don’t have to designate the time to leave the BL. Buses leave BL every hour.
🗝 Tip: Plan to spend several hours there. We were there from 8am to about 3:30pm.
🗝 Tip: Because so many people come from the airport, there is a luggage storage service for about $5 USD. It’s right at the entrance, and you have to walk another 5 mins to the actual Blue Lagoon. So, make sure you have everything you want to bring to the lagoon (like bathing suits, etc) easily accessible.
Tickets
You must buy your tickets to the Blue Lagoon ahead of time. Not only is it required, but it’s not uncommon for tickets to sell out.
There are 4 different ticket options. They are Standard for 6100 ISK (one person), Comfort for 8100 ISK (one person), Premium for 10200 ISK (one person) and luxury for 53000 ISK (two people). These are the starting prices for each option. The price can vary depending on when you go and how in advance you book. I went at the end of the summer, so a pretty popular time and there was no variation in price when I looked at tickets, but I booked more than a month in advance. So, I think booking well in advance is the key.
I did the Premium, and it’s what I recommend. It’s not the cheapest, but I think the premium was worth it because:
- Towel: Having a towel is a must. Packing a towel from home would take up way too much space in my luggage. Also, you can always ask for a fresh one. You just have to find an employee in the locker room, because there’s none lying around anywhere.
- Bathrobe: When I went in August, it was freezing when you’re out of the water so having a robe was great. You’re also allowed to wear it in the restaurant. It was very relaxing being able to just throw on the robe to eat lunch instead of showering & changing.
- Free drink: Who doesn’t want a drink in their hand while relaxing in the lagoon? There’s a drink there called Fresita- it’s a dry red wine infused with strawberries. It’s amazing! In a group of 11 women (of which some prefer sweet drinks and some who don’t), everyone loved it. One glass was about 1200 ISK. If you don’t drink alcohol, they also had really yummy looking fruit smoothies made with Icelandic Skyr (yogurt) that you can redeem your free drink for.
- Slippers: The slippers are just flip flops, but pretty necessary.
- Algae mask: You get to use the silica mask (white) for free. There are pots of it just sitting out. The lava scrub (black) is also free, but you need to track down a person walking around the lagoon with a bowl, handing out scoops of it. The algae mask (light green) was my favorite. The silica mask didn’t do anything for me; I don’t like scrubs with particles in them because I find them irritating; but the algae mask made my skin so smooth & bright. I liked it so much that I bought a tube of it.
If you’re trying to save money by getting the standard, just note the you will need to bring your own towel from home. The rest is honestly more of a luxury.
Blue Lagoon Etiquette
There are many rumors about the locker room etiquette at the BL. This is mostly a concern for Americans I would presume (as many of my trip mates were worried). So let me clear up, there is nothing to worry about. You need to take a shower in order to enter the Blue Lagoon (for sanitary purposes). Yes, you should be naked when taking the shower, and yes there are BL employees standing in the locker room to make sure everyone takes a shower before entering. But, first, there are changing rooms if you absolutely don’t feel comfortable undressing in front other others. Second, there are plenty of shower stalls with a shower curtains, and no one is technically checking to see that you showered naked. The employees are just making sure that you took a shower.
Taking Photos
You are not allowed to take photos in the locker room obviously, but you can take photos everywhere else. I highly recommend buying a waterproof case for your phone. You can get them on Amazon. The problem is that there are no lockers or cubbies of any kind right by the lagoon. There are just hooks for you to hang your towel (and it’s kinda a mess, and everyone always takes someone else’s towel. Another reason I would not want to bring my own.) So, you’re not going to want to walk around the water with a big camera, but rather just take photos from your phone, hence why the waterproof case is pretty key. Here’s a link to the best waterproof case I found on Amazon:
Massages
The Blue Lagoon offers in-water massages which you book when you purchase your ticket. I did the 30 min Relaxing Massage. You lie on your back on a thin, blue floating mat. Since the top of your body is exposed to the cold air, your masseuse will soak a towel in the lagoon water and cover your body with it from the neck down. They will then massage you by using their hand in an upward motion against your back. So, where as a traditional massage is the masseuse putting downward pressure onto your back, in this case, since you’re floating, they are pulling up against your body weight. It’s an interesting variation of a massage and felt great.
Gift Shop
There is a gift shop at the Blue Lagoon mostly featuring their signature Blue Lagoon skincare line. Be prepared for high-end department store prices. It’s about $80 USD for one of the masks (75ml) like the algae or the silica, and they have these mini, single use pods of their masks & scrubs that look like the cutest gifts to give everyone you know, except they’re like, $15. EACH. And gifting someone only a couple of pods would be just awkward. Just note that they sell these products all around town & at the airport, and the cost is the same everywhere.
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