Reykjavik Pre- & Post-Cruise Must-Dos & Logistics in Iceland

Should you extend your cruise in Reykjavik, Iceland? Discover if it’s the right move for you as we cover practical logistics, must-see attractions, insider tips, culinary experiences, cruise port locations, and more. We’ll fill you in on the importance of planning ahead, especially to coordinate with your cruise embarkation, and share our personal experiences to enhance your vacation to this vibrant, Nordic city.

• See our recommended Iceland excursions on Viator, our preferred booking platform (including a link to the food tour we took): 
• Listen to our episode, Puffins, Fjords, & Luxury: Our Unforgettable Windstar Cruise Around Iceland, for more information about cruising around the country.
• Interested in a private tour or self-guided driving tour? Check out Hidden Iceland, the company that showed us the goodness of the Golden Circle.
• We never travel without our WiFi hotspot. We can connect up to 5 devices while abroad – we used it in Iceland and it kept us well connected during excursions.
• Shop our recommended packing list for Iceland, with our must-pack binoculars, clothing layers, telephoto lens, and more.

Want to grab our complimentary Essential River Cruise Budgeting Guide? Head over to Small Ship Cruise Talk, scroll halfway down the page to a blue box where you'll find the signup form, and claim your copy!

Chapters

• 1:15 Exploring Reykjavik: An Essential Guide
• 3:11 Reykjavik Overview
• 3:43 Arrival Logistics & Transportation in Reykjavik
• 5:28 Where to Stay: City Center vs. Near Cruise Ports
• 8:15 Must-Do Activities and Tours in Reykjavik
• 12:39 Culinary Adventures: Traditional Icelandic Cuisine
• 16:34 Getting Out of the City for the Famous Golden Circle Tour and More
• 23:23 Pre-Planning Tips, "Tourist Season" & Practical Advice for Your Reykjavik Trip
• 27:26 Final Thoughts on Reykjavik

Transcript

Dan (00:35)

Hello and welcome to another episode of Small Ship Cruise Talk. On this episode, we're gonna dive into Reykjavik, Iceland. This is gonna be your essential guide to elevate your Iceland trip.

Mikkel (00:49)

We are so excited you are here listening today because we are gonna cover practical logistics for where stay, must see attractions in and around Reykjavik, and insider tips that we know firsthand from being there to maximize your limited yet significant time, especially if you are there for a pre or post cruise adventure. Spending time in Reykjavik,especially before your cruise, which we recommend so you don't get there the day of your cruise, which is never wise.

It induces anxiety a little bit when I think of getting to a cruise port the day the cruise leaves when it is over the Atlantic or the other way from the Pacific. Anyway, so we recommend going before your cruise especially, and then you get the benefit of seeing Reykjavik. We talk about experiences that enhanced our overall cruise experience. An example of that is the lava show that we went to.

That gave us a reference for the lava and the land formations that we would see days later in our cruise during times at the national parks. A little bit of a teaser about

the lava show. Also, a really cool thing about being in Reykjavik is the unique contrast between an urban city center like Reykjavik and the other-worldly landscapes waiting for you on your cruise itinerary. If you are sailing around Iceland as we did on Windstar, which we talked about last week, so if you haven't listened to that episode, please give it a listen. It is going to be a great reference point for why an around Iceland tour is the great compliment to a Reykjavik vacation.

Reykjavik is the most populated area of Iceland. It makes up a small peninsula area that juts out of the southwest part of this island nation. So I just wanted to give you an overview, kind of, if you're imagining the island of Iceland, we are in the southwest point. And that brings us to logistics because the airport, the Reykjavik airport, is actually not in Reykjavik, as many major international airports in major cities around Europe are not.

Dan (03:08)

So as Mikkel has just said, Keflavik International Airport is not located in the city center of Reykjavik. It's approximately 45 minutes outside of town. So mentally prepare yourself. If you do a red eye and fly into Iceland, ⁓ you're gonna have at least 45 minutes worth of bus travel to get to your hotel.

There's a couple of ways to get from the airport to the city center. There's the Flybus shuttle service. This is about $35 US, departs every 20 minutes. This is what we did. There's a public bus option that is less money, but it takes around 90 minutes because it makes a lot of stops as you get into the city and it comes much more infrequently than the Flybus shuttle does. So if you're on a time crunch or you just need to get to your hotel to take a nap: Flybus or else private transfers, of course. This is gonna be really convenient for larger groups or if you just to the city immediately or as fast as possible, that might be the best option for you.

If you're flying into Reykjavik for a cruise, such as we did, gonna be different points for embarkation, depending on the size of your ship. So we cruised on Windstar, and they were able to dock right in the heart of Reykjavik.

That was a true advantage for them and for us to be able to embark right, I think it was less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel to get onto our ship. Some of the larger ships, some of the ocean ships, you're going to be on another bus ride or another cab ride or something like that to catch the ship. So it's going to take a little bit more time, but the smaller the ship, the greater the possibility that your embarkation is gonna be right there in the heart of the city.

Mikkel (04:53)

Which brings us to where to stay because you might be thinking, do I want to stay in the city center or do I want to stay closer to where the cruise ship that I'm getting on embarks? Again, if you are embarking on Windstar, the city center is not just where to be for embarkation on your ship, but also the best place to be if you want to see the city of Reykjavik. 

I would recommend staying in the city center no matter what and then just taking private transportation or whatever transportation you've booked through the cruise to get to the cruise ship if it is outside of the city center because most of the tours that you're going to book for Reykjavik even on the Golden Circle are going to be pick up from hotels within the city center or a meeting point in the main square.

And that brings me to the best to stay in the city center, if you ask us, is Ingólfur Square. And that's actually named after the first settler, who settled here in the ninth century. Please excuse our Icelandic or Nordic pronunciations disclaimer, and he named the capital Reykjavík. There's actually a sculpture of him in the square. 

This is a small square compared to other European countries with major squares like Plaza Mayor in Madrid, I'm thinking of, or... or the square in front of the Doge's Palace in Venice that you might be familiar with if you've cruised Italy before. anyway, we stayed at two hotels. So we were there for two nights. We stayed a pre-cruise night just the night before our Winstar cruise at Radisson Blue that was arranged by Winstar. Everyone stayed there. It was great. There was a hospitality room.

People were there to greet us that were associated with the cruise line to answer any questions we had. One of the cool things about the Radisson Blue stay with Winstar was that breakfast was included. So even if you book on your own, I actually do recommend breakfast here. We don't usually book breakfast with our hotels because we go out to get breakfast, but Reykjavik's a really small city and restaurants are expensive. And I don't think that Iceland's particularly known for their breakfast cuisine. So the breakfast at the Radisson was exceptional, I would say, and definitely a highlight of staying there. 

The other hotel we stayed at was on the square in the city center as well called Center Hotels. I really liked the two different options. The cool thing about the Center Hotel was that it was a little bit of a lower price point, but they kind of have this like fun bar in there and a little lounge area that was really warm and inviting and the location of both of them can't be beat. Let's move on to the exciting part of being in Reykjavik, which is must do activities and tours. 

And we have linked you to everything in the show notes. So if anything piques your interest, reference those show notes and just click to book. Our favorite tour provider is Viator because we can keep all our tours that we have booked and they book through the individual provider too. But it is a central location for all our tickets.

And that is essential to having a nice, organized, free vacation. So anyway, a lot of these are through viaduct, the But, Blue Lagoon, of course, cannot be missed in terms of a mention. Now I had been to the Blue Lagoon before. is It undeniably the most popular thermal hot spring in Iceland. I had asked Dan if he wanted to go there and not - a fan of crowds.

We opted for the one that was included on the Golden Circle tour that we booked that I would say was pretty enjoyable and very small and manageable to do with an hour. But the reason I want to bring up the Blue Lagoon is that if you do this, I do recommend a little insider tip to do it when you land. So a lot of the time you'll do an overnight flight from the United States lands in Reykjavik really early in the morning.

And the Blue Lagoon, the best time to go, is as soon as it opens in the morning because the crowds haven't arrived on the tour buses yet and it's right by the airport. So actually if you go to Reykjavik, where you're staying in the city center, and then you sign up for the Blue Lagoon, you're actually going back out west to the airport, to the Blue Lagoon. Now, sometimes recently the Blue Lagoon has been closed because of volcanic activity, but we know they keep people safe. They don't want any incidents, neither do you. So anyway, the point is the Blue Lagoon, a hot tip, if you go there, it's by the airport. And if you are taking a red eye and arrive in the morning, try to go first thing in the morning.

Again, it's not the only hot spring there, so it's not your only hot spring option. Another very popular thing to do is to walk along the main shopping street that I have to admit is an Icelandic name that is 12 plus letters long and I cannot pronounce. (Skólavörðustígur) It is something like Skó...lav...örðu...stígur Skó...lav...örðu...stígur. It was exact righ? Pretty good.

Dan (10:04)

Yeah, yeah. It's like GPS.

Mikkel (10:24) 

 Totally. Like yeah, exactly. But that is a famous shopping street in the center of Reykjavik. And the reason one of the reasons it's really famous is because it's painted in rainbow colors and it has a spectacular view of the very famous Hallgrímskirkja Church - again, can't pronounce it, but the most iconic church in Reykjavík city center. It looks very angular, almost like a Minecraft church, but the rainbow colors lead up to that church. You have to get, if you don't get a photo there, were you ever even in Iceland?

Dan (10:44)

Yeah, good point.

Mikkel (10:46)

Right? And the rainbow is representative of how progressive Iceland is because it represents something near and dear to them, which is gender equality in Iceland. So I touched on that and also the church. Don't miss the church. You can go inside the church for a fee, but I would say it's not that decorated or fancy inside. So if you are short on time, miss going inside, just see the outside. 

There's also the Harpa concert hall. It is an architectural marvel on the harbor. Even if you see it at a distance, just stop to admire the angular glass on its exterior and know that someone someday somewhere has to clean all that glass. I will never forget a documentary that I tuned into on a transatlantic flight that talked about how they clean the glass on that and interviewed the person that is in charge of cleaning that class and how many weeks it takes them. So don't miss seeing that concert hall.

Another place is the National Museum of Iceland. It is compact but informative. If you're into Viking history, don't miss it. Especially good if the weather is not great and you need something to do inside. There's a settlement exhibition as well. I have to admit we've never been there. We've never prioritized that in terms of time and what we want to see, but I did want to mention it's there.

Let's get into our memories of trying Icelandic food and the food tour that we booked.

Dan (12:11)

The Icelandic food is definitely an interesting - and at sometimes - an acquired taste. So there's a lot of traditional Icelandic cuisine. It's definitely worth a try.

Mikkel (12:17)

Mm-hmm.

Dan (12:24)

You're going to want to be open and ready for some very different flavors and some interesting textures. We did the Reykjavik Food Lovers tour and this was focused around traditional Icelandic food. It met in Ingolfur Square right by our hotel.

Mikkel (12:43)

And this was given by Your Friends in Iceland, which their branding is a hoot. You have to look at it. All of the staff has photos on their website in Viking attire. I mean, if they're not your friends in Iceland, who is? So that was a really great food tour. You do have the option to try a little tiny square of shark. Dan was braver than me and tried it first. What were your thoughts on shark?

Dan (13:10)

It's worth a try. I wouldn't order a plate of it, but ⁓ it wasn't that bad. But it wasn't that great either.

Mikkel (13:19)

Would you do it again?

Dan (13:22)

Now I think I checked that box.

Mikkel (13:24)

Yeah, check that box. There was a book in the restaurant we tried it that Oprah said it was one of the most disgusting things she ever ate. And as everybody else was trying it on the tour, I thought, why would I try this? Oprah said it was disgusting. But then everybody tried it and said it was not as bad as it was made out to be. Did you take a shot of alcohol after that? Yeah, I think they do that to kill the aftertaste, right? Yeah. So that was one of the more interesting things. 

Dan (13:42)

I did. Yes.

Mikkel (13:52)

But that's probably the most interesting. We had a lot of seafood. We had a hot dog. There's a very famous hot dog stand in Iceland, which I have to be honest, I'm not sure why it's that famous. We actually made the mistake of getting a snack there before the food tour, not realizing the food tour stopped there. So we ended up having two hot dogs. I love a hot dog, but this was not one of the world's best hot dogs.

Dan (13:56)

Yes. Right, yeah. Yeah, I think Anthony Bourdain went there, it immediately became famous.

Mikkel (14:22)

Okay, it's like the Anthony Bourdain effect. Okay, that's fair. On the dining note, dining is expensive. Sometimes we're asked the question, is Iceland expensive?

Dan (14:24)

Right.

Mikkel (14:36)

It is expensive compared to other European cities. So currently, you know, of course, the currency exchange rate changes depending on the day, just like the stock market. But currently, the conversion of the US dollar to the Icelandic krona and we are recording this in May 2025, is about one Icelandic krona to 77 US cents.

So things aren't just in favor of Iceland in terms of the conversion rate, but also things are more expensive because it's an island, just like Hawaii. So I would recommend keeping that in mind, and I always say, let's not have any surprises, bad surprises. You do want to take a look at the menu. That said, Iceland does have happy hour. Reykjavik has happy hour.

We went to happy hour at the famous Big Lebowski Bar. Yes, there is a Big Lebowski Bar in Reykjavik and it's one of Dan's favorite movies. So I couldn't deny him the honor of being there. It's kind of a fun little place. And we encourage you to try local spirits and craft beers. You can find beer crawls, crawls - bar crawls, right? A beer bar crawl. And that could be like a really fun thing if you want to experience some of the liquid fun.

in Reykjavik. Also it's cold there a lot of the time even during summer so you can find some warmth in those drinks.

Dan (15:59)

So when you're done eating and exploring, get out of the city and go see some nature. There's plenty of options. Mikkel had already talked about the Blue Lagoon, but there's thermal pools and spas all around. There's harbor walks, coastal paths, and plenty of available.

Mikkel (16:19)

Yeah, on that note, wear comfy shoes. You're going to want comfy shoes and layers. I also want to say that there is a really famous sculpture along one of those coastal pathways. So you can walk along the coastline of Reykjavik really easily. And there's a famous sculpture. It almost looks like a skeleton boat. And that's along the coastal pathway in Reykjavik. Especially if it's a nice day, that's a great thing to do.

Dan (16:45)

Also, you can't talk about Iceland without mentioning the Golden Circle. That's very popular tour, and we did that in a day. And our tour was with Hidden Iceland. So that will be in the show notes also if you want to check them out. I thought it was a great tour. Our tour guide was informative, funny, and really made it a memorable day.

Mikkel (17:07)

Yeah, and you'll find dozens of tours that do the Golden Circle. And for us, some highlights were of course, the Gull Falls Waterfall, everyone's gonna go there. Also the geothermal geyser area. We went to Sky Lagoon, which was a nice little lagoon that had the thermal hot springs that we were there for, what was it, like an hour, would you say? Two hours.

Dan (17:28)

Yeah. Yeah, about an hour.

Mikkel (17:30)

Yeah, so that was really nice. And we had lunch at this fantastic restaurant that had a tomato greenhouse that I went gaga over because I love vegetables and seeing the tomatoes and how they're grown and how they're able to provide local produce for the whole nation from this place was really special. They do not export because all of their tomato yield stays within Iceland. They need it.

It's also the only place in the world, Iceland, that you can stand between two continental plates. So we visited that on our Golden Circle tour. So if that's something that appeals to you, you're going to want to make sure that you stop at Þingvellir. I'm sure I'm saying that incorrectly, but actually the TH in Icelandic, it looks like kind of an elongated P. So, that was a highlight and we have some really cool photos from there and that also was a location used on Game of Thrones. 

If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you're going to love Iceland. It feels otherworldly and the HBO producers agreed because they filmed many scenes in Iceland, including this UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also tried to do a whale watching tour. That didn't work out because we booked it and then we got a notification that the weather was too dangerous to go out. It was gusting winds and raining and they cancelled the whale watching tour. So, wah-wah. You can book, just know it might be cancelled if the weather's bad and of course they refunded us that money.

So what'd we do  instead?

Dan (19:01)

So instead of the whale watching, we checked out the lava show. Don't worry, you're going to see plenty of advertisements for the Lava Show. You'll know exactly where it is. ⁓ Yes, I think we saw it on the plane in the airport.

Mikkel (19:10)

Did we see it in the airport? can't remember. ⁓ you know what? You're right. You're right. We did. But good on them, because I will say everything happens for a reason. And we've seen whales in other locations. And you can't see lava like this anywhere else in the world.

Dan (19:27)

It was a really fascinating, interesting show. It was educational, fun, and you got to see lava up close and personal.

Mikkel (19:37)

Yeah, and I didn't think, I was like, all right, let me watch the video to make sure like it's worth the cost of the ticket. And I read so many five-star reviews and I watched the video of the lava and I was like, all right, we got to see this for ourselves. They have built an oven behind the scenes that's the only oven in the world indoors like this that can heat up lava. So they reuse the lava, but it is real lava. And you sit down, it's a really small theater and you put on these glasses that protect your eyes in case the lava pops.

And a... I would almost say she's a tour guide. When you see the show, they have several people that do this. I asked her after if she was a geology major because they are so knowledgeable about lava. And it's one of the defining characteristics of Iceland, these lava fields and lava formations, that having that baseline for our upcoming cruise, unbeknownst to us, was such an enrichment in what we were about to experience.

Dan (20:35)

I would say it was a good show and ⁓ pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be kind of touristy and cheesy but it was fun, informative, and just the right amount of cheesy.

Mikkel (20:47)

And we were able to walk to that location from our hotel. It was a solid 20 to 30 minute walk. We like walking. But there's also a public bus that can go there or you can just call a taxi, especially if you're a hotel can help you with that. So that's a great thing to do.

Not only if the weather is bad, but especially if the weather is bad. If the weather is great, it's still worthwhile. If the weather is bad, it 100 % should be at the top of your list. So let's talk about pre-planning tips. How long should we be in Reykjavik?

Dan (21:19)

I would say for me, ideally, two days prior to the cruise, and then you can spend probably two to three days afterwards. Reykjavik is not that of a kind of a funky neighborhood, Asheville neighborhood in Iceland, right? that.

Mikkel (21:29)

Mmm. It’s cooler, like in terms of Scandinavian. Nordic.

Dan (21:42)

Right. Right. So it's, it's sort of hipster. It's very artsy. It's a little hippie yet European on top of it.

Mikkel (21:49)

Yeah. The time to walk around by ourselves and discover some street art and stuff. I think the longer you are there, like you're just gonna spend more money and be inclined to book more tours, which I think is absolutely fine. But be conscientious of your budget because it is kind of a pricey area to be and a pricey country to be. So I like the idea, what you said of two days pre and maybe you know, a couple days post.

I think if you stay post, you can just book more tours to see other areas. So I would say if you're going to be there longer than maybe take a tour that takes you outside of Reykjavik, something other than the Golden Circle tour. And that could be like a really cool enhancement because you're already there. So why not? Especially if you have the time and the money.

Dan (22:33)

Yeah. Go see the whales and then let us know what it's like.

Mikkel (22:38)

Right? We've seen whales just not in Iceland off of the coast of Iceland. And we didn't see whales during the cruise. So, yeah.

Dan (22:45)

So because our whale watching tour was canceled because of weather, I have to mention this again, be prepared for weather. It's going to change. You're going to need layers. Some days you'll have short sleeves on. In the evening, you'll need a parka. It's really all sorts of in between and be prepared for rain.

Mikkel (23:07)

Yeah, that's true. Also, I want to mention when is tourist season in Iceland. So two points on this. Iceland is very reliant on tourism, it's a very popular place to visit in the 21st century. One of the coolest things, I think, about Iceland is how close it is to the United States, especially if you're on the East Coast like us, of course.

If you're on the West Coast, just like Hawaii is closer to the West Coast, Iceland is closer to the East Coast. So the time difference isn't as bad as going somewhere like Greece, let's say, but there is a time difference. So I also like that going in early allowed us to adjust to the time difference a little bit before we went on our cruise.

But in terms of the cruise season, the cruise season is pretty much during the summer season. So like May to September, depending on the dates you want to book. But in terms of tourist season, as we were told by our driver on one of our excursions, it's always tourist season in Iceland. It just depends what you're doing, like a cruise. So that's only going to be during the summer. Or if you want to see the Northern Lights, for example, you're going to go during the winter. I've heard that New Year's Eve in Reykjavik is amazing. Our friends did it once, and that was actually one of my first learnings of Reykjavik and what there is to do there. So if you want to see the Northern Lights and you're listening to this and it's not going to work out for a cruise for you, maybe the first time you go is over the winter. You'll see the Northern Lights and you'll party on Rainbow Street to ring in the new year. Another thing to consider is because this is very close to the Arctic Circle, it even crosses the Arctic Circle if you're on a cruise. Reykjavik's not within the Arctic Circle, but you very likely will cross into the Arctic Circle like we did if you do the Windstar Around Iceland tour.

Length of the days. So you're going to get longer days during summer and you're going to get shorter days during winter. So even at some points in Northern Iceland, you can get 24 hours of sunlight and you can get 24 hours of darkness in the opposite season.

Dan (25:17)

The currency is not the euro. So keep that in mind. Mikkel had talked about the exchange rate. We didn't exchange any currency. Cards were taken pretty much everywhere, so we had no problems with that. So just keep that in mind. You probably won't need to exchange currency, but if you'd like to have cash on you, then definitely do that.

They speak Icelandic, but pretty much everybody speaks English. So if you're at all concerned about getting around or finding your way around you're always gonna be able to find somebody that speaks English and probably they speak better English than most of us here in the States. So, no need to worry about that.

Mikkel (25:57)

And then in terms of whether or not you need to pre book versus spontaneous activities, like anything anywhere, if you pre book, you're going to get your preferred day and time of whatever activity you're doing. If you don't, then you're just gonna have to be open to what's still available. We didn't feel like we needed a reservation where we ate, we just had to wait for a table a little bit, especially during popular dinner hours.

And the last thing is that I would say we always travel with our hotspot. It is a Solis hotspot that is linked in the show notes. That is how we stay connected across multiple devices on land in international locations outside of North America. That's the best hotspot. We love it to death and we couldn't recommend it more. So we never have to turn on an international data plan and we're never on roaming on our phones either.

Woo, that was awesome. It felt like Iceland in a nutshell.

So I think Reykjavik is certainly well-deserving of multiple nights. And it's more than just a transition point to embark or disembark on your cruise. This urban area is not overwhelming. It's packed with plenty to do. The people are nice. It's really interesting. And there's lots to see as well.

It's a nice compliment to the natural wonders you'll see outside of an urban landscape like this during your cruise if you are cruising and also a great place to get a little bit of that flavor if you do the Golden Circle tour, the very famous Golden Circle tour. So check out the show notes for anything else that you want dig deeper into that we only touch the surface of here, including those tours and places to stay.

If you are wondering anything that we haven't covered here, don't hesitate to reach out. We love hearing from our listeners in reviews, through social media DMs and through emails.

In the next episode, we are gonna take you on Riverside Debussy, a river cruise on the romantic Rhine River. So please follow and subscribe so you don't miss coming with us on that adventure. And thanks so much for coming along with us on this Icelandic journey today. We will talk to you soon.