So, a friend from work was telling me that he had booked a trip to Iceland. Not being one to be left behind, I decided that I would have a look for some tickets and see what prices I could get for the start of my new annual leave year.

It has been 10 years since I was last here so a visit was overdue. You can read about that one here.

I had a look for flights and the prices I was seeing were in the £400 range and I didn’t really want to pay that.

I then decided to have a look at Icelandair. I also decided that I would look to go to Toronto as the main destination since I only got a few hours here back in 2022. You can read about that here.

I saw some prices and had to do a double take as I wasn’t sure how real the prices were. I looked in a private browser window. I then looked on my work computer. Sure enough, they all said the same. I didn’t hesitate and just booked it.

I decided that my itinerary would be three days in Reykjavik and then 5 days in Toronto.

I paid £264 return for the whole thing. I think that’s a bargain.

Once the tickets were booked, I decided to look at the airport transfers in Iceland as they were going to be the most expensive transfer of the entire trip. Iceland is an expensive country.

I then booked my hostels and decided that whilst I was in Reykjavik I would look to do a Northern Lights tour and a whale watching tour. I got those booked and paid for. Now we wait to see what the weather is like and whether they will go ahead or not. One of the times I was here with the lass, we booked a whale watching tour but it got canned because of the weather.

The time came for me to check in for the flight and I got a window seat. Result. I was dreading the early morning start – especially after doing a 12-hour shift at work. I finished work and went straight to bed pretty much after that. I couldn’t sleep though as I wasn’t super tired. I think I got to sleep about 21:30 and the alarm was set for 04:30. I had the train booked for 05:54 and it was 2:20 to get to the airport from where I am.

I got to Gatwick about 08:30 and then headed to the terminal and went through security. I don’t like just hanging around and I always want to get through so I can relax before the gate is announced and then I head there.

I went through security and my backpack got selected for extra screening. My deodorant apparently triggered it. The guy said Mitchum deodorant does that often. Lucky me.

I got through and went to get my “Airport Special”. That is 2 meal deals from WHSmith. I then went and sat and charged the phone and waited for the gate to be shown. It was nice to just relax. The airport also got eerily quiet at one point. Weird.

I got to the gate and I was slightly worried about my baggage because I didn’t want it to look too much. Thankfully it was fine.

We boarded and left on time and I slept for about half the flight. I do remember it was really hot though. It was uncomfortably hot too. I was glad to be off it.

Passport control was easy enough too. Just got asked why I was there and if I had accommodation booked.

My coach was booked for 16:15 but I was allowed on the one earlier since we arrived earlier than it said.

  • I got off the coach at the Bus Hostel here in Reykjavik. It said it would be a 25 minute walk to the hostel from there. I know myself well enough so I gave myself 45 minutes. I like to stop and take pictures as I’m walking. I wasn’t in a rush so it was fine. I wanted to enjoy the daylight while it lasted. Winters here are long and daylight hours are short.

    I took a nice easy stroll from the coach to the hostel and just wandered like I wanted.

    The hostel is awful. If this was my first time in a hostel I would never do them again. There is no lift in the building. It is expensive for what you get. A towel is £6 to rent (the most expensive I have seen). They have communal male showers. The bathrooms are run down. The rooms aren’t much better either.

    I checked in and dropped my stuff off and just went out on a walk. I went in search of Hallgrimskirkja. It is a beautiful looking church and it is pretty cool at night too.

    Because of the shape of it, it is really difficult to get it all into a single shot. It was worth the walk to it though. People must have thought I was weird because I wasn’t wearing my coat and I was in shorts. Meh. I don’t even care.

    I also found my souvenirs which is super important.

    Once I was done at the church I decided I would head back towards the hostel and just see where my feet took me.

    It was really nice to just walk around.

    I went to the water and took some night shots there. I think they turned out pretty well especially since you can see the mountains in them but you can’t just with the naked eye.

    Once I was done there I decided to go to the store and get some drinks and then head back to the hostel. I am super tired so a somewhat early night is in store for me.

    Total steps: 12,405

    Total miles: 5.67

I figured since I was leaving today that I wouldn’t need to get up early so I didn’t. I may have woken up earlier than I wanted but I decided to stay in bed until about 10. I only had to shower and pack one set of clothes and that wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.

I did that and then just sat at the hostel until 12 and then left for the coach. I went and got something to eat and drink from the store round the corner and made my way to get the coach. On the way there it started raining so that was fun. Thankfully I have my big waterproof jacket that kept the little rain at bay. It was the fine mist rain that is awful.

I got on the coach to the airport and just chilled for the 45 minute journey there. As we were getting close to the airport it was starting to sleet. Yay us.

I got off the coach and quickly went into the terminal so I could get out of the sleet. I like the snow but I didn’t want to get wet.

I went through security and then went and sat in the departure lounge for a little bit. As I was sitting there I was looking out the window and it wasn’t sleeting anymore but snowing. I was beginning to get concerned that the flight would be delayed or cancelled. I looked at the airport screens and the airline app but they were both saying on time.

It got closer to the time to go to the gate and the snow was starting to ease.

I got to the gate and had to have my passport checked. I was then asked why I was going to Toronto. They wanted to see my Canadian ETA, my accommodation reservation and also my return ticket. I then got a sticker on the back of my passport to say that it had been checked and was fine.

It was time to board and we had to get a bus to the plane. Icelandair are weird – they are the flag carrier of the country but act like a budget airline. They never parked at a gate but at a remote stand.

As we got off the bus it was snowing again. This time it was a little heavier.

We boarded and everything looked fine for an on time departure. How wrong I was. One of the things I was worried about leaving late was not getting to the hostel before reception closed for the night. They had sent an email saying that they closed at 22:00 and after midnight there was no way to get into the building. I was panicking.

The captain got on and said that we needed to be deiced and that we were next on the queue and it would be 15-20 minutes before we could taxi. This turned out not to be true. We had a maintenance issue. That was sorted bin 20 minutes.

We ended up leaving 2.5 hours later than our scheduled departure time. I was really concerned because the map was saying that I would get to the hostel a little after 10 and I was concerned that nobody would be here to let me in. I settled in as there was nothing I could do other than leg it as fast as I could once I got off the plane.

Total steps: 56,481

Total miles: 32.53

View all of my Reykjavik media here