On our recent New Years Eve trip to Iceland, we stayed at the Fosshotel Baron. The service there was excellent, their “continental breakfast” was amazing, the shower was small but did the job. The room isn’t fancy like at the Hilton, but it was good for the amount of time we spent in the room. I have to say, their breakfast was beyond what I would consider continental. They had, boiled eggs, fish, tuna salad, all kind of breads, brie cheese, swiss cheese, yummy spreadable cheese, skyr, omelettes, sausages, sandwich meats, veggies and fruits, a waffle maker…. so we never went hungry.
The first night we were there, we were supposed to go do the Northern light Boat tour but it got cancelled but they offered to rebook it for us. We actually had to rebook it another time anyways due to bad weather, on our last night in Iceland we finally went, but unfortunately didn’t see anything. The boat was full and at the time I was super tired but I still enjoyed it because they set off fireworks everywhere in the city (++ for romance). That night walked around, saw the famous church and had supper at Loki Café (we highly recommend this place). They have the fermented shark which is a traditional holiday thing to eat… but the taste is different, to say the least. It may have been the worst thing I’ve eaten my life, but I’m glad I tried it. Ha Ha!
The next days included some guided tours, our tour guide was named Odna and she was fantastic. We loved her. She gave a lot of explanation and was good at answering questions. We did the Golden Circle tour, the Reykavik Peninsula, Blue Lagoon, Viking Museum, and a city tour. We enjoyed them all.
The gala dinner at Perlan was really fun. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was awesome. I’m a firework fanatic, and the whole Reykjavik city is in firework mode from December 29 to January 3 (they also do another fireworks display on January 6). Perlan gives you a 360 degree view of the city and every 2-3 minutes more fireworks were shot off and it was so romantic. After 11:30, the city is illuminated with fireworks everywhere. It’s amazing.
We also did the Fontana Baths and a Northern Lights tour. The Fontana Baths were really nice. I enjoyed this one better compared to the Blue Lagoon because it was more relaxing and our group was the only one there. We didn’t see any Northern Lights, but we did see a clear sky and the stars were shinning bright.
We also took a tour to the Snaefellsness Peninsula and it was a full day. Everything we saw was amazing.
I would totally recommend Iceland, it’s so much fun. The food was delicious (lots of fish, lamb and rye bread). The people are so friendly and love to answer questions and serve you. I love winter so I really enjoyed it. But we can’t wait to go again and this time during the summer. They have free camping anywhere and then it’s safe to rent a car. There is also 24 hours sunlight during summer and some very cool festivals. I’m not one who really loves bus tours and such, but I was some glad we booked them. We’ve learned a lot and then our next trip there, we will be able to go on our own and really enjoy free time to tour at our own pace.