April marked my third time visiting Iceland. My first visit was in 2019, a defiant solo trip that had been on my bucket list for years. My love for the Nordics started years earlier when I first visited Norway and Sweden and I wanted to conquer and learn more about these highly organized and allegedly “cold” people. Not surprisingly, it surpassed all of my expectations.
Tourism in Iceland has grown 400% from 2010-2018 and has become a core driver of their economic growth.
My latest visit was an unconventional bachelorette trip. I loathe any attention to myself (hence why it’s nearly impossible to get an updated headshot) but my friends insisted we had to stop and celebrate. I coordinated the trip to overlap with two of their birthdays so it was one long celebratory weekend.
Par for course with Nordic countries, I was easily able to book every aspect of my trip and navigate bus transfers, etc within the country.
It was everyone else’s first time visiting, so we hit the core items with The Blue Lagoon, a private food tour, and sprinkled in a drag show and a night of dancing.
We lucked out with perfect weather that was chilly at night but sunny throughout, but the winters can be a little brutal - nothing you can’t handle if you prepare and layer up properly.
The landscape of Iceland is stunning. Lush and green, then rocky and barren. It’s as if Mars suddenly became habitable. But by far the most delightfully surprising aspects of Iceland are how great the food is and how warm and friendly the people are.
A quick 5.5 hour flight from Chicago direct into Reykjavik - Iceland has definitely become near & dear to my heart and I can’t wait to go back.
