Day 16 was yet another public holiday, luckily Reykjavik Bike Tour who conducts a popular Classic Reykavik Bike Tour is still operating on New Year’s Day! We took a long walk to the meeting point at the Old Harbour at Aegisgarour, the same street as the whale watching companies. Our guide, Stefan was waiting for us at the front of their striking red cabin where he gave us our bikes, safety jackets, helmets and even provided us with gloves. We were once again the only pair on the tour!
We started our tour from the Old Harbour with Stefan explaining how Reykjavik i.e. Smokey Bay first got its name. Then we moved on to the Parliament Building, City Center, Tjörnin City Lake and University of Iceland Campus before taking a break at Ægissida beach. Along the way, Stefan pointed out several eating places where we could sample some of the city’s best cuisine like whale steak, lobster soup, burgers, tacos and hot dogs. Stefan shared lots of interesting stories with us at each attraction, he was extremely familiar with Reykjavik’s history and also quite popular; with locals frequently greeting him as we rode around.
After relaxing with delicious cups of hot chocolate and biscuits, we continued on to Reykjavik’s Catholic Cathedral and then headed back to the Old Harbour. We had a very satisfying lunch at a burger joint, Bullan that Stefan recommended before heading back to the apartment.
The tour lasted about 2.5 hours, it was a refreshing experience to be cycling in the cold windy morning, although we slipped on the icy road a couple of times and cycling against the wind was like riding uphill! Communication with Stefan prior to the tour was prompt and we were grateful that he proceeded with the tour despite having only the two of us.
For the second half of the day, we booked our bus and entrance tickets with Reykjavik Excursions for the Blue Lagoon. They offer hourly bus transfers to and from their interchange at the BSI bus terminal which was a 15 minute walk from the apartment and were also the only operator providing trips to Blue Lagoon on New Year’s Day. It took us 45 minutes to get there and another 30 minutes of queuing and jostling with the huge crowd before we were able to collect our locker keys and entered the facility. We brought our own towels, robes and slippers to avoid having to spend time and money purchasing them. The Blue Lagoon was similar to an onsen; the chilling winter air creates a nice contrast with the soothing hot water. We heard that the silica deposits are good for the skin and we see lots of people slapping them onto their faces; but after grabbing a handful of really icky stuff from the bottom of the pool, we decided against that. We soaked in the milky waters for about an hour before heading out to catch the bus back to Reykjavik.
absolute honesty 