Blue Blue Blue

You’ve seen this on any bucket list for Iceland. The Blue Lagoon has made it’s way to one of the most visited destinations in this country. The steaming, pale blue waters surrounded by the black lava rock - look around and you may start to believe you’re on another planet.

We started our 10 day Euro trip with a dip in the Blue Lagoon. We took a bus from Reykjavik Airport and dropped our bags in the locker room. You can tell you’re getting closer to the lagoon by the smell of rotten eggs. Being on a backpacker budget, we purchased the basic package that included a ticket, a towel, one free drink and a silica mud mask for around $60 USD.

80% of people who pay a visit to Iceland, find themselves visiting these thermal waters. I didn’t feel like I was swimming around in a pool of everyone’s germs like I did at the thermal baths in Budapest. I guess the lagoon contains 9 million liters of geothermal seawater and renews itself every 40 hours. It’s actually a rule that all guests of the lagoon must shower with a special soap and shampoo prior to entering the pool.

Though the lagoon is actually manmade, the natural, geothermal waters are sourced from a geothermal field nearby. The water temperature is anywhere from 95-104 degrees. It’s heated by magma from a couple of thousand meters below Earth’s surface. The milky, blue water is full of minerals like algae and silica that are said to induce natural healing effects for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Does wonders for your skin and for your muscles!

Considering you can swim in natural hot springs all around Iceland for free, it does make you second guess paying such a steep entrance fee. It’s important to note that Iceland isn’t the best place to go when you’re on a strict budget - it’s expensive here. But look at it this way - most people can rack up a bar tab of $60 so that kind of puts it in perspective. A hot spot for tourists - yes, but in my opinion, a visit to the Blue Lagoon is a fabulous way to begin or wrap up your trip to the Land of Fire and Ice.

Note: Next time, I’m totally bringing some clarifying shampoo and leave-in conditioning treatment for after my visit because I left there with my hair feeling “crispy” - almost like I could bend my hair and it would snap in half. It stayed like that even after a couple washes. Also, if I end up making millions from this blog - I’ll visit Iceland again and throw down the $500 for the luxury spa experience & maybe even a night at the retreat hotel?

*VIDEO COMING SOON!