Reykjavik and around, a lot to offer for such a small place

Reykjavik itself is small. I haven't had the need to use any ways of transportation other the walking. If only the weather had been better... Still, I prefer walking even in the constant threat of rain. Like what people say here, "if you don't like the weather, wait for five minutes".

Perlan view point (the Pearl)

Like any decent city, Reykjavik has places to get a panoramic view. Popular view points are Hallgrímskirkja Church and the Perlan, a power generator with a museum and a restaurant on top.

Since the wet weather makes hiking somewhat dangerous, the walk from city center to Perlan turned out to be the only hiking I did these days. To avoid the walk at no extra cost, take the free shuttle to Kringlon shopping center ands walk to Perlan from there.

Thermal pools and geothermal beach

Iceland boasts itself as the country who "solves every problem in a hot pot". (Hot pot here is for bathing, not for food.) The abundant geothermal resources guarantee warm homes, swimming pools and even man-made geothermal beach.

Naulsovik geothermal beach has imported white sand among all the other black sands along the south coastline, The sea water is heated all year round. And there are several hot pots to relax. I went to admire the creativity of mankind. It was smaller than I had expected, and I failed to see any hot boys/ girls sunbathing on the beach...

Reykjavik has nice outdoor thermal pools, six of them if I remember correctly. They are clean (because everyone is asked to wash thoroughly before entering the pool), well maintained and loved by locals, long opening hours (6-22:00) and cheap (550 ISK, the price of a cup of coffee). 

The biggest thermal pool is Laugardalslaug. Be prepared for a lot of screaming kids.

Harpa and the Culture Night

Harpa concert and conference hall is the latest addition in Reykjavik. Its beehive like glass walls shine different colors in different lightings. From inside, it looks very much like last season's Ed Hardy print.

I spent a whole afternoon/evening in Harpa for the Reykjavik Culture Night, the nation's favorite festival on the third Saturday of August. Harpa hosted many free concerts and performances, ending with fireworks near midnight.

The huge gathering during Culture Night showed how many kids and teenagers there are. On average, each household has 2.7 children, which must be the highest in Europe. Long winter nights... 

Coffee shops

Not in the mood for museum visits, I spent way too much time at different coffee shops. No Starbucks. But the local ones offer equally wide selection of coffees. I'm happily amazed. 

Short drive away from the city, the most famous day tours are the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon.

Golden Circle

It consists of Geysir, Gullfoss, and Pingvellir National Park, and is easy to travel around in a half day tour from Reykjavik, hence the popularity. Worth it? Definitely. Am I impressed? Not really.

Personally I enjoyed Pingvellir the most because of the history and geological importance. Still a nerd at heart. You can see the continental drift between North America and Eurasia Plates. However, you cannot technically stand on both plates at the same time-there is a LNG strip between called no man's land. 

Geysir is the Icelandic version of the Old Faithful, or vice versa. Our guide said several years ago, you could throw soap into it to get lots bubbles during eruption. But that's banned now.

Gullfoss means Golden Waterfall. Every lake or river in Iceland is owned by someone or some organization, so it required quite a fight to keep this waterfall from being used for hydropower.

Blue Lagoon, just a hot spring spa

Not worth the hype nor the price tag. There, I said it. 

Blue Lagoon is a artificial spa built from the waste water discovered during an industrial process. The water and mud is full of algae and silicon, and supposedly really good for skin. Blue Lagoon has become so famous that it stopped paying commissions to travel agencies. And when I checked online, it seems no one from Iceland is willing to say bad things about Blue Lagoon. The worst some bloggers say is that a lot depends on personal preference.

It is very relaxing to soak in the milky blue water, no denying of that. But not enough to justify the €40 basic admission fee. Blue Lagoon's marketing team is pricing this way to build a premium brand. However, for a place that +80% of tourists visit, no way it qualifies as premium. 

If I'm paying for nice spa, I'd much prefer Bliss or Clarins. Kyoto offers much better hot springs. Or for half the price, you can buy a big stash of Lush products to soak up in whatever water you wish at home.