Pounding the pavement in Paris can be hard on the feet; pub crawls in England can be hard on the liver. So why not prepare yourself with a little pampering in Iceland, on the way -- and on the cheap?
It just happens that Icelandair combines really low fares to Europe with the opportunity to spend a day in a small country where hot-tubbing is a way of life, at no extra charge. You can even grab a few hours in a world-class spa, at an affordable price, sometimes without spending an overnight -- just between flights. Here's how.
Start by grabbing a ticket on Icelandair (www.icelandair.com). They fly from Orlando, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Toronto and Halifax to 18 European cities at very competitive rates. Winter fares, for instance, are generally under $400 round-trip. Summer fares are higher, of course, just as they are on all airlines.
Iceland's most famous spa is just 20 minutes away from the airport, on the road between the airport and the capital city of Reykjavik. The Blue Lagoon (www.bluelagoon.com; adult admission ISK 1,800/US$30) is a steaming, sprawling labyrinth of mineral-infused water surrounded by a spa which seems to grow more elaborate every year. It's a kick for kids because of the many places to explore, the eerie surroundings and the generally shallow depth. My toddler found a lava ledge full of little pebbles and entertained herself for quite some time dropping rocks into the opaque water and watching them disappear. The Lagoon's silica mud is said to help with skin conditions: it sure did make me tingly.
Don't worry about the weather. Winters in Iceland are generally a bit above freezing, and it's actually fun to have your head cold while your entire body is warm. Even the two-year-old liked it.
Over the past few years, the Lagoon's crew have turned it into an all-day destination. There's the usual array of massages and rubs, often performed while you're floating in the water (including a special massage for tweens, which girls might get a kick out of). But the lagoon itself is now enhanced by a sort of "relaxation room" with chaise lounges indoors, overlooking the steaming waters; two cafes, a full-service restaurant with bar and "private rooms" where couples can change, shower and relax together without encountering the hoi polloi. The result: you can get in the water, puddle around, get out, read a book, have some lunch, get back in again, and repeat.
If you're trying to do your spa break overnight on the way back from Europe, the best bet may be to stay at the Lagoon's on-site hotel, the clean but basic, motel-style Northern Light Inn. (www.northernlightinn.is/rates.htm) Land, take a bus or taxi to the lagoon, luxuriate for four or five hours until the place closes, grab something to eat, head back to your room and then back to the airport in the morning.
The one less-budget aspect here is the Northern Light Inn's rates, which start at ISK 10,000 (US$166.66)/night. For half that, you can stay at the even more basic Alex Motel right next to the airport (www.alex.is/English/Index.htm) which has a free shuttle to the airport terminal, though you'll have to arrange your own taxi to the lagoon (or take the bus from the airport).
Reykjavik, Spa City
It's worth taking a day and going to Reykjavik, because of Icelanders' obsessions with their public swimming pools. Yes, there are two classy spas in the city; if you take one of the Icelandair stopover packages that puts you in the Hilton Nordica hotel for a night, there's a spa in the hotel.
But you should really just go to one of the seven public swimming pool complexes dotted around the city. A Reykjavik pool complex typically has a large pool, heated to 80-something degrees; a large tub at blood temperature; three smaller hot pots ranging up to about 125 degrees; and a sauna. Everybody goes there: during the mornings you'll see school swim classes and older folk steaming their bones, during the afternoons, families come out to play, and in the evenings, the hot tubs are full of cannoodling couples and cruising singles. And it's all outdoors: the bracing chill and lack of chlorine smell add a natural flavor to the whole enterprise, bringing a smile to your face that you'd never get at an indoor pool where you're sweating from chemicals and humidity.
What's best: you can swim, steam and relax for only ISK 350 (US$9.33)/person. (Towels and swimsuits each cost an equal amount to rent, so bring your own.)
On a recent trip to Iceland, I hit as many of Reykjavik's pools as I could. The best budget bet for a quick trip is to shack up at the local youth hostel (www.hihostels.com/affiliates/), specifically because it's right next door to a large pool-and-spa complex and is served by the airport bus. Double room rates there start at ISK 6,600 (US$110); dorm beds are as cheap as ISK 1,800 (US$30). The pool at Laugardaulur has a huge water slide and family-friendly main pool with a kiddie pool area and giant floating pool toys; I particularly liked the huge Styrofoam dice.
Even better, for a more traditional spa experience, the shiny and extensive Laugar Spa (www.laugarspa.is/) is also built into the complex; their lowest-cost treatment, a ten-minute massage, runs 1,450 ISK (US$24.16) but they have far, far more services than that. A family traveling to Reykjavik could easily frolic in the main public pool while any spa connoisseurs get a chocolate massage and salt scrub next door at Laugar.
The one down side of Laugardalslaug is that it's always busy. That's not the case with Vesturbaejarlaug, a ten-minute walk from Reykjavik city center; this is a humble neighborhood setup with an attendant who speaks little English and a group of small, quiet round hot pots that were practically deserted when we showed up around lunchtime.
More adventurous folks with kids should hop on the #5 or 19 bus from the city center for the 15-minute ride to Arbaejarlaug, a pool in the suburbs with a truly spectacular set of facilities, on a hill overlooking Reykjavik. The big advantage of Arbaejarlaug is an indoor pool that's connected to the outdoor pool by a door in the water, letting you wander in and out; this is especially fun for kids. My wife, meanwhile, enjoyed getting a massage from the powerful artificial waterfall.
Ignore the indoor Sundholl Reykjavik pool, centrally located as it is. While it's in a beautiful 1920s-style building, the inside brings back way too many high school gym class memories.
You can find pictures of all of the pools at www.spacity.is.
No matter which pools you choose, you can often also arrange to boil yourself at the Blue Lagoon on your way home; see below.
How Do You Do It?
The same-day stopover trick is most possible when you're heading out to Europe. Almost all of Icelandair's flights from the US arrive in Iceland early in the morning. With some destinations -- for instance, Stockholm, London, Copenhagen or Paris during the summer -- you get an option to either hop right onto another plane to Europe, stay over a night, or take an afternoon flight that same day.
The easiest and most flexible way to get to the Lagoon in the morning is to hop in a taxi. While a taxi from the airport costs ISK 4,000 ($66.66), if you have three or four people, that's no more expensive per person than the bus. To get back, you can either call a taxi or use one of three bus companies, all of which provide afternoon buses from the Lagoon to the airport. The most flexible, Reykjavik Excursions (www.re.is/page.asp?id=562), charges ISK 900 (US$15)/person. Another flexible approach would be to rent a car for the day for the relatively simple drive. A one-day rental from Budget (www.budget.is) at the airport costs ISK 5,400 (US$90) if you purchase in advance through the Internet.
During the summer only, there's a shuttle service called the Blue Line (www.sbk.is) that grabs passengers at the airport terminal at 7am and drops them at the Blue Lagoon, with several afternoon departures back to the airport.
If you're staying overnight in Reykjavik, just take the airport bus for ISK 1,200 (US$20) into the city. On the way back, if you're leaving Iceland in the afternoon, you can get a Blue Lagoon tour that provides admission to the Lagoon with buses from Reykjavik and to the airport from Reykjavik Excursions (www.re.is) for ISK 3,800 (US$63). That trip typically gives you about two hours at the lagoon; for an extra hour of relaxation time, ask to take the 10am rather than the 11am bus down from Reykjavik.
Talk with fellow Frommer's readers on our Iceland Message Boards today.