The Blue Lagoon, Iceland
January 4, 2010 by Anil P. Filed under Pictures and Video, Travel Journal
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The Blue Lagoon is one of Iceland’s most popular tourists destinations and you’ll see the steam rising from the horizon as you make your way from Kefairport into Reykjavik. The water temperature stays a constant 40C (104F) throughout the year, even during the dark winter months. The added cold makes the warm waters even more enjoyable and the small December crowds are another reason you can and should visit Iceland in the winter.
Just be careful and watch your step as you hurry from the showers out to the lagoon, it’s extremely slippery. Also, as is the case with the hot tap water in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon does not have a distinctive rotten egg smell (caused by sulfur). You can seem some more of my pictures from the Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik here.
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[...] The Blue Lagoon is the most visited tourist site in Iceland (you can avoid some of the crowds by visiting Iceland in the winter) and plastered over almost every brochure about the unique island. It’s almost impossible to escape as you can see steam rising from it on your way from Keflavik International Airport into Reykjavik. The blue pools of water outside of the visitor center are just a taste of what’s to come. One step in the 40C (104F) waters and you won’t want to leave. [...]
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That’s an awesome photo man so can see myself making it there for a visit.
Thanks, it’s always hard for me to pick out a decent picture from the ones I take. The Blue Lagoon though is awesome and even being as immensely popular as it is I don’t think you’ll be in the least bit disappointed.
That’s an awesome photo Anil. I had heard at it and now I more keen to visit the place.
Wish you & your family a very Happy new year 2010. May you travel more.
The water was so blue it was incredible to see. I didn’t expect the Blue Lagoon to be so blue!
Wishing you a Happy New Year as well!
HI Anil,
I was last there in ’98 and Blue Lagoon was very rustic. The power generator was almost right on top of us at the time and change rooms were made of wood. It was a tourism conference in February and my first job one afternoon was to outfit hundreds of tour operators with yellow sou-westers (rain hats)sporting the Nova Scotia flag. My next job was to supervised the throwing of hundreds of cans of Keith’s beer out to the yellow things bobbing in the mist. I don’t think anyone in the lagoon was not quenched. Then we served them lobster rolls.
This wasn’t my idea, but the brain child of a guy named Ron Comeau. And none of the thousand or do people who came to Iceland for the conference left without wanting to come to Nova Scotia. Now that’s how you market!
hahah, from he looks of it the facilities have been renovated since then. It was extremely clean and everything looked new.
Sounds like a good time you had there though, after that I’d book a trip to Nova Scotia too!
Hi Anil
Thanks for the post. Just wondering what costs are like in Iceland since the economic meltdown? As you may recall, they were one of the hardest hit countries.
Greg, the prices are still high compared to the US but cheaper than the Eurozone countries. Prices are also steadily going up and I don’t think they’ll return to where they were a year ago or are now for quite some time.
To give you an idea of the prices, getting to the Blue Lagoon from Reykjavik + admission was 40$ and a Guinness was $6. A cheap meal was about 1400 kronen (around $10).
The reflections of the puffs of clouds on the lake is beautiful. Do you know what makes it so blue? Glacier melt?
I searched and searched and couldn’t find a definitive answer. My guess is that it’s caused by all of the white/blue silica in the water.
Gorgeous photo. I’m hoping to see the Northern Lights at some point and have signed up for an email service that tells me when and where they are active. My hope is the email will send me to Iceland!
I had been hoping to see them in Norway or Sweden this winter but I won’t be in Sweden until maybe February, but who knows, the timing might be just right.
Wow – now I have a reason to freeze my ass off.
Until you get in the water…40C!
No sorry, I won’t swap that blue for the bright blue skies and sparkling blue ocean of the tropical island in my dreams – snow forecast tonight in Bristol!
haha, I’ll keep working on it Heather!
I loved the Blue Lagoon. It’s one of those tourist landmarks that is seriously NOT overrated. Relaxing in the toasty water with a beer from the swim up bar… heavenly.
I completely agree and was slightly expecting disappointment because I had read so much. Like when I saw the Taj Mahal, it greatly exceeded my expectations.
Stunning! I could be inspired to write in this location. Provided I’m comfortably warm of course!
I got a lot of work done there and enjoyed the quiet of the winter in Iceland. Now that you mentioned it I think it would be a great destination for inspiration, especially in the darker months.
Your beautiful photo of the Blue Lagoon makes me want to go there. Now. It’s nice to learn that some tourist spots really are worth visiting.
Very popular tourist attractions always make me nervous about being let down.
Iceland is on my list, although I think it will be a few years before we make it there. Thanks for letting me live vicariously until then!
Anytime! I’d recommend getting there sooner rather than later, the prices are going up, up…
Iceland is one of my favourite countries with swimming being a real obsession. The smallest towns had swimming pools with hot pools and spas naturally heated fromt he ground. Very special. I thought the Blue Lagoon was a super place and not overly crowded when I was there. Great artciles on Iceland.
I see a query about the blueness. I was told that this was due to the blue-green algae (perfectly safe) in the mineral rich water which is there as it bubbles up from the eartn and through the nearby geothermal plant. No idea if that is correct but the Icelandic person saying it sounded reasonably authoritative.
A better explanation than I was able to find. I was actually surprised I couldn’t get more detailed information about it.
The best thing about subscribing to a comment is what I experience here.
Whole load of healthy discussions and information land up in my inbox without me bothering to come here again & again.
Keep going, Anil.
Subscribe to comments is one of my favorite plugins. I love following along with the conversations on the many blogs I follow as well. Thanks!
Wow, it looks almost like a painting. Unreal!
I too didn’t expect it to be *that* blue or colorful when I went. It has a particularly nice light in winter with the very long dusk.