The Blue Lagoon is Iceland’s famous geothermal spa known for its mineral waters, striking milky-blue waters, which contrast dramatically with the surrounding black lava rock. The water contains silica, algae, and minerals, which are believed to have therapeutic benefits, particularly for skin conditions like psoriasis.

Since you are going to The Blue Lagoon, you’ll want to check out our Sky Lagoon, Winter Iceland Trip and Summer Iceland Trip episodes too and our Iceland Itinerary too!

• Where it is: It is on a lava field in Grindavík, on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland. It’s just 12 miles form the Keflavik airport so its a great stop right when you get into town before going to Reykjavik or vice versa.
• How to get there: Bus or car, the road from Reykjavik or Keflavik is basically a straight line. You can book a fly bus to/from airport to Reykjavik or a combo of both very easily 

Options to Book: prices vary by day and which option you choose. Every options gives you towels and use of the facilities for as long as you’d like

• Comfort
  • $85-97pp
  • 1 Silica mask and 1 drink
• Premium
  • $108-130pp
  • Silica mask and 2 others of your choice
  • Robe 
  • Priority line access
  • 2 drinks
• Signature
  • Everything with premium + a silica mask and mud mask to take home
  • There’s also a shop when you leave so you can buy these separate and tons of other skin care products they have

How to Book: Book directly on the blue lagoon website. You can book a bus transfer on their website too or go get a Combo Blue Lagoon & Transfer ticket on Viator.

#1 tip – Book during the daylight! The view island blue color s gorgeous  during the day but you can’t see it at night. 

My Experience:

• Booked the premium experience for $109 USD
• I took the bus from the BSI bus station in Reykjavik to the blue lagoon at 3pm and the last but back at 8pm. There is a posted schedule so you don’t miss it. You could also take it to the airport if you were continuing on either way
• I had to change my booking due to scheduling changes, in total 3 different times
  • VERY easy to change your booking day and time – no fee to change
  • It could be booked up for the time slots you want if you book last minute, but if that happens keep checking the website b/c a spot could open up even same day
  • They may let you in if you show up a bit before your time
  • Your have a full hour after your time slot to get in there, aka 5pm = 5-6pm
• Got checked in, got the my robe and went to find an open locker, changed into bikini
• Everyone has to take a shower, they have conditioner if you want to protect your hair.
  • I didn’t use it, I had my hair mostly up, it did get wet, but it didn’t get brittle and ruined like a lot of rumors say. Maybe if i went all the way under it would have i don’t know
  • The shower have doors, another rumor is that its open or people watch, that is not true
• Walk outside to the lagoon, hang your robe up and get in. Yes its cold but you’re not out there for long
• The water feels so good! It’s gorgeous, its a huge property so even if there are a lot of people there’s plenty of room
• I brought my phone in a waterproof phone case (not the plastic envelope), and a short tripod to take content sine i was solo, a lot of people are doing so
• Even though your head is out you do not need a headband or beanie 
• Explore around, different views, seats, temperatures, bridges you can walk over, waterfalls, enclaves to go into
• The bracelet is your payment
  • If you get more drinks or masks than was included then you’ll pay at the end using their system that forces you to settle your bracelet bill before you can exit
• The left side of the pools has the swim up drink bar
  • Beers, wine, frozen non-alcoholic, sodas
  • I got a sparkling white wine first then after my first mask came back for my second drink which was a sweet red wine
• The right side of the pools has the swim up mask bar
  • After a while i went to start the mask series, my booking came with 3 
  • Start with the black lava mask
  • Next was the silica mask
  • Then choice of mineral or algae – I chose the mineral mask b/c it was better for hydration
  • The attendant will guide you through what to do, they scoop a serving out onto your hand and then you apply it yourself, wait about 10 minutes each, and then rinse it off into the blue lagoon waters
• I spent about 3 hours in the lagoon, then another hour with showering and chilling at the cafe until my bus came
  • Chicken wrap
  • Restaurant didn’t look super good to me

Final Opinion – 10/10 dream experience. I absolutely loved it, it was so beautiful, felt amazing, loved the drinks and mask experience, 1,000% would do it again a million times over.

Blue Lagoon Experience – Episode Transcript

0:35

Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, our Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off into the weekend.

Right today you have me, Kim, to take you along on my epic bucket list, Blue Lagoon Iceland experience.

0:58

The Blue Lagoon has been on the top of my bucket list for over a decade.

I have dreamed of coming here and I’m just spoiler alert, it was the most amazing experience that I had in Iceland.

I absolutely loved it and I am really excited to talk about it.

1:16

I am going to talk about my experience with it, but I’m also going to give you some facts and dispel some mistruths that I heard before I went.

So let’s get into it.

What is the Blue Lagoon?

It is Iceland’s famous geothermal spa known for its mineral waters and very striking Milky blue colored waters.

1:36

It contrasts dramatically with the surrounding black lava rock, white snow covered mountains in the winter when I went at least, and the waters here and the reason it is so Milky blue is because of the level of silica in it.

There’s also a lot of silica in the lava in this area, so it all plays together.

1:53

There’s silica, algae, minerals.

It makes the water have a very therapeutic effect on you, particularly if you have psoriasis.

It’s very good for your skin.

Where’s the Blue Lagoon located?

It is in Iceland.

It’s on a lava field in the Grindelwick area on the Renas Peninsula in southwestern Iceland.

2:12

It’s only about 12 miles from the Keflevic airport, so it’s a really great stop.

When you’re first coming into Iceland, before you go to Reykjavik or heading out of the country, there’s many ways to get there.

It’s very, very easy to get there.

You know, a lot of people in Iceland rent a car, so if you have a car, it’s extremely easy to get there.

2:31

They have a huge parking lot, despite some recent volcanoes having had lava pour into the parking lot and another miss truth was that the parking lot was destroyed.

I was there just a month after that volcano went out and it was not destroyed.

So huge parking lot, tons of parking, very easy to get to if you’re not driving.

2:49

In the case like me, I was only doing tours, so I didn’t rent a car.

You don’t need a car to get here.

You can take a bus.

The bus systems in Iceland are very, very popular and it’s very easy.

It’s called a family bus.

There’s a lot of different companies that operate under this Flybus name.

3:05

So you can rent a family bus directly from the airport and get in there.

You can take a bus from Reykjavik and get in there.

You can book that bus on the Flybus website.

You can also book that bus directly on the Blue Lagoon website.

And then there’s also tours like Viator, Get your guide that will combine the bus and Blue Lagoon ticket or with other things like the Golden Circle tour for example.

3:29

You do have options when you book the Blue Lagoon.

It’s not just a day pass where you go in and use it and everyone gets the same thing.

You have a couple different options.

The prices vary by day, by time, and by the option that you choose.

But whatever option you choose, you will get plenty of towels to use, as many as you need, and you can use the facilities for as long as you’d like.

3:48

So there is no time limit.

If you want to spend all day there, have at it.

Spend all day there and you totally can because there’s drinks, there’s food, there’s good times.

So the three options that you have for booking are comfort, Premium and signature.

Comfort comes in at around 85 to $97.00 USD per person.

4:05

With that, you get access to the facilities, the towels, plus one silica mask and one drink of your choice.

The premium experience is about 108 to 130 dollars US.

You get that silica mask and you also get two other masks of your choice.

4:21

You get the use of a robe and isn’t that worth its weight in gold priority line access which could be really important if it’s really busy when you go and you get not one but 2 drinks.

So your choice.

I think premium is the way to go.

The signature experience is everything that premium is.

4:38

Plus it comes with two masks, the silica mask and the mud mask that you could take home.

Unless you really really are a skin care fan and and you really want that, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

There is also a gift shop before exiting the Blue Lagoon where they have those masks for sale.

4:53

They have a bunch of other different skin care items and souvenirs that you can purchase there too.

So if you don’t get signature when you first book, you have other chances to get the skin care.

If you’re interested, at the Blue Lagoon, there’s also a sit down restaurant and there is a Cafe with small bites and alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks.

5:12

I believe there’s a resort.

You can actually stay there.

And then there’s also more spa experiences that we’re used to, like massages, for example.

You know, now that I’ve been at it, I would stay there.

I would get the massage, I would spend days there.

It was just amazing.

5:28

It was beautiful O book the Blue Lagoon exerience.

Just go to the Blue Lagoon website.

You can choose which option you’d like.

You’ll choose your day and your time and you can also book your plus ticket there if you need that.

Like I said, there’s other options on like Viator or get your guide and I’ll link those in the show notes if you want a experience where it packages all up together but you don’t actually need to book it through a third party.

5:52

The number one tip I will say before I get into my experience, make sure you go during the daylight.

I went in December, so there wasn’t a lot of daylight.

I got to see it about half the time I was there in daylight and the other half at night time.

So I’m speaking from experience here.

6:09

You want to see it in the day.

The surrounding mountains, I don’t know how it would be in the summer, but definitely in the winter.

They’re white, they’re covered in snow.

It’s gorgeous set with the backdrop of that Milky blue water, so beautiful.

Once the night comes, you can’t see the blue, Milky water as much anymore.

6:27

There are lights that will circle around and you’ll get views of it, but it kind of takes away from it.

You can’t see the mountains off in the distance.

So book it during the daytime.

That also is going to be the most popular time, so book it in advance.

When I originally booked, it was about 3 months in advance, but I had moved my booking around quite a few times and the time that I actually did go for, I booked it like 30 minutes before I got there and there was an opening.

6:51

But there were a lot of other times that were booked when I had checked earlier in the day that were the daylight hours.

So just do yourself a favor, be prepared so that you can get exactly the day and time that you want.

For myself, I booked the premium experience.

It cost 109 U.S. dollars.

7:07

I took the bus from the BSI bus station in Reykjavik to the Blue Lagoon at three PMI took the last bus back from the Blue Lagoon to the BSI bus station at 8:00 PM.

There is a posted bus schedule so you don’t miss it.

It doesn’t come necessarily every hour, but almost close to it.

7:26

There’s also pick up and drop off at the airport, so you could kind of get picked up in one spot, go to the Blue Lagoon and then get dropped off in another or do a round trip like I did.

It’s very, very convenient to take the bus.

I said I had to change my booking a few times.

That’s because of flight delays and then missing a tour and just wanting to move things around.

7:46

So I changed it about 3 different times in total.

It’s very easy to change it on the website.

You just put in your booking number and make the change.

There is no fee to change which is really nice.

The only downside is if you’re trying to change it last minute, something could be booked up.

8:02

If that does happen, I do recommend you keep checking because I took that 3:00 PM bus and I had a 5:00 PM booking for the Blue Lagoon.

I really wanted to get in at 4:00 PM for the daylight as well as I had an hour to kill.

As I was on the bus.

8:18

I had checked again and the 4:00 PM slot opened up so I changed it right then and there.

So just keep checking all hope is not lost.

Other people move their times around as well.

From what I saw on some Facebook groups and Reddit chats, if you do show up anywhere like 30 ish minutes early.

8:34

I did see people saying that you could get let in early that they were a little LAX with that.

Not confirmed.

I didn’t try it but I think you’d probably be OK.

As well as afterwards if say if you have a 5:00 PM booking, you have that 5:00 to 6:00 PM window to actually get in there.

8:50

Now if it’s really really busy, really booked up, can’t confirm nor deny if they would deny you, but they seem to be pretty LAX from what I experienced.

So I got in there, I got in line, there really wasn’t a line when I got in there.

Got checked in, got my bracelet, went into the locker room, got my robe, found an open locker.

9:09

They have a cool locking system there so you don’t actually need a key.

Your bracelet is everything you need there.

Everyone has to take a shower before you go into the Blue Lagoon.

They do have a conditioner there that you can put into your hair to protect it so it doesn’t dry out, get brittle and break.

I actually didn’t use it.

9:25

I had styled my hair in a cute way, you know, want to get the cute pics?

I did not use it.

I mostly had my hair up throughout the experience, but of course it did get wet.

The ends got wet, the bottom of it got wet.

I did not feel like my hair got brittle and broke, and that was a big rumor that I heard a lot about the Blue Lagoon, that your hair would be toast.

9:43

That wasn’t my experience.

I also didn’t get my hair fully drenched underwater, so that could have made a difference.

But you do have a conditioner, so might as well go ahead and use it.

Another rumor that I heard was that the showers were open and that attendance would watch you take a shower.

That is completely untrue.

10:00

Every shower in there had a door and no one was watching, so don’t worry about that.

Once you take your shower, you’ll head straight out to the lagoon.

There’s no towels allowed out in the lagoon area.

When you come back in is when you get the towel.

10:15

You can bring your robe out there and you can hang your robe up right at the entrance of the blue lagoon before you step into the water.

Not guaranteed that your particular robe will be in the same spot as you left it.

I ended up just grabbing someone else’s robe.

Mine was gone where I left it.

10:31

They all look the same and you don’t really know, so I guess it doesn’t really matter too much anyway.

So you walk out there, you hang up your robe.

When I went, it was December, so it’s very cold, so I got in the water as soon as possible.

Oh my God, the water felt so good.

It was like instant stress relief.

Happiness just washed over me.

10:48

It was beautiful.

The temperature was warm.

Oh my God, it was like everything I thought it would be.

It truly matched all my expectations that I’ve had all this long.

It was amazing pacing and the property is pretty big.

You know, it’s not just a pool that you swim in, it’s a huge pool.

11:05

They have bridges that will go over so you could get out and walk around in warmer times.

They have enclaves you can go into.

They have little waterfalls.

It’s a big property to explore, and there’s different places you can sit within the water.

There’s different depths of the water, temperatures of the water.

11:21

So you want to kind of go around and explore as much as you’d like.

It’s also a very busy and popular destination, right?

So there’s always going to be a lot of people there, but it’s so big that it did not feel crowded to me at all.

I think that was another rumor that I’d heard is what’s so crowded?

11:38

There’s so many people with their phones.

And yeah, of course there’s people with phones.

I was one of them, of course.

You want to get a picture, right?

I never felt like it was overcrowded.

So that bracelet that they give you in the beginning is essentially your ticket to everything.

11:53

There is on the right side a swim up bar.

If you know how much I love a swim up bar, on the left side is the swim up mask bar.

So on one side you’re getting drinks, the other side you’re getting a mask.

They’re pretty far away from each other and of course people are congregating in those areas because that’s what you’re there to get.

12:11

So I swam around for a bit, did my thing, really enjoyed the views and the scenery and the relaxation.

Then I went over and got my first drink.

When you get up there you can order anything you want.

They have beers, wine, frozen juice type beverages that were non alcoholic.

12:28

Other non alcoholic drink sodas.

Order whatever you like.

They scan your bracelet, you go along your merry way.

Depending on how many you get, either masks or drinks.

If it’s more than what was included in your original package, you will pay for it at the end.

12:44

They have a really neat system that before you’re able to exit the Blue Lagoon, after your shower and after you’re clothed again, you have to scan your bracelet and check out and then you can leave the Blue Lagoon area.

So if you get anything extra, you just pay for it at the end.

So I got a sparkling white wine 1st and then I went around a little bit more, went over to the other side where the masks were and the mask people will kind of guide you through what to do.

13:10

There’s options, right?

So I had three masks included with my premium package.

They always start you with the black lava mask and it it’s a black lava mask.

It feels good.

It feels great.

Leave it on about 10 minutes then rinse it off.

The next one they recommend is the silica mask and they always ask if you have sensitive skin.

13:29

I do not.

So I went ahead and did it.

But if you did have sensitive skin, they might recommend a different one for you.

So I did the silica one and then while this one was sitting on my face, it’s one that dries and gets really hard and tight.

So I let it dry.

I went back over to the drink area and I got a sweet red wine was really, really good.

13:51

They were both actually great.

And I didn’t actually feel buzzed from the two drinks, which you you would think you would, but it was just refreshing, delicious drinks.

And then once that mask had kind of set and did its thing, I rinsed it off and you rinse it off in the Blue lagoon waters right there.

14:06

And there are some like waterfall areas you could go to.

Some had colder water if you wanted a little refreshing splash.

After I finished this drink, I went over and got my third mask.

Now there’s four masks to choose from, so for this third one, you get to choose between mineral or algae.

14:23

I chose the mineral mask because they said it was better for hydration.

You know, it’s winter, it’s dry and cold out there, so I wanted some extra hydration and that one sits on and it doesn’t get hard and dry.

It kind of just sits on until you’re ready to rinse it off in about 10 minutes.

That one felt amazing.

14:39

I would recommend that if there were any that I would get, would probably be that mineral mask to take home.

I didn’t actually end up taking any home.

Kind of regret it now they think about it.

All in all, I spent about 3 hours in the lagoon.

If I had been with people, I was there solo, but if I had been there with people, I may have stayed a little bit longer, maybe if it was daytime, enjoying the scenery a little bit more.

15:01

But I feel like 3 hours was good.

I, I did everything I came there to do.

I relaxed, enjoyed myself.

It was even snowing at some parts and like windy and the snow is hitting you in the face.

And you do see that sometimes on social media that Instagram versus reality.

15:17

That does not ruin the experience whatsoever.

And they say in Iceland, if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change.

And that is true.

It came and it went and it doesn’t ruin the experience.

So if the weather isn’t so great, don’t let that scare you away from going.

15:32

It did not ruin my experience.

So after about 3 hours in there, I got out, got in my robe or whoever’s robe I took that was hanging up.

I took a shower, used their shampoo, conditioner, body wash, all that that’s in there.

They do have tons of hair dryers in the locker room.

So I dried, got dressed and then my bus wasn’t coming until about 8:00, so I had some time to kill.

15:53

I went to the Cafe.

I looked at the menu at the restaurant and it didn’t speak to me.

I don’t like fish.

There was a lot of fish on the menu.

I think there might have been lamb.

Not a big lamb fan.

So I passed on the sit down restaurant.

But I did get a chicken wrap from the Cafe, drink some water, waited there for a little bit and then walked the pathway out to where the bus was and it was right there and got on and I already spoiled it.

16:16

But yes, would I do it again?

Did I love it?

1000 percent 10 out of 10 dream experience.

I absolutely loved it was so beautiful, felt amazing, love the drinks, love the mask experience and 1000% would do it again. 1,000,000 * / I cannot wait to go back.

16:34

I wish the Blue Lagoon was here in the US, but that’s all part of what makes it so special.