17 hours in Iceland
 

We are landing at midnight and trust there is a shuttle to the B&B Keflavik? We depart at 5:30 pm, so should be at the airport again by 3:30? Blue Lagoon was recommended, then saw another thread where it was described as a tourist trap, other hot baths quieter, less crowded, much less expensive.

More important than price is transportation. How do we get from the B&B to wherever and back to the airport? We can afford a car but hate to waste money if there are alternatives. If it must be a car, then we want to reserve one soon!

Steve and Judy in Massachusetts, Paris bound on IcelandAir.

It depends on what you want. Blue Lagoon was a fun enjoyable experience for us. It's comparable to a resort type environment whereas the public swimming pools (hot baths) in the city are much less luxurious.
The water in the man made Blue lagoon is pale cloudy blue because of the 'mud' which you can use for facepacks! There are waterfalls, a cave, bridges and a bar as well as a couple of restaurants and a shop.

We've been to BL and a couple natural hot spring pools out in the countryside and each experience was wonderful but for an overnight airport stay and relaxation I'd go for the Blue Lagoon.

Various transport options are available. Check out the blue lagoon website for one option via their transport partner.
http://www.bluelagoon.com/

Call and ask your B&B about transport options, or google for details.

Tripadvisor also has a great forum for advice on Iceland :)

we also arrived at Keflavik very late. Our hotel shuttle was not running, but they told us to take a cab and they covered it. So you should definitely check with your b&b.

There are lots of companies that offer airport transport with Blue Lagoon visit, although fewer of them from Keflavik than from Reykjavik. You could probably just get a taxi and arrange for both dropoff and pickup. I bet this is cheaper than a car. However, if you rented a car for the day, you could probably fit in a little sightseeing around the Reykjanes peninsula as well.

If price is not a big issue, check out daytrips.is. They do custom tours and can drive you around to wherever you want to go. We really enjoyed our daytrip with them, the guide was great. Very funny, very entertaining. And they are near Keflavik so no problem with pick up there. (this option is probably more expensive than a car, but it might be more relaxing and enjoyable).

We had a lay over in June, landed at 6:30 am and left again at 1 am. We took the Flybus from the airport into Reykjavik. Check their website as they drop off at different points. We arranged a horseback ride and Golden Circle tour through Nordic Visitor and took Flybus back to the airport. Everything worked smoothly and we sure made use of that layover to see a lot.

I´m guessing by the time you wake up and have had breakfast you will have around 7-8 hours before you need to go back to the airport...If that was me I would either go to the Blue Lagoon (yes it is expensive and "touristy" - but it is also very beautiful and relaxing, and crucially it is nearby)

If you were feeling a little more adventurous you could hire a car and drive around the Reykjanes peninsula and see a bit of Iceland, the geothermal area around Krysuvik is stunning..you may even get time to visit the Blue Lagoon too.

If you did want to hire a car I recomemnd Cars Iceland..

www.carsiceland.com

Hi Steve -- I, too, recommend the Blue Lagoon. However, the limited time you have in Iceland might tempt you to wait until later in the day to visit. I should warn you that it does become very busy by mid-afternoon. (However, driving all the way out there and back for an earlier soak wouldn't be very practical either...)

You didn't mention the dates you'd be there. If you are there in the middle of summer when the days are very long, you might want to forgo some sleep in favor of a drive to Gullfoss and Pingvellir. An quick version of the Golden Circle drive would be worth losing sleep over! I think we rented from Hertz.

I hope this helps!