6 Things to Know When you Fly With WOW Airlines

1. This is an economy budget airline. Meaning you get budget friendly airfare as little as $99/flight for international flights. However, you need to pay for any added benefits or services. Bags, seat assignments, and meals to name a few. The base price is only airfare and almost everything else is an additional cost.

2. The basic fare only includes a personal item for your carry on. A personal item is considered a purse, backpack, brief case with the max dimension of 42x32x25cm/ 17x13x10in. If you choose to add a check in or carry on luggage it will cost $30-$100 per flight. The best savings is to purchase additional luggage allowance at time you purchase your airfare to avoid additional premium charges.

3. WOW doesn't serve any complimentary refreshments or meals regardless if you are flying domestic or international. If you have a long flight, I recommend eating before the flight or packing your meal. They do serve sandwiches, pizza and other snacks for additional costs. Also, beverages are not complimentary, not even water. Therefore, I recommend filling up your water bottle at the airport before your flight or buy one at the airport, to avoid the overpriced water they serve inflight.

4. For an economy airline the services is absolutely great. The flight crew and the agents at the airports were all friendly and personable. They were very helpful and had a great smile the whole time. It was quite refreshing and a nice surprise to deal with a great team of people.

5. Most flights from US to Europe stop at Iceland. Iceland is their main hub allowing you to take advantage of a long layover and explore the island of Iceland. If you do decide to have an extended layover in Iceland, I do recommend you pack all your essentials in your personal item or your carry on. If you check in your luggage, you will not receive it in Iceland once you land. Don't make the same mistake I did and land in Iceland without all your overnight essentials.

6. WOW airline has style. From the flight crew's uniform to the purple rug that lays on the airplane's floor, WOW has really taken its style seriously. The company really prides itself in creating a fun and stylish culture while offering budget friendly airfare pricing to its consumers and it does a great job in merging the two together. This culture is reflected in the people, their planes, and their flights.

Top 8 Places to Eat in Iceland

1.  Fjórubordid

This seafood restaurant is located in the south coast of the Island and is situated in the small fishing village of Stokkseyri. This quaint restaurant is often fully booked and reservations are highly recommended. They are known for their fresh langoustine dishes. If you haven't tried langoustine before it is similar in flavor and texture to a lobster. The must try dish is their famous langoustine soup and is prized to be the best in the Republic of Iceland. It truly is an amazing dish. The creaminess and divine richness of the langoustine flavor made my taste buds fully satisfied. We also ordered the sautéed garlic and herb langoustine, which I equally enjoyed. The simplicity of the dish showcased the freshness of the shellfish and the sweet and rich flavor of the langoustine. There are indoor and outdoor seating which faced the water. However, we opted to sit inside as the chilly and unforgiving winds made it impossible for us to eat outside.

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2. Sandholt

Sandholt is a family run bakery that is one of the oldest operating bakeries in the country. Since then they have now expanded their bakery with a sit down restaurant, catering, and bakery tours.  The sleek and clean interior offers their breads and pastry items to be displayed perfectly, making them the focal point of the room. This place is excellent to grab a quick snack or breakfast on the go or if you would prefer to take a nice tour of Icelandic flavors for dinner, Sandholt is also the place to go. Located in the heart of Reykjavik, this bakery offers more than just your average bread and pastry treats. Their extensive menu offers hot and cold dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We arrived for an early breakfast and were seated immediately. Although, based on the existing crowd, I imagine it gets busy during their peak times. Seating is plentiful so they can accommodate large parties if needed and calls for hasty service. For breakfast they offered your familiar and usual meals, which made it easy to order. The food and service was excellent and I fully enjoyed their baked breads.

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3. Beajarnis Beztu Pylsur

Any Icelander would tell you that Iceland is synonymous for hot dogs (also known as plysur) and it is considered their national food. Although plysurs are served and offered pretty much anywhere in Iceland, the best place to eat your fill is at Beajarnis Bestu Plysur, translated to "The best hot dog in town." These Icelandic hotdogs are dressed with ketchup, sweet mustard, fried onion, raw onion, and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish. If you want all the condiments you can ask for "the works". Service here is quick and fast, so if you see a long line along the street, don't worry you'll get your fill of the best hot dogs in Iceland soon enough. 

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4. Tapas Barrin

Tapas Barinn is a great spot that magically transports you to a bodega in the country of Spain. The restaurant is tucked away in a corner courtyard in Downtown center of Reykjavik. As soon as you enter, your senses are automatically drawn to the bar where its filled with fine wines, alcoholic drinks, and sparkly glasses. Along side of the content of the bar, the aroma of traditional Spanish tapas with an Icelandic flare radiates from the kitchen behind the bar. The bodega even has a leg of ham that is hung above the bar where it cures. This is a traditional Spanish way of making "jamon."

The menu offers an array of dishes to meet everyone's tastebuds. Bacon wrapped scallops (picture above), grilled octopus, pan fried button mushrooms, fillet of lamb, and the list goes on. They even have Icelandic specific Tapas that offer smoked puffin (picture above), minke whale, and Icelandic spirit Brennivín. The options on the menu are extensive and it was quite difficult to trim down our order to an appropriate amount. Not only was the food excellent, but the service was just as amazing! Our waiter was friendly and accommodated some dietary restrictions our table had. We asked what time the restaurant closed and discovered that although the restaurant and kitchen closes at 1am, they won't close the bar until you're done drinking. With delicious food and casual yet fantastic service, you'll never want to leave!

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5. Stofan Cafe

Stofan cafe is located in the Downtown center of Reykjavik. It serves fine barista espresso drinks along with wines, whiskey, and local beer on tap. You can also order homemade bakery goods such as cakes, pies, cookies, sandwiches, and so much more. We stopped here to grab a quick bite to eat as well as fill up on our morning caffeine. The cafe was thoughtfully adorned with an eclectic collection of antique furniture and decorations in addition to having some nautical accents. The couches were comfy and made our time sipping on our caffeinated beverages enjoyable, as we soaked in the warm before we braved the cold weather outside. 

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6. Joe & The Juice

Although Joe & the Juice is a world wide coffee shop with a hip atmosphere and vibe, I only recently discovered this cafe on my visit to Iceland. This location was one of the few restaurants/food eateries that were open at the crude hour of 4:00am when our flight landed at Keflavik Airport. Apparently their operating hours are catered to the flight's departing and arrival times, which makes it very convenient for travelers. They offer fresh squeezed juices, made to order smoothies, along side with your usual barista drinks. They also offer great sandwiches with organic and gluten free options (a major plus for our traveling family). There is plenty of seating, free wifi, and several electrical outlets to charge your devices. Since most car rental companies don't open their doors till 8-9am, this is a perfect stop to do your last minute planning or shake off your jet lag and catch up on some sleep, before you start your adventures.

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7. Fridheimar

Fridheimar Farm and restaurant is located in the Golden Circle. The restaurant only serves food until 4pm so plan accordingly to avoid missing this unique dinning experience. Reservations are highly recommended as they have limited seating. This is a popular restaurant by locals and tourist alike. You can make reservations via email or by phone.

The dining area takes place in their family-owned greenhouse where they grow tomatoes. As you guessed, the main star of this culinary event are TOMATOES! They have tomato soup, pasta, pizza, bloody mary, tomato beer, and even tomato desserts. I never knew you could have tomato as a dessert but they proved me wrong. Not only was it unusual and strange it was absolutely brilliant! After all, tomato is a fruit. This dining experience is an excellent choice and shouldn't be missed!

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8. Saeta Svinid

Saeta Svinid is a local lively bar and restaurant located in the central part of Reykjavik. Seating seems tight but this multi level bar has a roomy basement and a cellar both great for large parties and events. We were able to sit in the main floor of the bar with ease. To our chagrin, we happened to dine the same time they held their Karaoke Night. We could hear the muffled, half drunken singers belt out their favorite love ballots, as we giggled at the thought of all the shenanigans happening on the floor below us.

The atmosphere was comfortable for a bar. Lighting was lit with candle lights and minimal glow from the lantern chandeliers hung from the ceiling. There were several pig decorative items and ornaments that were sprinkled along the bar making ode to their beloved name Saeta Svinid (sweet pig). Food options were your typical bar offerings with the addition to some exotic fares such as: Smoked puffin, horse carpaccio, and lamb rump steak. I went for the more familiar route and ordered wild Atlantic salmon with pearled barley (picture above) while for dessert I opted to try an Icelandic dessert called “Kleinur” (picture above). This bar and grill conveniently serves food in the late hours which is what brought us here in the first place. 

5 Things you should know when visiting the Blue Lagoon

1. Reservations are highly recommended. If you think that you can roll in without any prior reservations--you're wrong! The Blue Lagoon is a very popular tourist destination and is considered to be on everyone's bucket list when visiting Iceland. So as you can imagine, this overly desired geothermal spa gets very busy and overcrowded. You can book online, phone, or in person. One things for sure, if you are denied access due to over booked reservations, you will have to drive a long way back to the city, cause this geothermal sanctuary is in an isolated part of the island where there really is nothing to do.

2. Kids are welcome. All kids 2 and older are welcome. Kids 2-13 are free with a paying adult. They do enforce that you watch your child to make sure that they are safe and the experience for all is a great relaxing one. Although the water is very shallow (up to 3 ft deep at its deepest point) they do offer arm floats for kids of all sizes and require you to have your kids (8yr and younger) wear them when in the water. If your little one is rambunctious please do leave them at the hotel or home as most people come here to relax and destress.

3. Don't put your hair in the water. The water at the lagoon is divine and ethereal and has many minerals that are great for the skin. But don't you think for a moment that these same benefits to your skin will have the same effects on your hair. Unfortunately, the minerals, will dry and damage your locks. Although they do provided hair conditioner for you to apply to your luscious locks, I would skip this all together and put your hair up or avoid dipping it in the water. If you still are considering getting your hair wet, I highly recommend you liberally lather up on the conditioner before, during, and after your stay in the lagoon. Also, a hair mask or deep conditioning may be needed after your trip.

4. Transportation to and from the Blue Lagoon is easy and plentiful. You can get to the Blue Lagoon by taxi, bus, or car. Parking is free and located on premises. The location is a quick 15 min drive from Keflavik airport and 40 mins drive from the city of Reykjavik. If you are coming from the airport there are buses that take you directly there. Once you arrive at the Blue Lagoon from the airport with luggage, they do charge a small fee to hold your luggage in front. Last thing to note, if you will be traveling to the Blue Lagoon by camper or motorhome, they do allow parking for these large type vehicles. They don't have designated spots for these large vehicles, but we parked our motorhome in the back, with ease and no issues.

5. Truly an experience to be had. The Blue Lagoon is the most highly visited location in all of Iceland. With over a million visitors a year, this destination brings in more than three times of Iceland's population.  As tourism becomes more popular in Iceland, I imagine this number will only increase over the years. This popular tourist destination didn't earn it's title as most visited location in Iceland for sheer coincidence. The Blue Lagoon and its facilities are spectacular and luxurious in all counts. The clean, white, simple architecture and decor allows you to clear your mind and prep you for the relaxing experience to come. The healing powers of the magical blue waters are said to heal skin conditions such as psoriasis. After your visit, you have the calm and enlightened feel of a new and improved you. Being in the Blue Lagoon is a once in a lifetime experience, and surely shouldn't be missed when visiting the country of Iceland.