During my last trip to Iceland, I didn’t go to The Blue Lagoon.
I don’t remember why, it just didn’t work out. I was cool with it. Whilst hitchhiking, I happened upon Myvatn Nature Baths – basically the same thing, but smaller. Plus, they had cake there.
I wrote a snarky review on Triptease, (a travel site that’s no longer posting content from users), about my experience at Myvatn. I mean, it’s a really big hot tub in nature. That’s the gist of it, and I suspected The Blue Lagoon wasn’t really any different.
Not to disparage either. God, no. Blue Lagoon and Myvatn Nature Baths are both places to go. If you want to soak, have a drink, plaster white clay all over your face, and then exclaim about how soft your skin is, yes – go to these places.
But do not expect to go alone.
Like any other tourist attraction in the history of mankind, there are people. And lines. And idiots.
There are middle aged women inappropriately sticking their head in your shower to ask if they left their swimsuit in there. There are assholes who steal your towel, leaving you to either freeze your tits off or steal another person’s towel.
I chose the latter.
But also, there is glorious steam. Decently priced alcohol. Depending on the time of year, there’s the Aurora Borealis (#lifegoals). Plus the obvious satisfaction of snootily saying “I’ve been there…” whenever anyone EVER mentions Iceland, or The Blue Lagoon, for the rest of your life.
That’s definitely worth the $70 I forked over for a premium ticket – which included a bath robe (someone stole it), flip flops (two sizes too big because they ran out) and a glass of wine (surprisingly drinkable). It was worth encountering a family of ex-pats who exclaimed, “I don’t know how Americans deal with the long flights over here,” – although they, themselves, were Americans literally 3 months prior.
It was worth the awkward elderly woman stepping over me in the locker room, as I was changing. It was worth the ongoing inside joke of replying with “not a chance”, inspired by a boyfriend’s reply when his girlfriend instructed him to go fetch her camera from the locker room.
So go to The Blue Lagoon. It’s worth it.
*Author’s Note: It was not worth a 50+ man getting an erotic massage in public and making expressive sounds to reflect his apparent ecstacy.