There’s a lot going on in Iceland these days– there are fewer tourists around in October, but there’s still a lot to talk about! A new thermal bath that sounds amazing. A neat constant guessing game of whether a new airline will launch (or re-launch, I guess, in the case of WOW.) A new road, more expensive parking in Reykjavik, and more. Let’s take a look!
A new thermal bath in Húsafell
Lots of luxury thermal baths have opened in the last couple of years in Iceland. I assume that the success of the Blue Lagoon is to blame? Our favorite of the new crop is the brand new Vök Baths in East Iceland.
But maybe that will change when Giljaböð opens in November. Giljaböð is in Húsafell, which is a town that I found to be surprisingly out of the way. You may head here if you’re going to Inside the Glacier, though.
It might be worth the detour to visit Giljaböð. Take a look at this place:
Looks like a beautiful place to hang out for a couple of hours. One section of the article about Giljaböð caught my attention:
Access to the baths will be limited. “We will only offer organized trips to the place – for up to 20 people at a time,”
I assume the limited number of visitors will result in a premium price, but we’ll see. The scheduled opening date is November 20th.
IcelandAir drops Kansas City and San Francisco
In 2019, IcelandAir offered nonstop service from 15 cities in the United States (plus 5 in Canada.) JFK and Newark are both counted as New York, so there are really 16 airports. Of course, even if there isn’t service from your city, you can find a connecting flight.
In June of 2019, IcelandAir has cut service from Tampa. This was because of the grounding of the 737-MAX. Perhaps service will be restored once that plane starts flying again? That brought us down to 14 US cities.
IcelandAir just announced it will discontinue flights from Kansas City and San Francisco starting in 2020. So the number of cities with non-stop IcelandAir service in the US is down to 12.
When WOW Air went out of business in April, fares increased and options decreased. And now options are decreasing even more as IcelandAir pulls out of more cities. It seems we’ve had nothing but bad news on the flying to Iceland front for 6 months or so. But there’s hope on the horizon … at least I think there is:
The “race” between WOW Air 2.0 and WAB Air
Two different groups are trying to resurrect WOW Air. An American businesswoman has purchased WOW Air’s assets, and she has some odd ideas for bringing it back to life. The headlines claim that the new WOW will start flying in mid-October (as in 2 weeks from now!) But there’s a lot of skepticism about that date. And it does seem crazy, right? As of right now (October 1) the Wow Air web sites aren’t even working. All I see at WowAir.com is a nice purple logo:
I would guess that the first flights would be cargo only, but it’s really anyone’s guess.
The other company is WAB Air; WAB stands for “We Are Back!” According to this article, the CEO of WAB “and his coworkers moved into a 300-m2 (3,200-sq ft) office space in Hafnarfjörður, just south of Reykjavík” in early August 2019. The company claims that:
The goal is to obtain an air operator permit in hopes that the first flight can be flown in the fall. An exact time frame is not ready.
I don’t buy that either company will offer flights in 2019, but I am hopeful one of them will start discount service to Iceland in 2020. I’ll keep you updated. Let’s hope that I’m wrong and one of them starts passenger flights very soon!
UPDATE October 9: As expected, WOW has delayed their expected start date to December. They still don’t have a web site, so I’m still skeptical we’ll see passenger flights until next spring or summer.
An amazing video of the dangerous Reynisfjara beach
It’s hard to convey the dangers of Reynisfjara beach to tourists. Maybe this new video will help!
Reynisfjara is in south Iceland. It’s a beautiful and popular black sand beach. There are occasional “sneaker” waves. You could stand there for an hour (or week!) and watch the waves as you would at any ordinary beach.
But then a wave comes that’s bigger than any other wave you’ve seen, and comes 50 or more feet further inland than any other wave. Stay far from the water, and leave yourself an exit route!
Here’s an article from The Grapevine about the video, and here’s the video. Scary, but a good warning!
Parking meter rates increased again in Reykjavik
The cost to park in Reykjavik is going up again, and you’ll have fewer free hours overnight as well. The most expensive spots (P1) are now 400 ISK per hour (just over $3 US, and right around €3.) That’s up from 340 ISK previously, and 250 ISK just a couple of years ago!
P1 spots are really in premium locations, and it’s easy to find a P2 option close to where you’ll be. The increase for P2 spots is more modest, from 190 ISK to 200 ISK per hour.
The hours you’ll pay those prices are also more numerous. Parking is still free overnight, but “overnight” on weekdays now means 8 PM – 9 AM instead of 6 PM – 9 AM, at least in zone P1.
The old rates are still listed on the official parking authority web site; no word on when the new rates take effect. [Edit: We’ve been told that the new rates are being charged now, even though the web site hasn’t been updated!] By the way, here’s a picture of one of the payment machines. In the lower left there’s a button to turn the machine on; next to that (we circled it in red) is the button to push to change languages.
Odds and Ends
A few last thoughts:
West Iceland was named Europe’s winter destination of the year for 2019 by Luxury Travel Guide.
There’s a new hotel in Keflavik (10 minutes from the airport) that’s getting great reviews.
A new road opened up in Þingvellir National Park, one of the Golden Circle Attractions. One major benefit: lots of parking and pull-off areas so you can stop and take pictures safely!
Our driving in Iceland course is getting rave reviews! Locals say it’s the best information they’ve seen to help tourists drive more safely in Iceland. Check it out!
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