Ellie and I recently flew back from a little vacation in Paris on Icelandair. The airline lets you extend your layover in Reykjavik by a few days for free, so we did that! Neither of us had been to Iceland, but we figured it’d be a fun addendum to the trip.

And it was! But there are a few obvious things to consider if you’re thinking of doing the same thing (or for me to consider the next time I go):

Unsurprisingly, Iceland is gross in March! It’s cold and damp and grey, and of course the landscape is all bare rocks and lichen.¹ If you plan on doing almost anything outdoors, the summer’s gotta be better, and that’s definitely when I’ll go next time. If you’re mostly staying in Reykjavik, though, which we did, this won’t be as much of an issue.

Everything is shockingly expensive. We landed hungry, and Ellie went to grab a couple slices of pizza at the airport Sbarro,² but bailed when she realized two slices cost 30 CAD. We guessed those were just airport prices. They weren’t. Food costs twice what you’re used to. Bring money.

There is a little domestic airport in Reykjavik, but you’ll probably be flying through Keflavik, about an hour’s drive south. There’s technically a way to get to Reykjavik by a series of public buses, but it seems to take hours, so we took the FlyBus, which is about 50 CAD per person each way. You can buy tickets in advance or when you land.

There’s a 14% sales tax on goods. However, if you spend over a certain amount at a single store (12,000 ISK, I think, so about 120 CAD) you can get a form from the store which, when turned in at a booth at the airport upon your departure, will refund that taxed amount to your credit card.

On the other hand, there’s a lot of fun stuff in Reykjavik! Go to the penis museum! Visit the little punk museum built in a former public restroom! Eat some horrible fermented shark!³

It’s clearly a trap for Instagrammers and also painfully costly, but the Blue Lagoon hot spring is genuinely amazing and worth a visit. It’s down near Keflavik, so you might be able to save yourself some bus time by visiting on the way to the airport.