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We planned this family trip to Iceland in just two-and-a-half month’s time, which is a record for us…well, for me, anyway. After securing airline tickets, lodging, and a rental car, one of the biggest items on our Visiting Iceland with Kids to-do list was to get tickets for the Blue Lagoon. And not just tickets for Mommy and Daddy…tickets for the Blue Lagoon with kids, of course! Get ready for all the Blue Lagoon tips in our Blue Lagoon Iceland review!
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As far as Blue Lagoon reviews go, this one will take you through every detail of the experience, including things that are specific to kids!
Reservations
If you are considering going to the Blue Lagoon with kids (or without kids) on your trip to Iceland (and you must!), you should make your reservations online as soon as possible. Upon arrival at the Blue Lagoon, there is a separate line for those without pre-booked reservations, but the chances of buying a ticket that way are based solely upon availability.
Many feel the famous Blue Lagoon is a tourist trap, but it remains one of the most popular attractions in Iceland, as far as hot springs go. So, if your heart is set on experiencing Blue Lagoon Iceland, make sure you pre-book your tickets.
When you book your tickets online, you will choose a specific date and time slot, and Blue Lagoon prices will vary by both. On the day we were visiting the Blue Lagoon, we chose the 9:00 a.m. time slot. This gave us enough time to eat breakfast at our lodging just outside of Reykjavík and make the 40-minute drive to the Blue Lagoon. It was the perfect choice for us, timing-wise.
It is possible, at certain times of the year, to see the Northern Lights while in the Blue Lagoon. Plan accordingly, if this is on your bucket list!
Many people visit the Blue Lagoon on their way to or from the Keflavik airport, but that wasn’t optimal for us, considering our flights were to/from the west side of North America. Too risky for our schedule. There is also a Blue Lagoon hotel, for non-semi-budget travelers.
Alternatively, if you are short on time in Iceland and lacking a rental car, you might consider this tour that includes the Golden Circle and a transfer to the Blue Lagoon!
Basically, just choose the best time for you, based on your other plans for the day, and if you want a slightly cheaper ticket.
Kids are Free!
At the time of our visit, both of our children were free of charge (major semi-budget travel bonus!). The minimum age for entry into the Blue Lagoon is 2 years old, and children between ages 2-13 are free of charge when accompanied by their guardians. So, Blue Lagoon with baby? Not allowed. Our 9 year old and 7 year old? FREE!
Which ticket package should I choose?
One more thing to decide when booking is which ticket package you prefer. When we visited the Blue Lagoon, there were three options: Comfort, Premium, and Retreat Spa. Since we were visiting the Blue Lagoon with kids, the Retreat Spa wasn’t even on our radar. So, we needed to choose between Comfort and Premium. Here’s the breakdown of what’s included in each package:
Comfort
- entrance to Blue Lagoon
- use of towel
- silica mud mask
- 1st drink of your choice
Premium
- everything in Comfort package, plus:
- use of bathrobe
- use of slippers (read: flip-flops)
- second mineral mask of choice (such as an algae mask)
- restaurant reservation (optional)
- sparkling wine (if dining)
We made the right choice by purchasing the Comfort-level tickets. They were cheaper (natch, for semi-budget travel), and as we’ll see below, we just didn’t need the additional items in the Premium package. Comfort was enough Blue Lagoon luxury for us!
With our reservations booked, we began counting down the days until our Blue Lagoon with kids experience!
Arrival to the Blue Lagoon
The day finally came, and we were on our way to the Blue Lagoon from Reykjavik! When you exit the main road toward the Blue Lagoon, you will wind through black lava fields left and right, until you reach the parking lot. The drive is somewhat otherworldly, but then again, so is Iceland! When we got out of the car, it was cold and windy. It was difficult to wrap our SoCal minds around putting swimsuits on in that kind of weather, but hey, when in Iceland…
Speaking of swimsuits, make sure you bring yours with you! Other items to remember, in no particular order, are: hairclips, ponytail holders, deodorant, sunglasses, flip-flops, sunscreen, waterproof camera or case, pack towels, large garbage bag for wet swimsuits, and your Blue Lagoon confirmation/tickets.
Glasses & Jewelry
Although you are encouraged to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the light reflection in the lagoon, prescription glasses and contact lenses are discouraged. This is due to the possibility of the silica in the water damaging the lenses (or irritating your eyes in regard to contact lenses). We were not aware of this until we received an “important information about your visit” e-mail just three days prior to our Blue Lagoon date. I am the only one in my family who wears prescription glasses, and my only sunglasses have prescription lenses in them as well. I was as careful as possible, and although my sunglasses got a few splashes of water on them, I have not noticed any damage. Yay!
Wearing jewelry in the lagoon is also discouraged. First off, you don’t want to lose it in the water! Even goggles wouldn’t help you find the lost item. Second, the silica and other minerals in the mineral-rich water, that are great for your skin, could damage your jewelry. My husband and I kept our Groove wedding bands on, however, and they were absolutely fine. No problems whatsoever, both while we were in the lagoon and afterwards. We wear these Groove rings for all of our international semi-budget travels!
Queuing Up
When you enter the front door of the main entrance, there are three lines: Pre-Booked Comfort (and vouchers), Pre-Booked Premium (and massage/treatments), and Pre-Booked Groups (and stand-by). We queued in the Pre-Booked Comfort line and waited only a minute or so before an employee was available to help us.
It was so quick that we barely had any time to look around and take in the surroundings. (Side Note: We were there in October, and we saw none of the huge lines out the door that others have run into at other times.) Our reservation was scanned in, and we were handed four towels and four wristbands.
Check-in was a breeze, and we headed toward the stairs which would lead us to the locker rooms. I made sure my husband had his swimsuit, flip-flops, towel, and wristband, and bid him adieu. (He and I both knew that my locker room process would take significantly longer than his locker room process, and I’m thankful that he is a patient and loving husband and Daddy!) Our two girls and I climbed the stairs to the women’s locker room. Yes, you must climb a flight of stairs to get to the locker rooms (and then go down a flight of stairs to get back to lagoon level). Anywho…we made it to the locker room.
Blue Lagoon with Kids: The Women’s Locker Room
I can’t do a Blue Lagoon Iceland review without taking you through the locker room experience!
What transpired next is something we will not soon forget! Suffice it to say that hilarity ensued. No matter how much we pre-discussed this part of the process, there were still unknowns, and the situation can be much different in reality.
We chose an empty locker first thing, among all the other women that were choosing a locker in the changing rooms, and began the process. Although our children were there free of charge, we were required to share a locker. They were also not afforded a free drink in the lagoon. Their only individual amenities were their towels and wristbands. So, the three of us began shoving all of our heavy wintery clothing into one locker. Long story short…it all fit in the locker but just barely.
The Towels
This is where things got a little funny. See, in Iceland (or many places in the world, including greater Europe), it’s no big deal to be naked in the locker room, shower for all to see, etc. For us Americans, this isn’t necessarily the case. It’s an interesting balance of personal modesty and averting the eyes! As we undressed, we wrapped our towels around us to satisfy our need for privacy. But let me just say that the Blue Lagoon-provided towels are not very big. I was grateful that the towel just barely fit around my body. I gather that this was not the case for some of the other women in our section of the locker room, because they were being quite humorous and vocal about it.
If the towel thing would be a problem for you, no matter what the reason, consider bringing your own larger towel or bathrobe. It might be a good idea anyway, as all the Blue Lagoon-provided towels and bathrobes (and flip-flops) look exactly alike, with no way to differentiate yours from someone else’s. I can also understand the desire for having a bathrobe, if you were inclined to relax outside the water for any stretch of time. This was not on our agenda, so a bathrobe wasn’t really necessary for us.
With some assistance from the locker room attendant to get our locker to actually lock (even with the instructions posted on the wall, I had issues with our locker), we headed to the showers.
The Showers
With our flip-flops and towels on, and our swimsuits, sunglasses, and waterproof camera in hand, we made our way from the locker area to the showers. No matter what you’ve read or heard, yes, there are still some showers without doors. Most of the shower stalls I saw, however, were fitted with non-see-through doors.
At this point, you will have been reminded several times that you need to shower without your bathing suit on (read: shower naked). This is no joke in Iceland. It’s commonplace there, and it’s expected. (We experienced it even more later in our trip, when we visited one of the neighborhood pools near Reykjavík. There, it was the more traditional locker room showers, with row after row of shower heads and no privacy curtains or doors.) So, the three of us squeezed into one of the shower stalls with a privacy door and began this part of the process.
I think there were cubbies to the side somewhere where your towel could be stored while showering, but I’m not sure. Also, there is nowhere in the shower cubicles to hang your swimsuit, except over the sidewall or door. The same goes for sunglasses, camera, etc. I had to get creative, but I made it happen.
The next step is to…drum roll…shower. This part should be self-explanatory. The Blue Lagoon provides shower gel and conditioner for this purpose.
The Blue Lagoon Conditioner
You may have heard that the silica content in the Blue Lagoon can do a number on your hair. So, just like we tested out the processes at Costco Iceland, we decided to test what would happen to our hair in the Blue Lagoon. Since we all have short hair, and we didn’t want to wear swim caps, we slathered the Blue Lagoon conditioner in our hair and threw caution to the Icelandic wind.
Freshly showered and hair solidly conditioned, we managed to get our swimsuits on, grabbed the rest of our stuff, and headed toward the stairs that led down to lagoon level. As we rounded the corner out of the women’s locker room, there on the steps was my husband, waiting as patiently as ever. Who knows how long he was waiting for us??? But, he was all smiles.
Is that my towel? Are those my flip-flops?
The four of us went down the stairs to the inside area where we would be leaving our towels and flip-flops. Alternatively, you can leave your towels, flip-flops, and/or bathrobes in a similar area outside, but we opted to enter the Blue Lagoon from inside the building, rather than out in the freezing cold air.
Here’s where things can get a bit tricky again. All the Blue Lagoon towels, bathrobes, and flip-flops look the same. The hooks that are provided for hanging up your towels and/or bathrobes are not numbered, color-coded, or otherwise differentiated. As such, we were thankful that we brought our own (colorful) flip-flops, and we figured out a way to hang our towels that would at least be somewhat unique (over two hooks, instead of one), so we could attempt to find them again. It seems weird to me that there isn’t a better way of doing this, but I guess it works well enough???
My best estimates of our timing to this point are:
- 8:55 a.m. – driving into the Blue Lagoon parking lot
- 9:10 a.m. – in queue at the front desk
- 9:30 a.m. – heavy wintery clothing stuffed in locker / showering
- 9:50 a.m. – headed down stairs to lagoon level / hanging up towels, removing flip-flops, and fitting Younger Daughter with Blue Lagoon-provided “arm floaters” (more about this below)
- 9:55 a.m. – Blue Lagoon!!!!! (one full hour after arrival)
Blue Lagoon with Kids: The Payoff for the Process!
When you begin to wade into the famously blue waters of the Blue Lagoon, the entire process that got you to that point was all worth it. We will remember our locker room experience forever, but the payoff is the Blue Lagoon!!!
As I mentioned earlier, we utilized the inside entrance to the Blue Lagoon.
While this was a better alternative for us, the water in this area is quite hot, since it’s not open to the cold outside air. It took only a minute to get used to the water temperature of the hot water, though, even for the kids. We exited through the door, and we were in the milky blue water of the Blue Lagoon! Success! The Blue Lagoon with kids was now fully reality!
It really is amazing…the dichotomy of the warm water and the cold air above. Swirling mist and the vastness of the lagoon make it feel otherworldly. There’s that word again!
Younger Daughter didn’t mind having to wear the arm floaters at all. It was really one of the best things. She was swimming around without a care in the world, since she didn’t have to worry much about the depth of the water. Although the Blue Lagoon only requires children ages 8 and under to wear arm floaters, almost immediately Older Daughter wanted to wear them too. She saw how much easier it would be for her to navigate the lagoon, so arm floaters it was for both girls.
We saw a few other kids here and there, but the majority of the patrons were adults. At least in the U.S., school was likely in session for most students. For us, however, homeschooling gives us the freedom to travel in the off-season, and Iceland was no exception!
The Blue Lagoon with Kids
What is it like to visit the Blue Lagoon in Iceland?
For as touristy as many perceive it to be, the Blue Lagoon really is just fabulous. Gliding around the lagoon in the warm water, cold air swirling above, the sun shining, maybe a few raindrops falling, sipping on your drink of choice from the swim-up bar…IT’S FABULOUS!
Swim-Up Bar
Adult admission to the Blue Lagoon includes one drink (anything on the menu – alcoholic drinks or non, including soft drinks) at the swim-up lagoon bar. You’ll find a photo of the swim-up bar menu in the “Cameras” section below.
Although our kids were admitted free of charge (yay!), we did buy each of them a smoothie when we redeemed our free drinks. With a wave of your wristband, you too can purchase a skyr smoothie for your child…to the tune of 950 Icelandic króna, or approximately $8.19 USD. Yes, you read that right. And we bought two. Moving right along…
Watch Out!
As you are moving through certain sections of the lagoon, there are built-in seats in the water. The thing is that you can’t see where these seating areas are in the lagoon water, and so I bumped my toes and knees a few times. Ouch.
Another thing to watch out for may be a feature for some and not-so-much for others. Certain areas, labeled as “distribution wells,” will tend to have warmer water in the general vicinity. Those are areas where the geothermal water is being channeled into the lagoon.
We also ended up with a smooshed finger, due to a run-in with the heavy steam room door. The Blue Lagoon staff was beyond helpful in this situation, and even one of the lifeguards followed up with us when we finally forced ourselves to vacate the blue waters of the lagoon for the day.
Cameras
You gotta take your camera to the Blue Lagoon. It’s practically a given. Most people there had iPhone-type devices that they were using to take pictures. Many of them did not have them in waterproof cases, which is too risky for me! The swim-up bar will sell you a “waterproof cell phone carrying case” for 2,900 ISK (slightly less than $29.00 US), or you could buy this case for a little over $6.00 US and bring it with you. (Please don’t try just using a plastic bag!) Your call.
We even saw one man moving throughout the lagoon with a huge camera/lens/etc., just barely holding it above the water. Again…risky! We opted to use our handy dandy waterproof Panasonic Lumix camera, which takes both still photos and video. It was definitely the right choice for us!
Another alternative would be a GoPro, or other waterproof action camera.
Food
When researching the Blue Lagoon food options, there is a lot of information about the fine dining Lava Restaurant (especially how pricey it is). We didn’t want to spend that much money just for one meal. I had seen snippets here and there about the existence of a more casual “café” option. However, the Blue Lagoon website itself does not provide any info about a café, and none of the other sources I consulted helped either. So, it was one of our goals to figure out the mystery of the Blue Lagoon Café!
Blue Lagoon Iceland reviews reader…this is insider information right here! As it turns out, the Blue Lagoon Café does exist! It consists of a few open refrigerated cases with a la carte menu options, including ready-made sandwiches, salads, drinks, and the same skyr smoothies that you can get at the swim-up bar. Pricing for various items on the day we were there are as follows:
- smoked salmon sandwich – 1,200 ISK
- Caesar salad – 2,200 ISK
- ham sandwich – 1,200 ISK
- salami, cheese, and honey – 2,200 ISK
All four of us had chosen a skyr smoothie at the swim-up bar in the lagoon. The smoothies are actually quite filling, so we were able to hang on for a late lunch somewhere other than the Blue Lagoon. So, the two non-included smoothies were the only additional items we paid for during our time at the Blue Lagoon.
Fun Stuff!
While we’re in our swimsuits, the Blue Lagoon lifeguards are in full winter gear.
Depending on the weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy), the color of the water looks different, and we experienced it all!
Because of the unfortunate smooshed finger, we weren’t able to spend much time on the silica mud masks. We did, however, manage to eek out a few minutes to at least give the mineral face mask a try.
Do we have to leave?
Well, that’s what I was wondering. But yes, we did eventually need to leave. The Blue Lagoon was only half of what we had planned for the day. (We went on to explore other geothermal forces of nature in the southwest corner of the island that afternoon.)
The Process…in Reverse
As we emerged from the Blue Lagoon, we returned the arm floaters and retrieved our craftily-hung towels and easy-to-find colorful flip-flops.
We went up the stairs to our respective locker rooms and began the process again…just kind of in reverse. Shower, rinse swimsuits, apply loads of conditioner. Now, and only now, you can use your towel to dry off! There is a separate area for drying off…seriously. Icelanders are also serious about keeping the floor dry where the lockers are located. So, do your best to keep your wet swim attire from dripping all over the place. If you didn’t bring a garbage bag for your wet swimsuits, the Blue Lagoon has some small plastic bags in the locker rooms for that purpose.
At public pools around Iceland, centrifugal dryers are common. In just a few seconds, it spins a ton of water out of your swimsuit for faster drying. The Blue Lagoon has a specific reason why they do not provide centrifugal dryers. It has to do with the silica in the water, and you can find out more about it, as well as answers to other questions you may have, in the Blue Lagoon FAQs.
Here’s how our reverse schedule looked:
- 1:00 p.m. – back to locker room
- 1:40 p.m. – leave locker room
- 1:45 p.m. – return wristband and exit to common area
- 2:15 p.m. – driving off property
Hair Follow-Up
Upon entering the Blue Lagoon and, inevitably, getting our hair wet, the texture of our children’s hair felt different almost immediately. My husband’s hair is too short to tell the difference, and my hair is short enough that it didn’t get in the water too much. In fact, my curly hair seemed to be a little easier (!) to manage after being in the lagoon. Who knows?
The only way I could think of to explain what our daughters’ hair felt and looked like was “piecey,” like Alanis Morissette’s hair in her “You Learn” video. This was really kind of okay. Our daughters never had trouble brushing their hair or anything like that. Their hair never got crazy and unmanageable, like others seem to have experienced.
We visited the Blue Lagoon on a Tuesday, and by Saturday of that same week, I would say everyone’s hair was back to normal. We used this charcoal shampoo and this delicious conditioner/hair masque for several days after leaving the Blue Lagoon, and those products helped our hair get back to normal pretty quickly.
Blue Lagoon with Kids: Conclusion
To sum up our Blue Lagoon Iceland review…
Was it worth it? Yes!
Was it a semi-budget travel splurge? Yes!
Was the locker room experience with kids a bit crazy? Yes!
Was gliding around the Blue Lagoon waters fabulous? Yes!
Was it a unique experience? Yes!
Was it one of the top things to do in Iceland with kids? Yes!
Would I visit the Blue Lagoon with kids again? Yes!
Enough said? Yes!
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Have you visited Iceland’s Blue Lagoon with kids? Please share in the comments below!
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Wow! Really enjoyed reading about your trip to The Blue Lagoon. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Really informative article! Iceland just looks out of this world. It’s a place we have always wanted to go to!
Thank you so much for this SUPER HELPFUL post! you answered so many questions I have (including about the elusive cafe!). Happy Trails!
Love to hear this! Thanks, Laura!