My Experience at The Retreat At Blue Lagoon – Iceland
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Our week in Iceland was action packed and full of adventure, so we chose to end the trip on a much more relaxing note by going to Blue Lagoon before we headed to the airport. Blue Lagoon is certainly high on the list of Instagrammable locations in Iceland (though the competition is fierce!) and is iconic for its opaque milky color. While some people just stop by Blue Lagoon for an hour or two, we chose to spend the night there and immerse ourselves in the experience. Here’s a look into the amazing end to our epic Iceland trip:
What is Blue Lagoon
The famous Blue Lagoon is actually a manmade phenomenon. The water is supplied by the geothermal power station located nearby (you drive right past it to come to Blue Lagoon) and the water is a beautiful milky color due to the presence of silica. The water in the lagoon is warm year-round, making it a perfect place to visit in even the coldest months. Blue Lagoon is located about 45 minutes away from Reykjavik, not far from the Keflavik airport, which is why many visitors come at the very beginning or end of their trip. This is what we did, visiting Blue Lagoon on our final morning before driving directly to the airport to catch our flight.
Where We Stayed
Blue Lagoon has 2 hotels on the property – The Retreat Hotel and Silica Hotel. The Retreat Hotel is the more expensive option and is located in the same facility as everything else (the restaurants, café, spa, pools, etc.) Silica Hotel is still cheaper but still expensive and is just a 3-minute drive from Blue Lagoon. We opted to stay at Silica and were extremely happy with our choice – Silica has its own smaller lagoon pool onsite (which had silica mud at the bottom that we didn’t find at Blue Lagoon) and we were able to take a quick dip before dinner. They also have a complimentary shuttle that will take you between Silica Hotel and Blue Lagoon, which we used to go to dinner at Lava Restaurant. When we got back to our hotel, we realized we had one of the best rooms because our patio overlooked a (cold) pond full of milky water and it was north facing, so we were able to watch the most incredible Northern Lights display from the comfort of our room!
In the morning, Silica Hotel also had the best breakfast buffet spread of any of the hotels we stayed at on our trip (and it was included with our stay). The food was a “bicontinental breakfast” with baked beans and other traditional European breakfast dishes but also very American offerings too. When we arrived at the Retreat Spa, breakfast was still being served for The Retreat Hotel guests and we saw that it was the same food, so that’s not where the price difference came from.
Options for Visiting Blue Lagoon
There are 2 main ways to visit Blue Lagoon – the cheaper, more touristy route or the bougier, private route. The former will run you $59-76 per person depending on the package you choose, while the latter starts at $409 (though we got a discount from staying at Silica Hotel). You can book a trip to Blue Lagoon as part of a larger Iceland tour or find direct bus transportation to/from the airport if you’re not renting a car.
This wasn’t a budget trip for us and I decided to splurge on a relaxing end to our vacation by going to the Retreat Spa.
The Retreat & Ritual
We booked a 9AM arrival time at the Retreat Spa by emailing Silica Hotel in advance and they set it up for us (both Blue Lagoon and the Retreat Spa can sell out so make sure to book in advance). The spa opens at 8AM and we chose to get there relatively early as we had a flight to catch in the afternoon. There is a 5-hour limit to your Retreat Spa experience, so keep that in mind when picking your time.
Upon arrival, we parked in the private parking lot for Ritual Spa guests and we were given wristbands that acted as our keycards to our changing room and were connected to our credit card for any additional charges (food, skincare products, etc). We walked in to our changing room and I was amazed by how beautiful it was – I’d love to remodel the bathroom in my house to look just like it. With its dark tiles and up lighting, it featured a double shower, shampoo, conditioner, and soap as well as towels, robes, flip flops, lotion, a hairdryer, a hair straightener, Q tips, and more – everything you’d need to get ready except a hairbrush, so I was glad I’d brought mine. However, it was not a full bathroom as the toilets were located down the hall (and there more throughout the spa). This setup was perfect for couples, but would be awkward if you were visiting with anyone other than your partner. I liked that our changing room was locked and only accessible by us while we were there, so we were safely able to store all our belongings. Safe storage of our phones was important because they don’t allow the use of cell phones in the Retreat Spa (except in the restaurant and public areas of Blue Lagoon) for guest privacy, though the staff can take pictures for you and send them via email through WeTransfer.
As is standard across hot springs and geothermal pools in Iceland, it is required to fully shower before putting on your swimsuit and entering the water at Blue Lagoon. In researching this trip, I had read that the regular showers at Blue Lagoon are communal by gender or that there are only a few stalls for private showers, so it was great to have a private room to ourselves to take the anxiety out of a potential public shower experience. I’d also read ahead of time to make sure you leave conditioner in your hair, as the silica in the water can be super drying and leave your hair feeling like straw. I also made sure to tie my hair up in a bun and avoided putting my head in the water.
After we showered and put on our robes and flip flops, we were given a tour of the Retreat Spa facilities, which included many different relaxation rooms, including one with a fire place and another with egg chairs and views of the water. There were several different terraced pools, some of which were accessible from inside. There was also a sauna and a steam room along with a cold plunge. The spa is pretty much set up along one long hallway and towards the end, there was the room for The Ritual, which is a 4-step process that takes about 45 minutes, so make sure to account for that when you decide how to break up your 5 hours. The 4 steps are:
- A mineral salt face scrub and a lava body scrub that you immediately rinse off.
- A silica mask for our face and body that you leave on for about 10-15 minutes to dry before rinsing it off. We were offered water or herbal tea to drink while we waited.
- An Algae mask.
- An ice-cold towel followed by body oil and lip balm, which you’re supposed to leave on for about 30 minutes before showering.
Throughout the spa there were hooks to hang your robes and plenty of extra robes and towels in case you wanted a fresh one. There was also a refreshing water spout with cold glacial water where you could fill a glass and make sure to stay hydrated (which is critical in the hot springs and saunas!).
We started out by spending a long time exploring the different pools and enjoyed our welcome drink at the pool bar where we just pressed a button and someone came and took our order through the window. Our first drink of the day was included with our package, so we made sure to each order the 4300ISK (~$30) mimosas. Afterwards, we jumped around to the various rooms – alternating between the steam sauna and the cold plunge was surprisingly our favorite part. Then we did the Ritual and were guided through the steps by the spa attendants. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after the 2nd step that they told us they recommend doing the 3rd and 4th steps after you’re completely done being in the water (because the water is drying and steps 3 and 4 are moisturizing), so we took a break in between to quickly explore the public area of Blue Lagoon which is accessible to Retreat Spa guests at the end of the hallway. After we came back, a different attendant was helping us and we ended up missing the algae step in the miscommunication – not the end of the world but a little disappointing.
After we were done, we showered, got dressed, and enjoyed a great green juice (spinach, banana, mango, & ginger smoothie) before heading out to the airport around 1:45PM, just shy of our 5-hour limit.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really glad we chose to splurge on the Ritual Spa. There were very few guests, especially early in the morning, so it almost felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Not being allowed to have our phones really made us be present in the moment instead of focusing on taking pictures. All the privacy and seclusion mixed with the dark, sophisticated, and modern aesthetic of the spa to create an extremely relaxing experience – a perfect way to end a super adventurous trip around Iceland.
All of the products in the spa are available to sale at Silica Hotel, the spa, online, and even in the airport, but they are pretty pricey. I bought the cheapest thing I could find – a tube of lip balm – and it cost 3300ISK ($23!).
On top of the spa experience, you can also book additional treatments, including in-water massages, but these do count still towards your 5-hour limit (and of course they’re an additional charge).
If you can’t afford the high price of the Ritual Spa or you are more pressed for time, I would still recommend the regular Blue Lagoon access. It’s one of the most famous places in Iceland and worth checking out. If we’d gone to the regular pool, I don’t think we would needed even half as much time there.
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