You've probably seen images of the Blue Lagoon all over Pinterest and in travel ads - in Seattle you'll see Iceland Air advertisements on the sides of buses and on big billboards. Those ads are why we scheduled our 20 hour layover adventure in Iceland and planned the Blue Lagoon as our final stop.

While your actual experience in the pool won't be exactly like the photo above - it's pretty darn representative of how I felt about my experience there - FANTASTIC! This photo is taken outside the complex where you can walk around these gorgeous pools and view the pretty colors without any people in them. If you're at all into photographing pretty things, it's a must do either before or after your visit.

The inside of the Blue Lagoon complex looks like this - still pretty great right? The pool is huge and there are oodles of little nooks to find just the right spot and temperature that works for you. That's right, different parts of the pool are different temperatures. So my heat loving husband got to enjoy the sizzling hot areas and I stuck to the more middle of the road heat areas. The water is heated by run off from a nearby geothermal power plant, which sounds weird but seems to be all above board.

Fun features can be found all around the pool; a waterfall, a cave, a small bubbling geyser, and of course a bar - which serves smoothies as well as alcohol. Walking through the pool you'll find it a tad slippery - that's the silica mud, the stuff that makes the water here so great for your skin. However, it's terrible for your hair. I read horror stories about the frizz inducing power of the water there, so I avoided all contact between my hair and the water and I left frizz free.

There are a few different options for visiting the Blue Lagoon; we chose to splurge on the Exclusive Lounge since we weren't paying for a hotel room on our whirlwind 20 hour visit. It provided us with 3 hours access to the lagoon, a private changing room with luxurious amenities (including product samples to take home!), fresh fruit and tea, a drink and scrub in the pool, a staff member to assist us, and a private pool entrance and lounge area. You get what you pay for with that package and considering the costs you rack up with just the basic admission price, we found the Exclusive Lounge to be totally worth the splurge.

Tips for your visit;

If you're going with someone else, splurge on the Exclusive Lounge since the price includes 2 people.
Keep your hair out of the water. I put a ton of conditioner in my hair and wore a swim cap.
If you want to put some of that famous silica mud on your face - use the stuff in the wooden boxes around the edges of the pool. Don't scrape it off the floor of the pool itself.
Wear a swimsuit you're okay to leave behind. The water is harsh on the fabric and it might pick up some geothermal smell that you won't want to keep around.
Hydrate!

Bottom line, I now dream of spending an entire day at the Blue Lagoon in the Exclusive Lounge. Seriously, I think about it often - well, along with adventuring around the rest of Iceland.

So if you're into pampering yourself and looking for the ultimate spa experience, this is something you should most definitely do if you find yourself in Iceland.

Things To Do In Iceland: Visit the Blue Lagoon

Tips for your visit;