When planning a trip to Iceland, no doubt you will have the Blue Lagoon recommended to you by everyone. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland receiving over one million visitors every year. And for good reason! It is a gorgeous and relaxing place to spend a couple of hours during your trip to Iceland. However, like much of Iceland, it is quite expensive to visit and might not be in everyone’s budget. We’ve written this post with all the information you might need to help you decide if the Blue Lagoon Iceland is really worth it for you.

The best way to book your ticket to the Blue Lagoon Iceland is directly through their website. Here you can book either a child ticket for 2-11 year olds, or an adult ticket for people aged 12+. There are four ticket levels you can choose from and each levels price changes depending on the time of year. Comfort is between 14,130 and 18,785 ISK and premium is between 17,289 and 21,944 ISK. Signature is between 20,946 and 25,601 ISK and lastly, retreat spa costs from 103,569 ISK for one or two people.

The comfort level is the cheapest and is the option we went with. With this level you get access to the lagoon including two steam rooms, a cold pool and a sauna. You also get a private locker, a towel, unlimited soap, shampoo and conditioner. Plus once in the lagoon you get a silica mud mask and a free non alcoholic drink.

For premium, you get all that plus a bath robe, any choice of drink, two additional masks from the mask bar and a 10ml mask to take home. For signature you get everything premium does plus a second drink of choice and more products to take home. Lastly, for the retreat spa level you get a private changing room, access to a secluded lagoon, a spa and the restaurant, plus more amenities to take home.

The Blue Lagoon is located around 50km away from Reykjavík and 22km away from Keflavík International Airport. If you’re driving, it only takes around 45 minutes from Reykjavík and the parking is free at the Blue Lagoon.

If you’re not driving, you can travel there by bus with Destination Blue Lagoon. Here you can book tickets to and from the lagoon from either Reykjavík or Keflavík airport. Tickets are 4395 ISK each way and you can even choose a hotel pick up option from Reykjavík. The Reykjavík bus station is the BSÍ Bus Terminal and is only a 15 minute walk from the main city. It has toilets (that cost), a shop, seating, food and screens that tell you when each bus leaves.

If you’re really limited on time in Iceland, there are some great tours that you can do. There’s this tour by Nicetravel or this small group tour by Bustravel Iceland. Both of them pick up in Reykjavík and do a tour of the golden circle. This includes a national park, a geyser, a waterfall and a crater. They then both stop at the Blue Lagoon and give you a couple of hours to enjoy it before dropping you back in Reykjavík. These would be PERFECT if you only have a day to spare. You can see some of the highlights of the golden circle and enjoy the Blue Lagoon, all super easily and quickly.

For the next three sections, we’re going to discuss in relation to the comfort level, as this is the level we paid for at the Blue Lagoon Iceland.

When you arrive at the Blue Lagoon, you will walk in the front and check in at the front desk. Here you’ll get a waterproof armband that is different colours depending on the level you’ve booked. After going through a gate, this is where you’ll pick up your bath robe if that’s included in your ticket.

From here, you’ll split off into gendered changing rooms to find an available locker. There was a screen in the ladies locker room that showed which lockers are free which made it easy to find one. The lockers are nice and big and we easily split one between the two of us. You lock and unlock them by tapping your arm band against the coloured light.

When you’re ready you can take your swimwear to the showering area. It is a rule that you must shower and clean without swimmers on before entering the lagoon. There’s lots of showers that have doors but they don’t lock and do swing open sometimes. In the showers there is free and unlimited soap, shampoo and conditioner. For anyone with long hair, it is highly recommended that you generously lather your hair with conditioner, then tie it up in a bun to stop it touching the lagoon water. It won’t ruin your hair if it does touch, but it will dry it out for a couple of weeks.

After showering, you’re free to enter the lagoon. You can walk outside where there are coat hooks for the bathrobes, and space to leave any shoes. We recommend bringing flip flops to shower and walk around in to keep your feet clean. We also recommend bringing some sunglasses you’re happy to take into the lagoon with you, and sunscreen. As the lagoon is a light blue, it does reflect the sun back at you so it’s helpful to have both.

The lagoon is a lovely temperature, sitting at around 38 degrees Celsius which is being pumped from 2km under ground. It’s very large spanning 8700 square meters and holding 6-9 million litres of water. It’s also quite shallow, only around 1.2 meters deep so its easy to walk through. Once in the water, there’s lots of space to swim about, and we never felt crowded by other people. The water feels so lovely and soft because of the silica in the water and it’s very relaxing to swim around in.

When you’re ready, you can go to the swim up bar and get your free drink, or purchase one. You use your armband to get your drink, and there’s lots of options for the free drink. You can get a juice, lemonade, soft drink or water, or we got the blueberry slushie which was delicious!

For the comfort level you also get a free silica mud mask which you pick up from the swim up mask bar on the other side of the lagoon. The attendant will dollop the mask into your hand, which you can then rub on your face. It feels so smooth but also has bits in it to exfoliate, and it feels so good to rub on. You leave it on for 10 minutes or so and then there’s cold fresh water taps around to wash it off. You can also purchase other masks from the mask bar if you’d like to.

As well as the main lagoon, there are also two steam rooms and a waterfall you can enjoy. There’s also a cold pool, a sauna that sits at around 68 degrees Celsius and a quiet lagoon where phones aren’t allowed. You have access to all of these on the comfort level ticket.

Something else we loved was that there were staff walking around the edge of the lagoon all the time. They’ll happily take photos of you and their photos are really great which is very helpful if you don’t want to take your phone in with you. We did see a lot of people with waterproof phone cases on too, or you can just pop in and out of the changing room to put your phone away as well.

Once you’re done in the lagoon, you can grab your dry towel from an attendant handing them out. Shower and wash your hair, and it’s also best to clean your swimmers after being in the lagoon too. There are free hairdryers around the changing room, as well as free moisturiser which is great. Another great thing they have are swimmer dryers which spin the water out of them super quickly.

Once you’re ready to leave, you can leave your towel on a hook then go out the same way you came in. You check out on self serve screens and this is where you’ll pay your bill if you made any in lagoon purchases. Then you’ll head out the gates and leave your arm bands in buckets outside then.

As well as the main lagoon, there are lots of other services offered here. There is a restaurant with main meals, and a café with sandwiches and smaller items on site. These are located outside the gates of the lagoon so you’ll have to go either before or after your swim. There are also two hotels on site called the retreat hotel and the silica hotel, as well as a retreat spa.

If you want a treat, you can add extra treatments to your Blue Lagoon ticket. They offer both float therapy, and in water massages of all different lengths and levels. There is also a shop on the way out that sells lots of skin products using silica and minerals that are meant to be amazing for your skin.

At the end of the day, we acknowledge it is quite an expensive place to visit during your time in Iceland. However if you do decide to go, we believe you can absolutely make the most of your money and make the Blue Lagoon worth it.

Definitely make sure you’ve got a couple of hours spare so you don’t feel rushed and can really relax in the lagoon. Make sure to enjoy all the parts including the steam room, the saunas and the cold pool. Take a trip to the swim up bar and get your delicious free drink. Then enjoy the free mud mask and take the time to rub it in and let it dry before washing it off. Spend time in the shower making sure your hair feels nice and your skin is clean, and enjoy their free moisturiser.

If you do all of these things, we truly feel like the Blue Lagoon Iceland is worth your time and you money. If you’re short on time, we also believe the Nicetravel and the Bustravel Iceland tours would be completely worth it. You can see the golden circle and experience the Blue Lagoon in one day which is perfect. However you visit, it’s a once in a lifetime experience, and something you’ll remember forever, so enjoy it!