10 Free things to do in Keflavik & Reykjanes Peninsula

Iceland is expensive for UK visitors especially if you are not used to London prices so I've found 10 free things for you to do in Keflavik all year round, to help you save a few Icelandic Krona (ISK).

Hands up who wants 10 Free things to do in Keflavik?

You are most likely to arrive at Keflavik Airport if you are visiting Iceland.  Some people will arrive in Iceland and shoot off to Reykjavik on the shuttle bus and then perhaps spend the night in Keflavik the day before they return because they have a very early flight.   If you find you have a day or more to spare on your Iceland trip, it’s worth exploring the Reykjanes Peninsula and here are 10 free things for you to do in Keflavik, the main town in the Reykjanes Peninsula.

1. Gigant's Cave

Visit a giants cave.  Giganta’s cave at Gróf Marina is open every day from 10am to 5pm except in bad weather.  That’s because it sits right on the cliff edge exposed to the north Atlantic .

Giganta the Giant

Icelandic Museum of Rock’N’Roll

When you think of Iceland you probably imagine dramatic landscapes, powerful geysers, active volcanoes and ice blue glaciers.  What you may not realise is that Iceland also has an amazing and thriving music industry and has been hosting the 5 day Airwaves Festival in Reykjavik for the last 17 years.

Despite having a population of just over 300,000, this arctic country has produced a huge amount of musical talent, the most well known artists being the Sucarcubes, Björk, Sigur Rós, and Of Monsters and Men but as you walk round the displays at the Museum of Rock’N’Roll in Keflavik, you realise there has been musical acts coming out of Iceland for decades.

Rokksatn Islands or Rock'n'Roll Museum

Viking World

Before you even enter the impressive glass museum where the Viking longboat Íslendingur is housed, you will see the kneeling statue of Hrafna-Flóki and his raven, the first Norseman to travel to Iceland.  It is not known exactly when he settled in Iceland but it is likely that he sailed to Iceland on a boat similar to the Islendingur when he left western Norway stopping off at the Shetland Isles and the Faroe Islands where he picked up 3 ravens to help him navigate to Iceland, earning him the nickname Hrafna-Flóki, Hrafna meaning Raven. 

Hrafna-Flóki and his raven

Unearthing the Spirit of the Icelandic Horse

“And this is the tölt,” said Hrönn as Chloe elegantly glided past us in the arena, with Hrönn and Snorri’s youngest daughter, Signý sitting comfortably in the saddle as Chloe and Signý demonstrated the smoothness of the tölt gait, one of two gaits unique to Icelandic horses. 

Signý riding Chloe

This has to be the coolest foldable electric travel kettle

As someone who likes to travel as light as possible – hand luggage only kind of girl!  I generally wouldn’t even consider packing a travel kettle, despite my love of a good cup of tea.   

I go to great lengths to find foldable, packable, lightweight and collapsible items but I have never come across a folding collapsible electric kettle until I found this one.  I think it may be the coolest travel kettle on the market – and it’s green!

Collapsible Electric Travel Kettle Unfolded

Project Awesome does Yestival

I waddled across the field with Georgia’s ankles in my hands, her hands slapping the dewy grass as we wheelbarrowed and laughed our way to the turning marker, with over 50 other couples doing the same thing.

This was Project Awesome, a concept inspired by Danny Bent which began in London a few years ago and has now spread to Bristol and Edinburgh.  Project Awesome is free high-energy fitness with a twist.  The twist being that it’s loud, colourful and full of positivity; instead of sweat and tears, you get smiles and laughter, high-fives and hugs.  

What would you do if you read this message?

“Meet me under the clock in Liverpool Street Station at 6pm and bring your sleeping bag.”

This was the message that went out on Facebook last year and was acted upon by 19 strangers. 

The man who posted that message was Dave Cornthwaite, adventurer, author, motivational speaker and creator of Say Yes More, a campaign to encourage you to make life memorable by saying Yes to doing amazing things that you’ve always wanted to do but have never done because of time, financial, family or other commitments.  

Dave Cornthwaite

  

Yestival 2016

I’m off to Yestival in a couple of weeks, on my own but not alone.  If it’s anything like last year, and I suspect it will be, I will arrive with hundreds of strangers and leave with just as many friends.

Austin Vince giving a very memorable talk

Elise Downing Runs the UK Coastline

If I told you that Elise Downing will be running into Greenwich Park on 27^th August, would you wonder who Elise was and what was so special about her running into Greenwich Park or would you know that on 1^st November 2015, she left Greenwich Park to embark on a 5000 mile run around the UK coast line?

Elise & Friends at the Start 1st November 2015

Well that’s exactly what 24 year old Elise has done.  Totally unsupported and all on her own, she has spent the last 10 months circumnavigating the coast line of the UK, island hopping in Scotland, being intimidated by cows in England, Scotland and Wales, and falling in love with the Isle of Arran. 

Summer is Here

Cheese Rolling in Gloucestershire

There are certain high profile events in the UK that make you realise summer is here like the cheese rolling in Gloucestershire, the man powered flying machines at the Birdman of Bognor and the very serious boating event, Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight.   However, not all the boating events during Cowes Week are as prestigious as the class events but with unrivalled enthusiasm, the competitors of the Cowes Cardboard Boat Race take their event very seriously and last year drew a larger crowd than some of the main racing events.  Now in its third year and raising money for UKSA, the Cardboard Boat Race takes place on 7^th August at 3pm.  Seemingly, when you register for the race, you are given a free starter pack which according to the instructions “contains everything needed to make a boat.”  Hmmm some duct tape and a cardboard box maybe?  

Cardboard Boat Race (Photography by Dean Wright)

Armchair Adventures

I remember laughing at an advertisement in Cusco airport in Peru; it filled the entire billboard above the luggage carousel and was advertising bottles of oxygen.  While we waited for our luggage to be tossed from plane to trolley to conveyer belt and chute, I felt compelled to verbalise my thoughts about the advert to my fellow travellers.  “Look at that,” I said, “I thought we got ripped off in the UK where they try to sell us bottles of water, here they try to sell you bottles of air.”  Little did I realise that a few hours later, I would have paid any amount of money for a bottle of that oxygen as I found myself floored with altitude sickness and suffering from the mother of all headaches.  It was so bad, that if someone had offered me a guillotine at that time, I’d have volunteered to put my head in it.

Air for Sale