Reykjavík + London Layover

We kicked off the Iceland trip with a long-haul flight from Miami, but the real wildcard was a 12-hour layover in London. Instead of camping in the terminal, we treated it like a mini city day. We jumped on a double-decker tour bus that looped through central London and gave us the fast visual orientation of the city. We added a boat ride to see London Bridge from the river, then did the proper tourist fuel stop: fish and chips in a pub. After that, it was back to the airport for the final leg north.

We landed in Reykjavík in the evening and kept it simple. Bus into town, check-in, and reconnect. We met up with Savage at the hostel (our Appalachian Trail friend who we hiked with and finished with), and the vibe immediately shifted from “travel day” to “trip is real now.”

The next morning was a slow start on purpose. Coffee in town, then we met up with another trail couple, Slow and Steady. From that point on, the crew was set: five of us traveling and adventuring through Iceland together.

Reykjavík felt like the perfect staging area before the Laugavegur. Walkable, clean, and full of visual surprises. We wandered toward Hallgrímskirkja (the big pointy church that basically acts like a compass) and spent most of the day on foot, weaving through downtown streets and stopping whenever something looked interesting.

Two highlights stood out:

• Viking museum: A solid primer on early settlement and daily life. It grounded the island in something older than waterfalls and postcards.
• Listasafn Einars Jónssonar (the “Lurie” fine art stop): The art hit harder than expected. A lot of it pulls directly from Iceland’s landscape and light, and you could see how the terrain shapes the imagination here.

Then we made a practical stop that turned into a trip milestone: the DJI store. I bought a DJI Mini Pro 4, grabbed an Icelandic hot dog, and did the maiden drone flight right there near the church. First flight, clean conditions, iconic backdrop. That moment locked in the “we’re documenting this properly” feeling for the whole journey.

Dinner was at Café Loki, which was the right call for an early night. The next day was the real start. Early wake-up, bus to Landmannalaugar, and the Laugavegur Trail begins.