Planning a trip to Iceland? In this video I share 10 tips I wish I'd known before I landed, from surviving Keflavik Airport and getting into Reykjavik to saving money, dealing with the weather, and staying safe. I went in mid-May and learned a lot the hard way, including getting lost chasing KFC in a suburb and catching a cold in my first few days.

What's covered:

0:00 – 0:37: Arrival & Airport Logistics — Landing at Keflavík (KEF) vs. Reykjavík Airport, airport construction, EU/EEA automated passport gates vs. Non-EU/UK manual queues.

0:37 – 1:07: Transit & Tour Pickups — 45-minute ride to Reykjavík, BSI Central Bus Station transfers via hotel minivans, shared tour pickup locations.

1:07 – 1:35: Food & Supermarket Savings — Friday 50% traditional meal discounts, refills and waffles, Bónus and Krónan grocery chains, traditional soup in a bread bowl.

1:35 – 1:59: Language & Suburb Navigation — Central Reykjavík English fluency vs. introverted suburbs, anecdote about getting food outside the center.

1:59 – 2:31: Public Transport Issues — Unreliable city buses, poor Google Maps integration, bus schedule vs. actual departure times.

2:31 – 3:00: Tour Operator Reliability — Guided tour pickup policies, driver contact efforts, airport transfer pickups.

3:00 – 3:15: Pharmacies & Medication Laws — Cold symptoms, legal bans on supermarket medicine sales, buying paracetamol at pharmacies (Apótek).

3:15 – 3:31: Weather & Wind Safety — Strong winds, unpredictable weather, heavy jacket requirements even in May.

3:31 – 3:45: Safety & Sneaker Waves — Obeying safety signage, danger of sneaker waves on beaches.

3:45 – 4:29: Best Time to Visit & Overtourism — Visiting in mid-May, booking activities on arrival, 1.5 million tourist traffic vs. local population.

4:29 – 4:52: City Layout & Walkability — Reykjavík’s compact size, 4–5 main streets, Hallgrímskirkja church, harbor access.

4:52 – 5:21: City Bus Drivers & Local Car Culture — Prevalence of cars/Teslas among locals, unhelpful public bus drivers, missed bus stops.

5:21 – 5:29: Call to Action #1 — Prompt to like, comment, and hype the video.

5:29 – 5:52: Tap Water Hack & Outro — Tap water vs. bottled water scam, free glacier water on Icelandair, final sign-off.