Written by on August 11, 2024

Best Place to Stay for Shabbat in Reykjavik Iceland

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Where is the best place to stay for Shabbat in Iceland?

With Chabad of Iceland located in the heart of Reykjavik, spending Shabbat in Iceland is easier than ever.

Spending the week in the Faroe Islands, we needed a place to stay for Shabbat. Reykavik was an easy choice, as its just a 1.5 hour flight from Vagar in the Faroe Islands.

We flew into Reykjavik on Friday Morning from the Faroe Islands.

Hotels in Reykjavik

Chabad is located in the heart of the city, not far from Rainbow Street, one of the main shopping streets in Reykjavik. They are also very close to the water.

Finding a hotel that I wanted to stay in was a bit challenging. The prices for the nice ones were very high, and the reasonable priced hotels did not look great. (I do have high standards when it comes to hotels) I did many searches on Booking.com, Hotels.com, TripAdvisor and my searches didn’t lead anywhere. I even looked on airbnb, but I did not like any.

Chabad provides a list of hotels that are within reasonable distance. I started looking through these. When looking at Borg Hotel, I went directly to thier website, and noticed the prices were significantly cheaper.

Hotel Borg checked all the boxes.

  • Walkable to Chabad
  • In a good location, close to attractions, to be able to explore on Shabbat.
  • Had a fridge – for any food we buy
  • Nice rooms
  • Relatively small hotel – I find it easier to ask for Shabbat accommodations in boutique, nice hotels. They are usually more willing to go out of the way for you, and escorting you to your room is usually no big deal.

Getting to Hotel Borg from KEF Airport

How to get Reykjavik City Center from Keflavik Airport (KEF)?

Keflavik Airport (KEF) is about 45 minutes from Reykjavik City Center. I intially planned on renting a car for our stay, so we took the Car Rental Shuttle to Enterprise from outside the Arrivals area at the airport. When we got there the place was so crowded, as it was the during the CrowdStrike global IT outage, and everything was slow. As we were waiting, I was second guessing if I wanted to rent a car. We had caught a early morning flight, and I was also so exhausted, and did not feel safe driving. I asked how much longer the wait before deciding to just leave, and I was told there were two ahead of us. In the meantime I tried canceling my reservation on my phone, and was not able to since I already checked-in online. When it was my turn, I asked if I was able to cancel, and I was told that since I did not prepay I can cancel. She asked if I wanted to keep a reservation, and pick up later that day, the next day or even pick up a car in the city when I was more rested. The agent said it would be a lot more if wanted a reservation on Saturday, so was offering me to keep the one I had, which was very thoughtful. I decided to decline the whole reservation, and at that point we needed a way to get to Reykavik.

Although I had internet, I did not have a phone number, so I was not able to order a cab from there. We took the shuttle back to the airport, and grabbed a cab from there.

Cabs in Iceland are Expensive

The cab ride to Hotel Borg from the airport was about $160 USD for two passengers. The cheaper alternative is FLYBUS (Reykjavik Excursions) . We were so exhaused, and just needed to get to our hotel, so we chose to take a cab.

I used FlyBus for my departure, which has a bus stop (Bus Stop 3) conveniently located around the corner from the Hotel Borg. During the day there is a shortcut, and its an easy walk. I had no issue walking there with my Luggage.

FlyBus Airport Transfer is a Convenient way to get from KEF Airport to Hotel Borg in Reykjavik

How does FlyBus work?

The bus to the airport leaves from BSI, the main bus station. So I did need to transfer. The bus from Bus Stop 3 took me to BSI, and then I transfered to the Bus that took us to the Airport. This bus was a coach bus, so it was comfortable, and clean. Someone was there to help with loading luggage, and everything felt organized. The bus dropped us off right by departures, and was a very smooth and comfortable transport from Hotel to Airport. Taking the bus was significantly cheaper, but does take more time. I was not pressed for time, as I had a late night flight and left early.