This may seem like a dull post to some, but we always like to know how we’re getting to and from the airport at our holiday destination. It can be a stressful experience for some; as it can be a different country, currency, or language (or all three).
So, how do you get from KEF (Keflavik) airport to Reykjavik? Well, it’s really easy, thanks to FlyBus. When we looked at our trip to Iceland, and typed the usual ‘airport transfers’ in, there was a variety of choice, from personal shuttles to shared taxi’s. FlyBus seem to come up top though.
https://www.re.is/tour/flybus/ (this link was correct at the time of writing).
What is FlyBus?
This is a transfer service, ran by Reykjavik Excursions. You can also book…excursions (of course) through them while you’re in Iceland.
How do I book? How much?
You book via their website. You need to provide your arrival date along with the name of your hotel, and there’s a good reason for the latter, keep reading! There’s also a ‘time’ option, but this seems to default to ‘flexible’. We assume this is incase you get delayed, so can get on a bus at any time of day on your chosen date of arrival.
You can also book your return journey at this point from your hotel back to the airport, but you’ll need to state the date and times for your return. The time for return does need to be selected, so make sure you give yourself enough time to get from the city to the airport, there’s a bit more on this below.
The cost (return) was 17198ISK which was around £98 for 2 people, so about £24pp per journey.
From Keflavik to Reykjavik: How does it work, and how long does it take?
When you arrive in KEF, and you’ve collected your bags, just head through customs and out to the arrivals area. From here, head outside, you can’t miss it. If you’re a bit lost, just ask the information desk, the staff in the airport seem really helpful.
It’s also worth pointing out about the arrivals duty free at this point. Ready our post about food and drink to find out more.
When you get outside, it’s more than likely that you’ll see a FlyBus coach or representatives. We walked straight out and there was a coach waiting, approached the driver, and showed our confirmation. He confirmed we were good to go, and we loaded our luggage on.
When you get on the bus, someone (at some point) will ask to see your ticket again and for the name of your hotel, and which point they will give you tickets with a colour on…all will make sense soon.
When you leave KEF, the journey to Reykjavik takes around 50 minutes. The FlyBus will take you to a station around 2km from the downtown area. At which point you unload, go through the bus station, and show the ticket with your colour on. The representatives from the bus station will then direct you to your next, smaller, shuttle bus.
When you get on this bus, you’ll once again be asked for the name of your hotel, and the driver should tell you which stop number you are getting off at. They should shout this out as they are approaching the stop.
We found the staff very helpful, and the transfer process seemed very well organised.
From Reykjavik to Keflavik
At the point of booking, and on your confirmation, you should see a bus stop number. In this case, it’s 15.
Bus Stop 15 was 2 minutes walk from our hotel, and was also where tour busses pick you up from. It was really handy being so close.
You need to be at the bus stop at your allocated time, and the bus will arrive within a half-hour window. The shuttle bus which dropped us off was different to what picked us up, but the driver knew who we were and ticked us off the list.
This bus takes you back to the terminal, where you’ll transfer to a larger coach. This may not be perfectly timed, but we got off one, and onto another within 10 minutes. You may need to wait longer depending on timetables, etc.
The coach then took just to the departures area of KEF, and the whole journey took around 1h 20m. If we had to wait for the next coach, it could have been another half an hour to hour, so bare that in mind when sorting your transfer – leave plenty of time.
