Jakub Hałun · File:View of Reykjavík from Hallgrímskirkja, 20230507 1227 5715.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Reykjav%C3%ADk_from_Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja,_20230507_1227_5715.jpg
Reykjavik
The world’s northernmost capital of a sovereign state — small enough to walk in an afternoon, and far stranger and more literary than its size suggests.
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the northernmost capital of any sovereign state, and the first thing to understand is how small it is: the centre is a walk of a few streets, and you can cross the whole of it comfortably in an afternoon. The second thing is how little that smallness limits it. This is a city with a national opera, a serious music scene, more published writers per head than almost anywhere on earth, and a habit of treating the weather and the dark as ordinary conditions rather than obstacles.
Explore Reykjavik on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
Beyond the temples
A concrete church shaped like basalt, a glass hall on the harbour, and the best-told Viking story in Europe.
The landmarks
- Hallgrímskirkja is the city’s emblem: a tall concrete church whose stepped flanks were designed by Guðjón Samúelsson to echo the basalt columns that form when lava cools slowly. A lift runs up the tower to the best view in the city — the coloured roofs, the bay and Mount Esja beyond. The statue in front is Leif Erikson, a gift from the United States in 1930.
- Harpa on the harbour is the concert hall and conference centre, its glass facade developed with the artist Ólafur Elíasson from the same basalt-column idea. Going inside costs nothing, and the foyer is worth it in any weather.
- The Sun Voyager on the waterfront is the most photographed sculpture in Iceland, and it is not a Viking ship — Jón Gunnar Árnason described it as a dream boat and an ode to the sun. The mistake is near-universal and worth not making.
- Höfði, a white timber house on the shore, is where Reagan and Gorbachev met in 1986 at the meeting generally taken to have begun the end of the Cold War. You cannot go inside, and standing outside it is still worth ten minutes.
Museums, and the sagas
- The National Museum of Iceland runs from the settlement to the present and is the single best hour for understanding how this island was populated and governed.
- The Settlement Exhibition is built around the excavated remains of a Viking-age longhouse, left where it was found beneath the city centre — the oldest human structure in Reykjavík, seen in place rather than reconstructed.
- Perlan, on the hill in the water tanks above the city, holds an indoor ice cave and a planetarium, and its observation deck gives the wide view when the church tower is busy.
- The Reykjavík Art Museum spreads across three houses, and the harbour district holds the maritime museum in the old fish-freezing plant.
On the water and on foot
- The Old Harbour runs whale-watching and, in summer, puffin trips to the small islands offshore. Nothing at sea is guaranteed, and the better operators say so before you book.
- Tjörnin, the pond by the City Hall, is full of birds and ringed by some of the prettiest timber houses in the city — a fifteen-minute walk that most itineraries skip.
- The waterfront path east from the harbour past Harpa and the Sun Voyager is the city’s best short walk, and it faces the mountain the whole way.
Two days in Reykjavík
The centre and the hill
Hallgrímskirkja and the tower first for the orientation, then down through the old streets to Tjörnin and the City Hall. The Settlement Exhibition in the afternoon, and Laugavegur in the evening.
The water and the museums
The waterfront path past Harpa, the Sun Voyager and Höfði, then the Old Harbour — whale watching if the sea allows. The National Museum after it, and a neighbourhood pool to finish.
A slower city day
Perlan for the wide view and the ice cave, the Reykjavík Art Museum, or the harbour’s maritime museum. Otherwise start using the city as the base it is.
Out of the city
The Golden Circle inland in Southern Iceland, the Blue Lagoon out on Reykjanes near the airport, or Esja and the coast inside the same region.
Arriving & getting around
An airport that is not in the city, a centre you will walk, and a currency that is not the euro.
Arriving
- Keflavík Airport (KEF) is not in Reykjavík. It sits out on the Reykjanes peninsula and is linked to the city by frequent coaches timed to arrivals. There is a separate small domestic airport inside the city, so check which one a schedule means.
- Iceland is in the Schengen area and the European Economic Area but NOT in the European Union, and the currency is the Icelandic króna, not the euro. Travellers who have done Ireland recently should note that this is the exact reverse of the position there. Your specialist confirms the current requirement for your passport and dates.
- From India the routing normally involves two changes, usually through a European hub, confirmed by your specialist for your dates.
Around the city
- The centre is genuinely walkable — the harbour, Harpa, the pond, the museums and the church all sit within a few minutes of one another, and walking is the only sensible way to see them.
- The Strætó yellow city buses cover everything further out. They run to timetable rather than turn-up-and-go, and the app is the practical way to use them.
- A car is unnecessary in the centre and awkward to park. Hire one on the day you leave the city rather than for the whole stay.
- Dress for wind, not cold. Temperatures are milder than the latitude suggests; the wind and the horizontal rain are what actually decide the day, so a proper waterproof shell matters more than a thick coat.
Onward
- The Golden Circle — Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss — is a full day inland in Southern Iceland, by car or organised coach.
- The Blue Lagoon is out on the Reykjanes peninsula near the airport, which is why it is usually done on the way in or out. It is booked well ahead.
- Esja, the Seltjarnarnes coast, Viðey and the neighbourhood pools are all inside the same region, and the Capital Region page sets them out.
Reykjavík in practice
The handful of things that decide whether the days work.
Iceland is among the most expensive countries in Europe and pretending otherwise spoils trips. Eating your main meal at lunch, using the neighbourhood pools rather than spas, and drinking the tap water are the three habits that make the biggest difference.
The cold tap water is glacial and excellent — buying it bottled is genuinely pointless here. The hot water is geothermal and smells faintly of sulphur, which is normal and harmless; it does not affect the cold supply.
The currency is the Icelandic króna, not the euro. Cards and phone payment are accepted almost universally, including on buses, and most visitors need no cash at all.
Around midsummer it barely gets dark, which makes evenings enormous. Midwinter gives only a few hours of low sun, so plan fewer things and start them earlier.
Conditions turn within an hour and wind is the deciding factor. Take posted weather and road warnings seriously — Icelandic operators cancel readily, and that is a sign of a good one.
How to be a good guest
A country that reads more than almost any other, eats better than its reputation, and swims all year.
Books, sagas and music
- Reykjavík is a UNESCO City of Literature, and the claim is earned: Iceland publishes an extraordinary number of titles for its size, and writing is a normal thing for a person to do here.
- The sagas — prose histories of the settlement written down in the 13th century — are the country’s foundational literature and are still read rather than merely revered. A little reading before arrival changes what the museums mean.
- At Christmas the Jólabókaflóð, the book flood, sees most of the year’s titles published at once and books given on Christmas Eve to be read that night. The music scene punches similarly above its weight, and small venues in the centre carry it.
Eating and drinking
- The staples are lamb, raised half-wild and very good; fish, especially cod and arctic char; and skyr, a thick cultured dairy product that is closer to strained yoghurt than to cheese despite technically being one.
- The national fast food is the pylsa, a hot dog made partly of lamb and ordered with everything — raw and crisp-fried onion, ketchup, sweet mustard and remoulade. It is the cheapest honest meal in the country.
- Rúgbrauð is a dense dark rye traditionally baked using geothermal heat. Hákarl, the fermented shark, is a dare rather than a dish, and Icelanders will tell you so themselves.
- Vegetarians eat well in the centre, where the cafés and newer restaurants cater properly for it, though the traditional repertoire is emphatically meat and fish. Jain travellers should describe requirements precisely rather than asking for vegetarian.
Manners and money
- Tipping is not expected and service is included. Rounding up is fine; leaving a large tip is simply unusual.
- First names are used universally, including in the phone book, because most Icelandic surnames are patronymics — formed from a parent’s given name — rather than inherited family names.
- It is a card-first country to an unusual degree. Cards and phones work essentially everywhere including buses and rural pumps, and many visitors never handle a króna note at all.
Insider tips
What people who have been before do differently.
Getting the value
- Go up the church tower rather than paying for a bus tour of a city you can cross on foot. It costs little and it orients you for the whole stay.
- Eat your main meal at lunch, and treat the pylsa stand as a legitimate dinner rather than a novelty. Both are what residents do.
- Use a neighbourhood pool instead of a spa. It is a fraction of the cost, it is open year-round, and it is the actual social institution — the region page explains the etiquette, which matters.
Doing it like a local
- Read a little of the sagas, or one modern Icelandic novel, before you come. Nothing else changes the museums and the place names as much.
- Walk the waterfront path in the evening, whatever the weather. Locals do it in conditions visitors hide from, and the light in the shoulder seasons is the reason.
- Do not plan an evening around the aurora. Keep it as something you check for and go out to if the sky cooperates; the region page sets out what it actually requires.
Out of the city
What is inside the same region, and what is somewhere else entirely.
Related to Reykjavik
Journeys that include Reykjavik — each one visits the city as part of its itinerary.
Common questions
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