Reykjavik had been on my bucket list for a while, and Iceland’s capital city didn’t disappoint. Its seafront position, iconic sights, vibrant cafe culture, and access to exciting excursions make it a perfect destination for a weekend or longer. Here’s my top 10 tips for a great Reykjavik trip.
1. Visit Reykjavik’s iconic church and tower
If you’ve read anything about Reykjavik, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen a photo of the incredible Hallgrimskirkja. The iconic church with its soaring tower was designed to look like the basalt lava flows that are seen across the country, and it’s a hugely impressive sight.
The inside of the church is pretty simple, but there is a huge organ that is used for regular recitals with a 50-person choir. Also inside is an elevator that takes you to the top of the tower for amazing views across colourful Reykjavik and out to the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Take a waterfront walk
Walking along Reykjavik’s waterfront is a lovely stroll where you’ll see a variety of sights as well as the ocean. We were staying at Center Hotels Laugavegur, which is in a great location at the (quieter) end of Laugavegur, Reykjavik’s main thoroughfare. So we decided to turn left out of the hotel to walk a bit further out of town and down to the Hofoi House and Lighthouse to start our waterfront walk. The white-washed house is where US and Soviet Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in 1986 to begin the talks that led to the end of the Cold War. Across the street, the distinctive yellow Hofoi Lighthouse was added to the waterfront in 2019. It was designed to look like Reykjavik lighthouses from the early 1900s.
Walking along the waterfront towards the harbour, you’ll pass various sculptures, including the Partnership, which was commissioned in 1991 to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations with the US. Then comes the impressive Sun Voyager, a huge stainless steel sculpture of a boat.
3. Explore the stunning Harpa concert hall
By the time you reach Sun Voyager, you’re getting a great view of another iconic Reykjavik building, the Harpa concert hall. It’s absolutely stunning on the outside, but be sure to go inside too, as the interior is as beautiful. The Harpa is home to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Icelandic Opera and Reykjavik Big Band, so it hosts a wide range of events. In the summer, there isn’t a lot on the calendar, but you can pay £30 for Midday Music to watch an Icelandic musician perform for an hour while you sit on the main stage. That’s also the price of a backstage tour. Alternatively, you can simply marvel at the glass and steel structure and visit the very nice cafe and shop.
Then, for an even better view of the Harpa, you can cross the road to have a drink at Sky Bar. It’s on the 8th floor of Center Hotels Arnarhvoll. The views are fabulous and the cocktails are very good too.
4. Go on a fabulous whale watching trip
One of the many reasons to visit Iceland is that it’s one of the best places in the world for whale watching, and it’s easy to do a tour from Reykjavik. A few different companies provide whale watching from the harbour, but we chose Special Tours because they offered the best price and had a Whale Watching Express option. That means you go out on a smaller boat that gets you to the right spots more quickly.
It was a fabulous trip, first stopping to say hello to some dolphins, then continuing further out to sea for the main event. The guide sat on top of the boat and shouted out where to look, so there was lots of comedy dashing back and forth between the sides of the boat! But there was plenty of space and everyone was really respectful and made sure all those on board could get a good view. We watched Humpback and Minke whales soar out of the water and dive back down very quickly, some very close to the boat. They move so fast that trying to catch them in photos and videos was almost impossible. So, after a while, we just put our phones away and enjoyed the amazing spectacle.
5. Take a stroll around Lake Tjornin
Lake Tjornin is right in the centre of Reykjavik, but offers a great option for a quiet stroll around its perimeter. There’s plenty to see, including the green-roofed Lutheran Free Church and the National Gallery of Iceland next door. Like the waterfront, there are sculptures dotted around the lake, while the water is very popular with the local ducks.
At the end of the lake is Reykjavik City Hall with its distinctive living wall. It serves as both an administrative hub and a visitor centre, so inside there is a huge topographical map of Iceland. Having spent five days driving around South Iceland before arriving in Reykjavik, we loved seeing this. Also nearby is another of the city’s sculptures, the Unknown Bureaucrat, which shows a man with a briefcase being crushed by a large piece of volcanic rock. It was designed to represent the anonymous public sector worker, and having been one of those, I could relate!
6. Explore the historic and colourful city centre
There’s plenty to see in and around Reykjavik’s city centre. Just behind Lake Tjornin is the AlÞingi (Parliament House), where the Icelandic government moved to when it left its original meeting place in Þingvellir National Park. It faces Austurvöllur, a grassy public square which is a nice spot to take a break and admire the Art Deco Hotel Borg and Dómkirkjan í Reykjavík, a historic church. We stopped for a drink at Duck & Rose, which has a nice terrace overlooking the square.
Not far from the square is the start of Skólavörðustígur, also known as Rainbow Street. It was originally painted for Reykjavík Pride but was maintained as a symbol of Iceland’s unwavering commitment to gender equality. Just along from here, the building that houses 22 Bar and Kiki Queer Bar is similarly painted. And all around Reykjavik’s centre, there are colourful buildings as well as lots of amazing street art.
7. Take your pick of museums, galleries and more
Depending on how much time you have, there are plenty of museums and art galleries to visit in Reykjavik. The Settlement Exhibition is built around the ruins of a Viking long house, while the National Museum of Iceland explains how the volcanic island became a country. Another rather different option is the Icelandic Punk Museum! Or, you can check out paintings, sculpture and pop art at the Reykjavik Art Museum, which is split across three locations. In addition to these cultural activities, there are also shows like Whales of Iceland, FlyOver Iceland and the Lava Show, all designed to give people a taste of Icelandic experiences without travelling very far. These sorts of shows don’t appeal to me, but the Art Deco National Theatre of Iceland did appeal – and looked strikingly similar to my local train station in Surbiton! Sadly, the summer programme was quite limited, so we didn’t see inside.
8. Shop until you drop – or run out of money!
One thing Reykjavik is not short of is shops. It’s a real shoppers’ paradise with stores lining the main street, Laugavegur, as well as Rainbow Street and many others. Inevitably, a lot are selling the same Icelandic clothes and souvenirs. We found the best value cuddly puffins (don’t judge, they were for babies!) in the Icemart/Icewear store that was practically next to our hotel. Potentially because that’s the less busy end of Laugavegur, so it’s worth shopping around.
One very nice store with some lovely, more unusual goods is Rammagerðin, which has a few branches, including on Laugavegur and in the Harpa. Or for something more quirky, there’s the Polar Bear Store! The main thing to be prepared for is the prices. My friend and I are widely travelled, but Iceland was, without doubt, the most expensive destination we’ve visited.
9. Enjoy a taste of Icelandic food and drink
There are stacks of places to eat and drink in Reykjavik, so you’ll likely find something to suit every taste. Cheap eats are not too easy to come by, but pizza is a good option. We were amazed at how many restaurants and cafes had pizza on the menu, both in Reykjavik and on our wider travels. Evidently, it’s one of their national dishes! We resisted until our first night in the capital, but after a long day of driving, we were in the mood for something simple, and Neo Pizza did the job. It’s a small casual place that primarily does takeout, but there’s a nice seating area upstairs, and the pizzas were great and reasonably priced.
Other places we enjoyed were Salka Valka in Skólavörðustígur, which does local specialities like Icelandic Fish Stew and has a stunning world map on its wall. And across the street is quirky Cafe Babalu, a perfect lunch spot for soup and a grilled cheese.
Another great place for breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner, particularly if you need to do some laundry, is The Laundromat Cafe. The decor is amazing, more maps (which I loved), but also many, many books, which I love even more! The bar counter has bookshelves under it, with the books all colour-coded, so it looks brilliant. There’s a varied menu to choose from, and the laundry is downstairs, so you can pop your washing in and eat in the cafe while it gets cleaned.
For our last night in Reykjavik, we booked the upscale restaurant Fish Market as a treat, but unfortunately, it was a very disappointing experience. I left a detailed view on Google to explain why I wouldn’t recommend it. The experience was made better by meeting some lovely Icelandic people who were having a similar experience at the next table. Then, the evening was further improved by a return visit to Kokteilbarinn, the best cocktail bar we found in Reykjavik, which has a Champagne Train inside. All aboard for fizz and cocktails? Yes please!
10. Take a trip to see more of Iceland
Many visitors to Iceland only stay in Reykjavik and don’t explore more of the country, but I would highly recommend travelling beyond the city if you can. If you’re short on time, it’s possible to do day trips from Reykjavik to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the Golden Circle, or even further into South Iceland. But they are likely to be long days with limited time to explore. We chose to hire a car and go further afield before visiting Reykjavik, starting with two nights in the Golden Circle, where we saw waterfalls, active geysers, a stunning volcanic crater and a historic national park. You can read more about that in my Golden Circle blog post. And another post will be coming soon about where else we went in South Iceland.
But if you only have two or three days, then Reykjavik is well worth a weekend trip, and hopefully my top ten tips will help ensure your visit is as great as mine was.
For more posts about Iceland and other European destinations, visit the Europe section of my blog.