Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland, with a very small population, of just 123,300 people. Located in the South West of Iceland, it is a very popular place for tourists to visit. Keflavik is Iceland’s international airport, just a 30 minute drive away from the capital. When tourists visit Iceland, a high percentage of them will stay in the capital.
There is plenty of accommodation to choose from in Reykjavik. We stayed next to the Reykjavik Domestic Airport at Hotel Icelandair Reykjavik Natura. It was a lovely, quiet hotel with free car parking at the front. We stayed in a suite with a view of the airport. With it been a little domestic airport, there was not a lot of takeoffs or landings. The hotel was in a great location for us. It took us about 40 minutes to walk into the centre of Reykjavik. If you did not want to walk, driving into the city centre is easy enough. There are plenty of car parks in Reykjavik to choose from.
We only had the chance to spend one afternoon in Reykjavik. It is not a big city to walk around and you can see everything in an afternoon. If you want to have a more leisurely stroll around the city centre, then allow yourself a full day. It’s a great place to do a bit of souvenir shopping and try some local Icelandic food.
From my experience, here are the top attractions of Reykjavik:
Hallgrimskirkja
HallgrÃmskirkja is a Lutheran parish church in ReykjavÃk, Iceland. It is the largest church in Iceland, at an incredible height of 17.5-metres. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and clergyman HallgrÃmur PÊtursson, author of the Passion Hymns. There is a view platform at the top that supposedly gives you fantastic views of colourful roofs in Reykjavik. Unfortunately, the time we arrived, the sun was setting. Therefore, we did not have time to go up, as we still wanted to see some of the other sites in Reykjavik, before it got dark. It is something I would defiantly like to do when I next visit! It cost 100o ISK to go up which is around ÂŖ6.79. Prices may change from when I wrote this blog.
The Sun Voyager
Sun Voyager is a sculpture by JÃŗn Gunnar Ãrnason, built-in 1990. Located next to the SÃĻbraut road, overlooking the Faxafloi Bay. Some people describe the sculpture as a Viking Ship. The sculpture is meant to be a dreamboat or an ode to the sun. The artist intended it to convey the promise of undiscovered territory, a dream of hope, progress, and freedom.
Tjornin City Pond
Tjornin City Pond is located in the centre of Reykjavik. Surrounded by beautiful, colourful Icelandic houses, with ducks and swans swimming, peacefully around the pond. If you are visiting in the cold, winter months, you may be lucky to see the pond all frozen over.
Grotta Lighthouse
Grotta Lighthouse is a small lighthouse at the north-westernmost point of the city. It is located on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula, providing great views of the Atlantic Ocean. Be careful, if you do decide to walk out across to the lighthouse, you don’t get caught in the high tide; otherwise, you will be swimming back! There is a free, small car park next to the peninsula. We only had the chance to visit it at night, when watching the aurora activity on New Year’s Eve. It is a great spot to see the Northern Lights, as it is located outside of the city centre, away from light pollution.
Perlan
We decided not to visit the Perlan as we were short of time and decided it was not a place on top of our list to do. What the Perlan has to offer, are things we have done very similar in the past. We’ve both been inside an Ice Hotel before and seen ice sculptures. I’ve also been inside a glacier before too. If you have never been inside glaciers or and Ice Hotel, I would recommend going.
There is a viewing platform in the Perlan. This is included in your admission ticket. You can also just pay for the viewing platform if you did not want to go around the Perlan itself. Originally, we had planned to do this. However, we noticed on our walk up to the Perlan, walking the route up through the trees from our hotel, we saw fantastic views across Reykjavik. We decided, there wasn’t much point paying to go up the viewing platform, as it was not much higher up and views would be very similar.
For more information on the Perlan, please visit their website:Â Perlan.
Harpa
Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre, located in the city centre. Construction started in 2007 and the first concert was held in 2011. It is a beautiful building to see. It is located on the SÃĻbraut road, near the Sun Voyager. Open to the public, you can take a wander inside to the restaurants and shops or you can book yourself in to see a performance.
