Reykjavík, Iceland Hotels and City Guide

Reykjavík - Travel Tips

Arts and Entertainment

Despite its size, Reykjavík has a thriving arts scene and you should always be able to find something interesting to do or see. Much of the arts season is focused on the winter as Reykjavíkurs make use of the sunlight when it's there to spend time outdoors. This means that the National Theatre is in recess during the summer – when most tourists are here. Icelanders visit the cinema more times per person than any other nationality, around five times a year, and you'll find a number of cinemas in the city centre. Films are shown in the original language with Icelandic subtitles. It's contemporary music, above all, that is the live current running through the city all year round. Sung in both English and Icelandic, it fuses with the nightlife as one of the most popular attractions of the city. The city hosts yearly music, film and cultural festivals towards the end of the summer.

Ideas and When To go
Reykjavík is one of the smallest capital cities in the world and it's easy to find your way around. A long weekend is time enough to sample the city, nightlife and culture as well as marvel at the surrounding otherworldly landscape on a day trip. Three-day stopovers on flights from Europe to the US and vice-versa on Icelandair are the ideal opportunity to see the country. Visit the countryside, bathe in the hot springs and try some of the outstanding cuisine before flying on, relaxed and refreshed.
With a week you can make the most of your stay and travel up to the north of the country for the dramatic scenery of the fjords and lakes. You can negotiate the city very quickly as it's only the size of a small town, but it would take a few days to explore all the areas thoroughly. Pace yourself, relax in a café or two in between galleries and museums, and spend at least a day in the countryside to balance it out.

The high season for travel is June-August when there's a lot of sunlight (the sun rises at around 0300 and sets at 2400), although not always sunshine, and temperatures are an average of 11°C. Prices drop considerably in September, but then so do the hours of sunlight. In December the sun rises around 1120 and sets at 1530. During the winter you can see the Northern Lights and take glacier trips, but things are a little colder and some attractions are closed. If you're coming specifically to see seabirds or whales, July is the best time of year; for the Northern Lights you need to come from September to March.

A weekend
Make the most of the unpolluted air by having a relaxing and reviving weekend. Take a tour to Landmannalaugar, a few hours drive away by bus or landrover, where you can bathe in natural hot springs in the middle of nowhere. Take a walk around Þingvellir at your own pace, admiring the natural scenery and history. If you're in Reykjavík in winter, a Northern Lights tour is highly recommended, just out of the city where the greenish hues light up the sky. Finally, get close to nature on a whale-watching tour in late summer when there's a good chance of seeing minke whales just offshore, and relax in the Blue Lagoon before flying home.
For an all-action weekend, spend your first day exploring the outdoors with a friendly native guide – the Icelandic horse. There are a number of tour companies to take you out to nearby lavascapes, or try a husky-dog tour on a glacier. You could also arrange a white-water rafting trip in South Iceland to get your adrenaline pumping, then relax your aching muscles in one of the city's thermal baths. The following day, take a trip to Þingvellir and go caving. A couple of tour companies can take you down into what feels like the centre of the earth where the tectonic plates are moving apart into lava caves. If organized tours aren't your thing, hire a landrover and drive to Kleifarvatn on the Reykjanes Peninsula to see the geothermal area and experience driving through the lava landscape.

Reykjavík has a funky, offbeat atmosphere making it the perfect place for an art-house weekend break. The recent film, 101 Reykjavík, was filmed in Kaffeebarinn, so drop in there for a coffee during the day. Visit the city's art galleries, particularly the experimental Living Art Museum on Vatnsstígur, Kjarvalsstaðir and the Harbour House. Friday and Saturday nights are the liveliest nights of the week – especially after midnight – in the stylish downtown bars. And don't forget to try brennivín, the local firewater with a kick like a mule and guaranteed to have you making an ass of yourself. For live Icelandic music, try Gaukur á Stöng on Tryggvagata any night of the week. A browse through shops on Skólavörðstígur can ease your hangover and hiring a car to get out into the countryside around Reykjavík will give you some inspiration of your own. On your return to the city, visit the world's only penis museum.

A weekend without breaking the bank is possible in Reykjavík. Most museums have free admission one day a week. The Reykjavík Tourist Card is also a cheap way of getting around museums, galleries and swimming pools with discounts and free bus fares. Thermal baths are cheap at ISK 200 and well worth relaxing in for an afternoon, as are coffee shops where you can soak up the atmosphere and check out the latest haircuts. The beach and Pearl are both free to visit. Complete your weekend by taking a trip to one of the natural wonders. Live music is often free or around ISK 500, a cheap and entertaining night out if you don't hit the beer too hard.

A week

If you're in Reykjavík for a week it makes sense to venture out of the city. Plan your time carefully so that you're in the city for the nightlife on Friday and Saturday night and arrange a few days out in the beautiful countryside of Akureyri in the north of the country. It takes 40 minutes to fly there and from the town you can reach the island of Grímsey, sitting astride the Arctic Circle. On your return to Reykjavík, there will be plenty of time to explore the museums and bars of the town.

Take a trip to Vestmannaeyjar, the Westman Isles. There you can see a volcano, whales and puffins – depending on the season – and some of the friendliest of the Icelandic people. Alternatively, take a trip to Snæfellsnes, visit the glacier and see the wonderful birdlife. If you like walking, the Laugarvegur walking trail from Landmannalaugar to the forest of Þorsmörk in south Iceland is well known and very popular, taking around three to four days in total. To fit everything in, go back to Keflavík Airport via the Blue Lagoon where you can relax ready for your trip home.

Hotels in Reykjavík, Iceland