Reykjavik Attractions

Visible from over 20km/15mi away is Reykjavík's highest and most imposing structure, Hallgrímskirkja. The church was completed in 1974 after 30 years of construction.

Apart from its stark, light-filled interior and architectural resemblance to basaltic lava, there is the chance to view the city from its bell tower. The tower rises 74.5 m (244 ft) in the air.

A.S.I. Art Museum features art exhibition sponsored by the Icelandic labor unions featuring amateur and sometimes inspired art.

The Blue Lagoon is a unique geothermal spa where guests relax in warm geothermal seawater. The invigorating experience is enjoyed in summer or surrounded by snow in winter.

The state-of-the-art facilities include: modern changing rooms, showers and an indoor Blue Lagoon pool. A geothermal beach, lava caves and silica muds are parts of the lagoon area.

The small Grasagarður has an extensive outdoor collection of native and exotic plants. Founded in 1961, its has 5000 plant species within eight plant collections.

A large collection of Einar Jónsson sculptures is displayed in the modern cube-shaped museum and the museum's garden.

The Elliðaár is a small river flowing within the boundaries of Reykjavík and one of the world's cleanest salmon rivers. Each year the salmon season opens with the Mayor of Reykjavík catching Elliðaár's first salmon. The river yields 1,000 fish per day during its 90-day season.

Dedicated to the theme of light and energy, this public festival is centered around Laugardalur Park in Reykjavík.

This restaurant is the oldest building in Reykjavík c 1752 and was once the sheriffs weaving shed.

Hofði House, a painted wooden building brought from Norway was used for the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in 1986 and once hosted Winston Churchill.

Since the early 1930's the Hotel Borg has hosted Hollywood starlets and heads of state and adventurers. From its introduction it has been a landmark of Iceland's development.

The old Viking tradition of Thorrablot is still celebrated in Iceland. During February, the fourth month of winter, the Vikings celebrated with great feasts and plenty of dancing and singing because spring would be returning soon.

Icelandic restaurants and homes feature special menus with some of the traditional Viking foods like Slatur, which is sheep's blood pudding rolled in lard and sewn up in the stomach, as well as Svith, which is a half boiled lamb's head, and pickled ram's testicles.

Probably the only museum in the world to contain a collection of a country's phallic specimens, the Icelandic Phallological Museum contains a collection of over eighty penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland.

Keflavík International Airport is one of the most technically sophisticated and secure airports in the world.

Kjarvalsstaðir, Reykjavík's Art Museum named after Surrealist Johannes Kjarval annually hosts exhibitions of Icelandic and international art, with special emphasis on contemporary art.

Exhibitions from the Kjarval Collection are featured regularly.

Iceland's premier flea market offers clothes, typical Icelandic food, books and knick-knacks for sale. It is housed in a huge industrial building by the harbour.

Staged and performed in English is this account of Icelandic sagas focusing heavily on the Vikings.

Gljúfrasteinn, the home and workplace of Halldór Laxness (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955), features displays dedicated to his work.

Mount Esja offers views over Reykjavík. The climb to the 918 m/3,000ft summit is relatively easy.

Iceland's National Gallery houses the national collection of 19th and 20th C art, comprising the country's largest and most significant collection of works by all major Icelandic artists and a growing collection of works by foreign artists of note. The foreign artists include Pablo Picasso, Edward Munch, Karel Appel, Hans Hartung, Victor Vasarely, Richard Serra and Richard Tuttle.

The National Museum has a huge range of relics and tools spanning Reykjavík's 11 centuries of history. Its star attraction is a 12th C door depicting a Norse battle scene.

Sprawling east from the old town is New Reykjavík, home to the main shopping streets of Laugavegur and Laekjargata, as well as the National Gallery of Iceland.

Designed by the distinguished Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and open since 1968, the Nordic House is a Nordic cultural center whose main goal is to serve as a link between Iceland and the other Nordic countries.

The library features a collection of 30,000 Nordic books and exhibitions of Nordic art are held in the gallery.

The Numismatic Museum displays coins, medals and books. The collection is has almost 20,000 coins and almost 5,000 types of note.

The old town of Reykjavík with its brightly painted tin-houses is the city's hub. This rustic area bordered by the Harbor, Tjörn, Laekjargata and the suburb of Seltjarnarnes contains parks, lakes, markets and museums plus restaurants and lively nightclubs.

The 19th C Althingishús, one of the oldest stone buildings in Iceland, is the site of the world's oldest operating parliament, which dates from 930. There is a garden behind the building which is named after one of the members of Parliament, prime minister and a renowned entrepreneur, Tryggvi Gunnarsson, who is buried there.

As Iceland's biggest port, Reykjavík is a natural port of call for cruise vessels. Reykjavík and its port authority have achieved success in marketing the Icelandic capital as an ideal destination for cruise vessels and more ships call year after year.

Reykjavík Arts Festival is an annual festival of the arts showcasing an array of internationally known artists from the fields of music, theater and literature. It was held biennially from its inception in 1970 and then annually from 2004 to present. From mainstream to fringe, from classical to avant garde, artistic and cultural events have been presented at the Reykjavík Arts Festival from all the continents of the world and from home.

Reykjavík's harbor has a water's-edge stage which presents musical performances. Shops sell woolens, pottery and souvenirs. Often schooners or other replica ships moor in the harbor, and add interest and color to this rustic area.

A statue commemorating Ingólfur Arnarson, Iceland's first settler is located here. Landing on a shore of thermal steam, Ingólfur named the area Reykjavík, or "Smoky Bay."

The Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum exhibits works by the Icelandic sculptor. The artist's studio at Laugarnes was converted to house a large collection of his works; sculptures, sketches, drawings, and biographical material.

The museum sponsors various cultural programs, such as weekly summer concerts.

The plain white building houses the offices of the president and the prime minister. Built in the 18th C Stjörnarráðið is one of Reykjavík's oldest buildings and originally used as a jail.

Sundlaugar Reykjavíkur is a massive volcanically-heated swimming pool.

Geothermal swimming pools and hot pots play a major part in Icelandic life. The hottest pools have controlled temperatures of up to 44°C/108°F and are said to have certain medical benefits.

The largest is Laugardalslaug, which has a 50m/150ft pool, curved waterslide, five hot pots of differing temperatures and a steam bath.

In Iceland swimming lessons are mandatory and students cannot graduate without passing a swimming test.

The Thorvaldsenbazar was opened in 1901 by a charitable organization. Originally a place for locals to sell their homemade items, the bazaar now donates all its profits to charity.

Tjörn, located in the center of Reykjavík, is ideal for bird-watchers and a quiet walk. The lake whose name means "pond," is home to a number of species of birds including the wintering Arctic Tern.

This small natural island with caves, nesting birds and interesting basalt coastline is 5 minutes by boat from Reykjavík.

Inhabited until the 1940s, the island is the site of the Viðeyjarstofa, the oldest stone building in Iceland built in 1752, a church dating from the same period, and an interesting sculpture by renowned sculptor Richard Serra.

Film-makers Ósvald and Villi Knudsen are well known in Iceland for risking their welfare to capture historic volcanic moments on film.

This 2.5 hour film presentations of volcanic activity are presented in a rather unexceptional building.

First documented in mid-15th C, the farm was turned into a museum commemorating Icelandic life in 1957 and includes 27 examples of furnished homes and buildings illustrating how Icelanders used to live, including a turf church c 1842.

During the summer months, there are arts and crafts demonstrations as well as hay making displays.

A research institute holding the priceless manuscripts of Icelandic Sagas repatriated by Árni Magnússon.

The home and studio of the painter Ásgrímur Jónsson now shows paintings by the artist and displays of contemporary art.

The unique igloo-shaped building that was designed and built mostly by Ásmundur Sveinsson himself housing both the artist's studio and his home.

The Ásmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum is dedicated to the works of the sculptor (1893-1982). A sculpture garden surrounds the Museum, decorated with thirty of his sculptures.

Over 176,000 trees have been planted on the Öskjuhlíð hill. Bicycle and footpaths zigzag up and down the leafy hillside located near the Pearl Observatory.