September 5, 2024, 12:48 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Reykjavík is worth a visit for many reasons – whether as a stopover on the way to America, a short city trip, or the starting point for a road trip through Iceland. The cityscape is a fun mix of styles, as peculiar as the Icelanders themselves.
The drive from Iceland’s international airport takes us through landscapes of dark basalt rock covered in short grass and past fields of sky-blue lupins. After just under an hour’s drive, a cluster of bright buildings appear: Reykjavík.
The city in the far north is a popular stopover destination on the way to the USA and has also become worth a weekend city trip for many. The air is fresh and clear, the landscape is of wild beauty – and the city itself is very tidy. The roofs of the wooden houses by the water’s edge glow red, blue, and green.
No shopping centers, no chains
If you don’t have much time, you should definitely book a city tour. The city center is easy to get around on foot. Audur Ösp from “I Heart Reykjavík” has been guiding visitors through the city for 14 years. “I was born here, so I know my way around,” she says. The cityscape of Reykjavík is somewhat reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s, in a positive sense: there are no shopping centers, hardly any chains. “People don’t want that here,” explains Ösp.
A third of the approximately 330,000 Icelanders live in the capital – and love individual stores. Incidentally, plush penguins are not a good souvenir – these animals can only be found in zoos in the Northern Hemisphere. Icelanders also do not understand why tourists find polar bears cuddly. “They get shot here,” says Ösp.
Like so many cities, Reykjavík is visually dominated by a mighty church: the tower of Hallgrímskirkja is 74.5 meters high (244.4 feet). Inside the simple Evangelical Lutheran parish church is a huge organ with 5275 pipes. You have a great view from the top.
Whale and seal meat is also on the menu here
Walking around makes you hungry, but that’s not a problem. Everyone who likes to eat is well catered for in Iceland. The best meat in Reykjavík is reportedly at the Grill Market Restaurant, and the pharmacy serves typical Icelandic food too. But what is typically Icelandic? Skyr, for instance, is like thick slices of white cream cheese. And there is a lot of fish. Of course, there is also whale and seal meat on the menu, which can upset some tourists. “But that’s quite normal for Icelanders – and we’re not going to stop,” says Ösp resolutely. The spices for the traditional dishes grow on the island: chervil, caraway, thyme. They are accompanied by cabbage or turnips, because other vegetables do not thrive in the cold climate.
Supposedly the best pizza in the city is currently served at Hverfisgata 12 – and you have to give the street name because the restaurant has no name. “The owner doesn’t need one,” says Ösp. This is probably where the hipsters of Reykjavík eat pizza with horseradish mayonnaise and mixed pickles. If you’ve been partying too late at night, the city’s oldest coffee house is the place to go. Founded in 1951, “Prikiò” at Bankastræti 12 serves the “Hangover Killer” menu in a cozy 60s atmosphere: a warm sandwich, a Bruce Willis milkshake with whiskey – and a painkiller.
Summer is only in July and August
To clear your head, you can also simply stroll through the streets lined with rich flowerbeds. Icelanders love flowers and trees. Most restaurants and pubs are wood-paneled and rather cozy. The urge to feel good is great in Iceland, which is certainly due to the weather. Summer is in July and August. The rest of the year is rather cool, with fog often lying over the island.
Reykjavík has only had urban planning since 1950, which is why the prison was located in the middle of the town until that year. And the rows of houses are built in a wide variety of architectural styles. The 60s yellow brick stands next to a white plastered farmhouse, the classicist stone building opposite a colorful wooden hut. Every color is allowed, which sometimes leads to excesses. “At first, we considered renewing the cityscape on a large scale,” says Ösp, “but then the city fathers decided that it suits us just the way it is.”
Even today, archaeologists in Reykjavík continue to find remnants of early settlements and old Viking longships. Especially in the area around the old harbor, where a lot of building and restoration work has been going on for some years now, Icelanders are finding the area around the main street too touristy. There are now also galleries, designer stores and fine restaurants on the waterfront.
Time for the catch of the day at one of the fish restaurants. Today it’s a nice piece of peppered cod with brown rice, pumpkin, and broccoli in beetroot juice. Apparently they can get plenty of vegetables in Iceland after all.
From Skyr to Kjötsupa These specialties are eaten in Iceland
From snack bars to luxury restaurants These 11 places serve the best pizza in Berlin
TRAVELBOOK author on site ‘I immediately fell in love with Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh’
Travel information about Reykjavík
How to get there: By plane from several German airports with Air Berlin, Iceland Air, Lufthansa, or Wow Air to Keflavik International Airport, around 50 minutes from Reykjavík.
Travel time: Between June and August. Iceland is a summer destination with a short high season. Winter is cold and dark.
The original version of this article was published in 2016.