What is there to do in Reykjavik, Iceland? If you are like me when I was younger, you may think of Iceland as this:
This is actually Greenland
There are actually no polar bears in Iceland, and the population (of people) is 323,002. The capital Reykjavik (pronounced Rey-kya-veek) houses 119,289 of them.
Perhaps I lied: there is one polar bear
When we were there (May 29th-31st) the sun was out until about 11:30 PM and came up at 3:30 AM, and some June days have Midnight Sun and the Summer Solstice: all day sun.
Everywhere we went took chip-and-pin card, and either Euros or Iceland Kronas, although some places including the airport took USD as well.
Iceland was one of the pricier countries we’ve been to, especially for food. The lamb, lobster and seafood are extremely good and fresh here and they have a decent amount of vegan and vegetarian options as well. On the menu at traditional Icelandic restaurants are Hakarl (shark meat), whale meat, and puffin. There is a lot of controversy especially over the whale meat for ecological reasons and it is mostly consumed by tourists. We decided not to partake partially for those reasons.
Lobster soup and sandwich from Lobster Hut
Vegan food from Glo
We started our stroll at the beautiful harbor, and walked along the waterfront. Below is Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre
The Sun Voyager Sculpture
Next we wandered around Old town Reykjavik. Stumbled upon some historical statues and of course could not miss going up Hallgrimskirja
Ingolfur Arnarson- according to the Book of Settlements led the first crew to be permanent settlers and named the city Reykjavik (Smoke Cove) after steam from the hot springs in the area.
Awww from the USA…Leif Eriksson…who may have actually “discovered” North America first
Hallgrimskirkja- try saying that one five times fast- is a Lutheran church which is the tallest building in Reykjavik. It is free to tour and go up the tower to the observation area, but obviously is closed during church services.
Hallgrimskirkja church
One thing we were not expecting was how Icelanders LOVE to party. Reykjavik was bustling on the cold sunny day as we were strolling around and had the coolest laid back vibe. There was street art, murals, bars and lounges, and neat local shops. The locals are also super friendly, and there were many places playing hard rock and metal- we were super stoked about that!
Now you know there is a Chuck Norris Grill somewhere in the world
Street Art
The Viking lager and Einstok lager were our favorites
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