Top 10 things to do in Reykjavik, ranked
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Reykjavik harbour with Hallgrimskirkja in the distance
Ten Reykjavik experiences ordered by how much you’ll actually remember them a year later.
The top five: earn your ticket
1. Hallgrimskirkja tower — the 74-metre lift ride gives you the whole city grid at a glance for 1,400 ISK, and it takes ten minutes. 2. Sundhollin or Vesturbaejarlaug pool — 1,330 ISK, hot pots at 38-44°C, and the closest thing to a local living room. 3. Harpa concert hall — free to wander, and the honeycomb glass hits different at dusk. 4. Whales of Iceland in Grandi — life-size models, better than it sounds when the weather turns. 5. Reykjavik Art Museum's Hafnarhus site for Erro's pop canvases.
Six through ten: still worth your morning
6. The Sun Voyager sculpture at sunrise — free, five minutes, and the light off Faxafloi is genuinely cinematic in winter. 7. The Settlement Exhibition at Adalstraeti 16, built around a real 10th-century longhouse under the pavement. 8. Braud & Co for a cardamom snuor — 750 ISK and the queue moves. 9. Kolaportid flea market on weekends for fermented shark you can dare a friend with. 10. A walk up Oskjuhlid to Perlan for the observation deck and a genuinely good ice cave exhibit at 5,490 ISK.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Reykjavik.
No — it's 50 minutes away in Grindavik, not in Reykjavik. Sky Lagoon in Kopavogur is closer if you want a spa day.
Two full days if you’re efficient. Three if you want to linger in cafes and the pools, which is the correct answer.
