Iceland is a beautiful country, full of outstanding natural beauty, volcanoes, waterfalls, and black sand beaches. It really captured my heart on my recent trip. With all the beautiful landscape in this stunning country, the capital Reykjavik can often go overlooked, but don't! It has some amazing architecture, vibrant street art, gastronomic delights and interesting museums. This is my post on top things to do in Reykjavik. 1. Visit HallgrÃmskirkj
HallgrÃmskirkj
HallgrÃmskirkj, the largest church in Iceland is the main landmark being in an elevated position it can be seen from most places in the city. Designed by Guðjón Samuel in 1937, it's a cool building, the architect was inspired by the shapes of lava when it cools in basalt rock. For a fantastic view over the city, take a life to the top of the church. 2. Snap a photo of the Sun Voyager
Solfar the Sun Voyager
On Reykjavik's waterfront, is the statue of the Sun Voyager - called Solfar. This striking landmark is a huge steel sculpture by Jon Gunnar Arnason. Thought to resemble a Viking ship, the sculpture is, in fact, a 'dream boat' and ode to the sun. The artist's intention was to give the city something to inspire dreams and hopes.
3. Go to a concert or grab a cocktail at Harpa
Harpa the concert hall
Harpa, the concert hall designed by Olafur Eliasson is a stunning building on Reykjavik's waterfront. Opened in 2011, it's the place to go for concerts as well as cocktails with a view. There are two places to eat in Harpa, a cafe and restaurant on the ground floor called Smurstöðin and Kolabrautin, a modern restaurant focusing on Icelandic food fused with Meditteranean cuisine. The coloured glass windows are inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.
4. Admire the amazing street art
Iceland is known for its amazing street art, and there is so much of it to see in the city that you could spend half a day just strolling around the centre and taking it all in. Some pieces of artwork are created with permission from private building owners, some are commissioned and some are less formal, but the variety of the artwork is astounding.
5. Visit one of the many museums
The Settlement exhibition
From the Punk Museum to the Whales Of Iceland exhibition and the Saga Museum, Reykjavik has a museum for everyone. We visited the Settlement exhibition which explored the life and work of the first settlers and was interesting for an hour. We were given a Reykjavik city card which covered a number of museums and attractions and gave us entry into the Settlement exhibition. Well worth doing if you are staying in the capital for a few days.
Where we stayed
Eyja Guldsmeden Hotel
We stayed in the city centre at the Skuggi hotel before our drive around the country. We thought this 3-star hotel was good value as it had daily buffet breakfast and was only 5 mins walk from the main shopping street Laugavegur. The rooms were modern, stylish and exceptionally clean.
When we returned to Reykjavik for one night before our flight home we stayed at the Eyja Guldsmeden Hotel, a stunning and very beautiful boutique hotel, not far from Laugavegur.
Where we ate
Kopar
We had a tasty meal at Hraðlestin an Indian restaurant not far from Harpa, and Kopar, where we had an outstanding meal for my birthday. The location of Kopar was perfect too, right in the marina, with a great view. We also took a tour with the Reykjavik Food Walk which I would highly recommend for a taste of Icelandic cuisine as well as a humorous tour of the city.
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Tell me would you visit Iceland? What do you think of my suggestions in Reykjavik?
Iceland is a country known for it's 'worse' food options, think rotten shark, 'black death' vodka and boiled and singed sheep's head, so it was with a little trepidation that I booked a Reykjavik food walk tour of the city with Mr W on our recent visit.
Of course, I needn't have worried as I also knew that Iceland is known for its amazing fresh fish, seafood and tender lamb too. The Reykjavik Food Walk tour is an authorised food tour by the Iceland tourist board and is run by local foodie enthusiasts.
We met our tour guide, in front of Harpa the concert hall at the harbour. You can't miss it if you are a tourist as it's pretty spectacular. Our guide was spectacular too, and you couldn't miss him either,Kjarnan, was tall with a great long red beard, and round Harry Potter glasses.
our guide Kjarnan
So after our introductions, the small group departed from Harpa to our first stop at The Icelandic Bar. Now before the tour, I had prepared myself. Information sent out from the company gave us the weather information which was very handy as Iceland's weather is notorious for being very changeable. I also came hungry as the food tour is approximately 4 hours in length and includes a number of stops at local restaurants.
lamb soup
At our first stop at the Icelandic Bar, we tried the lamb soup. It is the type of soup that grandmothers pass down through generations and consists of root vegetables, chunks of lamb and a gravy. Sometimes with this type of soup barley or oats are added although this variation did not have any. The soup was totally delicious, full of chunky piece of tender lamb. It reminded me a little of the Welsh soup Cawl. Accompanying the soup we were given lots of lovely bread. Lambs roam freely in Iceland and you will find lamb on most restaurant menus. If you go to Iceland and you eat red meat be sure to try the lamb dishes. After our lamb soup, we moved to our next stop at Osta Budin.
Osta Budin deli
Osta Budin is well-known as an excellent delicatessen in the centre of Reykjavik, It also has a highly recommended restaurant attached which is number 3 on Trip Advisor for restaurants in Reykjavik.
meats and cheeses in Osta Budin
Here we had a chance to try a selection of meat and cheeses. Kjarnan explained to us these are local cheeses and cured meats, and there may be one or two things that are slightly unusual here. So what did we get that was unusual... smoked goose and cured horse that is what?! Now I'm an adventurous soul and years ago I tried horse in Franch so as the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound and I tried the lot. The horse tasted a little like beef, I wasn't too keen on the texture though as it was soft, the goose, however, was delicious and reminded me of smoked turkey. The cheeses were very good, all different - a blue cheese, a harder Gouda-style cheese which was particularly tasty and a soft brie style cheese. Apparently, they only use cows milk to make cheese in Iceland and Kjarnan stated they are missing a trick here.
The little deli is a treasure trove of local delicacies and I would certainly recommend a visit if you are in Reykjavik.
Hallgrimskirkja
The next stop was Loki, a well-known restaurant that serves Icelandic food near Hallgrimskirkja, the iconic church for which Reykjavik is known. Now rye bread is found everywhere in Scandinavia and Iceland too, and the ice cream we were to try on this foodie stop was made of rye bread.
Rye bread ice-cream
They make the ice-cream by caramelising the rye bread to get the right sweet flavour and it certainly showed in the taste. With little chunks of rye bread in a smooth creamy ice-cream, it was an interesting flavour and had a great texture. Topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce I would definitely recommend trying it if you have a sweet tooth. Loki is also a place good for trying the more unusual and traditional Icelandic foods as mentioned previously. Before our next stop, we had a little history lesson from our guide, all about Norse gods. Kjarnan really knew his history and was a well-read and knowledgeable guide. I had to throw a little curve ball in here and asked him a question - was it true that many Icelandics believe in elves? At this point, Kjarnan laughed at me as said that is a load of nonsense, so that put me right. I told him I saw an 'elf school' on the travel show Travel Man and Kjarnan said that the owner of the school is, how can I say, a little unhinged!
Mr W and the infamous Icelandic hot dog
Onto our next stop. Now as food in Reykjavik is so expensive, the next item had to be the famous Iceland hotdog, the cheapest and most popular street food in Iceland. The stall we stopped by was well-known as Bill Clinton stopped here on his visit to Iceland. and is called Bæjarins Beztu Pylsu, which translates to best hot dogs in town. We were told to have it with 'the works' this consisted of a ketchup sweetened with apple sauce, a sweet brown mustard, crispy onions and a remoulade that was sweet and a little sour. These hotdogs are made with lamb and were incredibly yummy. Were they much different to the hot dogs you get in the UK? Probably not but I think the extras all added to the flavour and they are a cheap street food for the Icelandics, as a sandwich can cost £10 in a cafe. These hotdogs were around the £3 mark.
Seabaron
Next stop was the Seabaron, a well-known restaurant on the harbour and at this point, we were getting full!
Icelandic seafood soup
Here we were given a bowl of Icelandic seafood soup. The seafood soup reminded me of Tom Yum soup from Thailand, and we were told this is because coconut milk is added to this recipe. The soup was rich and tasty but did not really have any seafood in it except for a very small piece of lobster. Lots of bread accompanied the soup.
The Sea Baron is a rustic restaurant and here you can have the infamous rotten shark or hákarlwhich is actually fermented shark, not rotten shark. One to try at a later date! We also learnt here from our guide that beer was illegal in Iceland until 1989.
Just before our last stop, we were given a Skyr dessert. Now Skyr is made with curds from milk and is thought of as yoghurt but is actually made like a cheese. The dessert though tasted like a thick creamy yoghurt and was lovely.
Mr W trying Skyr
Our last stop was Apotek, a fine dining restaurant. It used to be a pharmacy in the past. Here we were given coffee and dessert. The dessert was outstanding, a beautifully presented concoction of chocolate, raspberry and lemon. The menu here looked really interesting and this would be a place for a special occasion meal for sure.
beautiful presentation at Apotek
Finally, before we left we were given a parting gift of a bar of chocolate called EITTSETT, which has a layer of liquorice on the top. As I am not a fan of liquorice I kept this as a gift for my son.
We both thought the Reykjavik Food Walk was a really great introduction to Icelandic food from street food to gourmet food. Our guide was funny, interesting and really made the tour entertaining. Vegetarians are catered for, and other dietary needs so be sure to contact them in advance to explain any issues. As Mr W doesn't eat much red meat he was offered vegetarian options.
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The Reykjavik Food Walk costs 13900 ISK, which is about £100. Yes, it is costly but everything in Iceland is. If you are a foodie though it is certainly worth doing. If you want a laugh, learn about the history of this beautiful country, and orientate yourself to Rekyavik do it! The best thing though is that you won't go home hungry. We really loved Iceland, it is a beautiful country and the Reykjavik Food Walk was a brilliant afternoon in the capital city. Highly recommended. Why don't you check out some of the highlights of the food tour below from my travel blog Fly Drive Explore? If you want to find out more about Icelandic food read Kavey Eats A Guide To Icelandic Food.
