Iceland Things to Do

  The uninvited sea-gulls.
by Regina1965
 
  • The uninvited sea-gulls.
      The uninvited sea-gulls.
    by Regina1965
  • Öxarárfoss waterfall as seen from above.
      Öxarárfoss waterfall as seen from above.
    by Regina1965
  • The Pearl
      The Pearl
    by JessieLang
  • View from the Pearl
      View from the Pearl
    by JessieLang
  • From Öskjuhlíð - Perlan on the top of the hill.
      From Öskjuhlíð - Perlan on the top of...
    by Regina1965
 

Most Viewed Things to Do in Iceland

126.

Hallgrimskirkja   Reykjavík

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavík

 53 Reviews  There is a statue in front of Hallgrímskirkja church of Leifur Eiríksson or "Leif the Lucky". Amercians gave us this statue of Leifur Eiríksson. Leifur was the son of Eirik the Red and was born at... 

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127.

Blue Lagoon   Reykjavík Region

Blue Lagoon, Reykjavík Region

 38 Reviews  cont'd from tip 1): There is one parking space, one entrance (smack in the middle of lava fields, so sneaking in from anywhere is at your own peril!), a reception where the questions are how many... 

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128.

Perlan - The Pearl   Reykjavík

Perlan - The Pearl, Reykjavík

 19 Reviews  Öskjuhlíð hill is the hill around Perlan - it is a true gem in the middle of Reykjavik and a very popular outdoor area. Reykjavík - and Iceland on the whole - hasn't got many trees or forests so... 

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129.

Glaciers/ Geysers/ Waterfalls   Reykjavík Region

Glaciers/ Geysers/ Waterfalls, Reykjavík Region

 29 Reviews  I cannot believe that back in the 1920s these falls were nearly destroyed - that would have been criminal! They are raw and powerful, massive and mighty. There is a double cascade and the water drops... 

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130.

Blue Lagoon   Reykjavík

Blue Lagoon, Reykjavík

 15 Reviews  After you go in there are mens and womens changing rooms that are very nice and there are locks on all the lockers and they give you towels and robes. You are required to take a shower naked before... 

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131.

Hallgrimskirkja   Reykjavík Region

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavík Region

 29 Reviews  Worth a visit to this unusual modern cathedral that dominates the skyline of the city. Take the lift to the top for great views across the city and harbour. It is extremely windy up there and in the... 

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132.

Lake Tjornin   Reykjavík

Lake Tjornin, Reykjavík

 21 Reviews  Lake Tjornin is a lovely lake right in the center of Reykjavík; it's a natural feature, which has been there since earliest times, and it's a haven for ducks (and other water birds) and those who... 

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133.

Sculpture/ Statues   Reykjavík Region

Sculpture/ Statues, Reykjavík Region

 8 Reviews  In Reykjavik shorefront, not far from the city center -- nothing is far from anything in Reykjavik -- sits a commanding Viking ship statue. Made of metal, this modernised version of the ships Vikings... 

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134.

Golden Circle Tour   Reykjavík

Golden Circle Tour, Reykjavík

 13 Reviews  It is a circle of sights that is most achievable in one day out of Reykjavik. I did the golden circle and then drove on as far as Hella - this was a perfect distance and amount of sight seeing in one... 

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135.

Whale Watching   Reykjavík Region

Whale Watching, Reykjavík Region

 7 Reviews  There are plenty of possibilities for whale watching on Iceland, and the sea outside Reykjavik is considered a good place for it. I went on the Hafsulan boat ran by Reykavik Whale Safari and Puffin... 

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136.

Sólfarið - The Sun Voyager   Reykjavík

Sólfarið - The Sun Voyager, Reykjavík

 12 Reviews  Reykjavík is surrounded by sea and we have many beautiful waterfronts. The northern waterfront is a popular place for jogging and strolling. From there you have a great view of Esjan, which is... 

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137.

Swimming   Reykjavík Region

Swimming, Reykjavík Region

 5 Reviews  Reykjavík has many exterior geothermal pools, but Árbæjarlaug is by far our favourite. Located on the outskirts of Reykjavík, this modern complex has, along with the traditional swimming pool, a steam... 

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138.

Churches   Reykjavík

Churches, Reykjavík

 16 Reviews  The church at Bessastaðir is right in front of the Presidential residence in Álftanes area. The church is open for visitors. A church was first built there in the year 1000, but the current church... 

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139.

Buildings   Reykjavík Region

Buildings, Reykjavík Region

 14 Reviews  The Nordic Culture House in Reykjavík was opened in 1968. The house was designed by the world famous Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). He even designed the furniture in the café... 

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140.

National Museum of Iceland   Reykjavík

National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík

 10 Reviews  The National Museum conserves a varied selection of relics that testify to the cultural history of the Icelandic nation. It is an extremely interesting museum on 3 floors displaying all kinds of... 

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141.

Icelandic Ponies   Reykjavík Region

Icelandic Ponies, Reykjavík Region

 5 Reviews  Best I describe my experience and then leave you the details. Fancying a nice, gentle Icelandic horse ride across a romantic lava field with snow possibly gently fluttering down around us, I booked... 

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142.

Harbor   Reykjavík

Harbor, Reykjavík

 10 Reviews  112 Reykjavík is the postcode for the suburb Grafarvogur "Grave-cove". A part of Grafarvogur is Bryggjuhverfið "Wharf district". It is a quaint little district, really colourful and lovely. I often... 

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143.

City views   Reykjavík Region

City views, Reykjavík Region

 11 Reviews  For some of the best views of Reykjavik you can't go wrong with a trip to the top of the famous Hallgrimur's Church tower (Hallgrimskirkja), Reykjavik's main landmark . The views from the tower are... 

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144.

Radhus - City Hall   Reykjavík

Radhus - City Hall, Reykjavík

 10 Reviews  Our City hall is located in the pond "Tjörnin" really. It was inaugurated on April 14, 1992 and not everybody here was happy about this location and it caused a lot of controversy, but now the nation... 

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145.

Museums & Galleries   Reykjavík Region

Museums & Galleries, Reykjavík Region

 14 Reviews  Iceland's National Museum of History is a little bit out from central Reykjavik, but it's worth taking the 10 minute stroll to get here, even if you're not all that keen about history. An important... 

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146.

AlÞingi - Parliament Building   Reykjavík

AlÞingi - Parliament Building, Reykjavík

 8 Reviews  The Parliament building was built in 1881 and the architect was the Danish F. Meldahl. The building was made out of dolerite which was found in Skólavörðuholt a little below where Hallgrímskirkja... 

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147.

Perlan   Reykjavík Region

Perlan, Reykjavík Region

 7 Reviews  Perlan (literally, "the pearl") is one of Reykjavík's most striking buildings. You will no doubt see it as you come in the city from Keflavík Airport. Built atop the water tanks that supply... 

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148.

Geysers   Reykjavík

Geysers, Reykjavík

 3 Reviews  Geysir is another one of the highlights on most people's trip to Iceland. The thousand year old area of Geysir is located at the foot of the Bjarnfell and is dotted with hot springs from which bubbles... 

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149.

Tjornin   Reykjavík Region

Tjornin, Reykjavík Region

 6 Reviews  Tjorn is a small natural lake that you can find in downtown. It is very interesting because you can see a lot of birds. Near Tjorn there is the Old City Hall that is very nice; there is Domkirkja, the... 

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150.

Laugardalslaug Pool   Reykjavík

Laugardalslaug Pool, Reykjavík

 2 Reviews  There is an excellent spa called Laugar Spa next to and connected with one of our swimming pools, Laugardalslaug in Laugardalur valley. In the same building is the fitness center World Class. I have... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Blue Lagoon

by Maria81

Where?Blue Lagoon is located close to Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, on the main road between Keflavik international airport and Reykjavik, which makes it a convenient stop on the way to/from the airport. The drive would take about 20-25 minutes from the airport, and about 3/4 of an hour from the capital. What?The lagoon, which is a spa and a geothermal complex (of course, complete with restaurants, souvenir shops, skincare shops, etc.) is probably the most visited attraction in the country. Water in the swimming area is between 35 and 40 degrees centigrade, and is rich in sulphur and silica. While it may not necessarily make for the most pleasant of smells, it's an excellent place to relax (especially in colder weather!) and is also good for the skin. The milky blue waters of the lagoon also offer an excellent photo opportunity.Note of cautionLadies, remove the silver jewellery -...

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Snaefellsnes Peninsula

by Maria81

Where?A peninsula 90-km long in Western Iceland, it can be visited either by car or via a bus or minibus tour from Reykjavik (about 125km away to the main point of the Snaefellsnes volcano). One of the day trips from the capital where you don't actually need to fly.What?Sometimes called 'Miniature Iceland' for featuring most of the sights that the country if famous for - volcanoes, glaciers, hot springs - in one relatively small national park. It is also the country's only national park that has its own oceanfront. Snaefellsnes volcano is the main attraction, and has been the setting for Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. The surrounding glacier, Snaefellsjokull, is believed by the locals to be one of the Earth's main energy centres.Assuming for a second that you tire of the landscape, there's excellent bird-watching and seal-watching, and historical sites to boot (one of...

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Keflavik: Walk along the coast

by Krumel

There is an easy, short walk in Keflavik along the coast, starting at the marina and giantess's cave. Next you can climb aboard the fishing boat "Baldur", which was the first fishing boat in Iceland to have the bridge on the front deck. Continue along past the two large stone trolls.There are some nice views of the Keflavik shoreline with mountains visible on the far side of the fjord in good weather, until you get to a small lighthouse.And if you're really lucky (as I was), you might even get to see a whale during your walk!

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Keflavik: Giantess in cave

by Krumel

When walking along the Keflavik marina early in the morning I spotted a strange cave with a door and a window just at the end of the harbour. I remembered one of the tips on Regina1965's Iceland pages about a giantess in a cave and went to explore. When I got there the cave was still closed but thanks to Regina I had a vague idea of what would be inside, as otherwise I think I would have been quite perturbed by the loud snoring noises coming from behind the huge door...I went back later that morning when it was open and had a look at the giantess. She still seemed to be quite sleepy, but her snoring noises were now punctuated by burping and farting :-).Weird and wonderful, and kids will probably love this.

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Grindavik: Blue Lagoon

by Krumel

Although this is a bit of a tourist trap it is such a unique place that a visit to Iceland would not really be complete without it. The landscape around the lagoon looks so desolate, black lava fields as far as the eye can see, and then right in the middle of that you have these milky-blue lakes next to a steaming, geothermal plant.For swimming in the lagoon, admission is 30 Euro. But even if you don't want to spend so much money on a swim you can still spend some time there and for example walk around some of the smaller lakes that are around the swimming pool, and you also get very good views of the pool from the terrace of the restaurant or the viewing platform.

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Explore a Lava Tube

by MikeBird

We were in the local Tourist Information office in Hverageði. We were chatting about local places that were a bit off the beaten tourist trail and the young woman suggested we might like to visit one of the local Lava tubes. These are tubes created by flowing molten lava. The edge of which cools down more quickly than the inner core. On cooling, the molten rock solidifies thus insulating the inner lava which continues to flow down the middle until the lava supply runs out. This creates a tube which in time often collapses at the weaker points in the roof. It was down through the roof that we entered into this tube cave aided by natural light in a couple of places where there had been further roof cave-ins.What made this particularly special was that there were drips of water which had frozen onto the floor turning slowly into ice stalagmites that were slowly growing in height. These made...

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Go walking on a Glacier

by MikeBird

We booked a day trip from Reykjavik that included a 2 -3 hour hike on a glacier. The transport was a small coach that was perfectly comfortable for the journey to Sólheimjökull, a narrow tongue of ice, extending out towards the southern coast from the larger ice sheet called Mýrdalsjökull.After a brief comfort break at a petrol station we continued on the main Route 1 ring road turning left onto the dirt track which lead up to the tip of the glacier. There was an extensive meltwater river pouring out from the glacier and the whole area was covered in the black ash blown out from the previous years eruption of the nearby volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. Other glaciers further away from the volcanic ash cloud we were told, are not as black as this one.We were met by our guide Johan who worked from a group specialising in leading small parties up onto the glacier. After explaining safety basics...

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Verslunarmannahelgin - the first weekend in August

by Regina1965

The first weekend in August in Iceland is one of the busiest travel weekends here. Then we get Monday off and there are festivals and entertainment all around Iceland. I didn't really know where to add this tip - either a word of "warning" that you might get stuck behind endless lines of RV's and trailer tents - or "things to do" come celebrate with us :DThe biggest festival is "Þjóðhátíðin í Eyjum" or the National Celebration in Vestmannaeyjar islands. Around 15.000 people visit that festival. To get to Vestmannaeyjar islands you either go by the ferry Herjólfur or take a plane. Þjóðhátiðin has been held continuously since 1901.Then there are smaller festivals all around Iceland, the festival in Akureyri is called "Ein með öllu" (One with everything). In Neskaupstaður the festival is called "Neistaflug" (Flying sparks). In Stokkseyri it is called "Færeyskir fjölskyldudagar" (Faroese...

Reply to winter ring-road journey forum inquiry

by AuTourDuMonde32

Hae;The north and basically the majority of the country is very different from the south and capital region in the winter.. Where Reykjavik can be 5 degrees and sunny, the north can be -10 with 20cm of snow.The roads are extremely icey and this often presents a larger obstacle than snow.The east coast is desolate.. just, desolate.. especially in the winter.Supermarkets keep short hours during the holidays..though you with the exception of Christmas and New Years day they will be open.. "10-11" is open.HOWEVER, there are only a few sparse Bonus and Samkaup outlets outside of the captial region and Akureyri.. gas station markets will keep you alive otherwise..and of course, the hotels/ guest houses you will be staying in as "the dots on the map" along the way.A note on gas stations.. you will encounter many that are unmanned.. You MUST have a credit card that works there.. and I would...

South Coast of Iceland

by maximus19741

This tour is so different from golden circle tour as it is not crossing that route and landscape is amazing along the coast. There are many farms and sheep's in the very green valleys. Spectacular basalt cliffs and alot of bird watching places are stunning. We've seen two beautiful waterfalls and one of them letting you to walk behind the fall. This tour is definitely one of the best from Reykjavik. It is easy to find every place in this tour on the rental car but we did it as a guided tour which was really worth to do. We found 2 local operators doing it for price equal to car expenses (IGTours and Iceland4you.is). We want to do this tour again in the winter time to see frozen falls and dramatic sea views.

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Fun things to do in Iceland

Top 3 Hotels in Iceland

Castle House Luxury Apartments  Reykjavík Region

 2 Reviews and 195 Opinions  We have just returned from a long weekend break in Reyjavik and thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the... 

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Hilton Reykjavik Nordica  Reykjavík

 4 Reviews and 600 Opinions  I am now staying in this Hilton hotel which was part of the package tour that I booked with... 

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Hotel Reynihlid  Mÿvatn

 2 Reviews and 74 Opinions  We stayed in Reynihilo after doing a lot of research on the net as nothing else was available. In... 

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188 Hotels in Iceland
 
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Reviews and photos of Iceland attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Iceland sightseeing.

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Things to Do: Cities in Iceland
  1. Reykjavík Things to Do
  2. Gullfoss Things to Do
  3. Þingvellir Things to Do
  4. Höfn Things to Do
  5. Skaftafell Things to Do
  6. Selfoss Things to Do
  7. Vík í Mýrdal Things to Do
  8. Ísafjörður Things to Do
  9. Hveragerði Things to Do
  10. Geysir Things to Do
  11. Mÿvatn Things to Do
  12. Grindavík Things to Do
  13. Borgarnes Things to Do
  14. Stokkseyri Things to Do
  15. Hella Things to Do
  16. Grímsey Things to Do
  17. Akureyri Things to Do
  18. Skálholt Things to Do
  19. Hrísey Things to Do
  20. Blönduós Things to Do
  21. Vík Things to Do
  22. Kirkjubæjarklaustur Things to Do
  23. Keflavík Things to Do
  24. Vigur Things to Do
  25. Hafnir Things to Do
  26. Reykholt Things to Do
  27. Eyrarbakki Things to Do
  28. Skógur Things to Do
  29. Laugarvatn Things to Do

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Reykjavík Region Things to Do  Árnessÿsla Things to Do  Keflavík Things to Do  Akureyri Things to Do  Austur-Skaftafellssÿsla Things to Do  South Iceland Things to Do  Snæfellsnes- og Hnappadalssýsla Things to Do  Vestur-Skaftafellssÿsla Things to Do  Eyjafjarðarsÿsla Things to Do  Vestur-Ísafjarðarsÿsla Things to Do  Gullbringusÿsla Things to Do  Hafnarfjörður Things to Do 

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Q:  Two Questions: We'll be in Iceland driving in late March/mid-April. We are staying on main roads. 1) SADcars has good prices... 

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A: I love Subarus (the Forester especially), but you'll notice from the SADcars website that the Legacy is the largest vehicle that is not for highlands or F-roads. The... 

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