Reykjavik
Iceland's compact capital and gateway to the Ring Road
Top Experiences in Reykjavik
Arnarstapi Coastal Walk
The coastal path between Arnarstapi and Hellnar follows the edge of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula for 2.5 km past basalt columns, sea arches, and bird cliffs. At one end, a half-troll's statue watches over the harbour. At the other, a small café serves fish stew with an ocean view.
Blue Lagoon
We'll be honest — we went in sceptical about the hype and the price tag. But floating in milky-blue water surrounded by black lava rock at 8 AM, with steam rising into the cold air and hardly anyone else around, won us over.
Brúarfoss
Brúarfoss might be the most vivid blue waterfall in Iceland — glacial meltwater from Langjökull filters through lava rock and emerges an almost unreal turquoise, cascading across a wide rocky shelf in a series of braided channels.
Eiríksstaðir Viking Museum
Eiríksstaðir is a reconstructed Viking longhouse in the Dalir region of West Iceland — the former homestead of Erik the Red and likely birthplace of his son Leif Eiríksson, the first known European to reach the Americas. A guide in period dress tells the sagas by an open fire.
Fagradalsfjall Volcano Trail
The Reykjanes Peninsula eruptions reshaped this landscape between 2021 and 2025 — walking across still-warm lava fields with steam rising from cracks is about as close to another planet as you'll get without leaving Earth.
Gullfoss
Gullfoss drops 32 metres in two dramatic stages before vanishing into a narrow canyon — stand at the lower viewpoint and the sheer force of the Hvítá river hits you in the chest, along with a fair amount of spray.
Öxarárfoss
Öxarárfoss drops 20 metres into the Almannagjá rift at Þingvellir National Park — a waterfall set literally between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, in the same gorge where Iceland's parliament was founded in 930 AD.
Strokkur Geyser
Strokkur erupts every 5 to 10 minutes, launching a column of boiling water up to 30 metres into the air — it's Iceland's most reliable geothermal performance, and watching the bubble form and burst never gets old, no matter how many times you see it.
Photos of Reykjavik
