A friend recently asked for advice on traveling to Reykjavik with her mother. As I happen to have traveled to Iceland with my mother–twice–I said I had some thoughts. So here are a few things to do with your mother* in and around Reykjavik.
* Assuming you mother is like mine and likes to get outdoors, but not go too crazy on the adventuring. For more of our other shenanigans on our Iceland road trip, see my other posts.
We were in Reykjavik in February, so a lot of things near the water were closed down for the winter, but if you will be there in the summer, definitely check out what there is around the water. You really can explore Reykjavik in a day, and then spend the rest of your trip getting outside the city to see some of the amazing natural beauty of Iceland.
If you rent a car you can drive yourselves to most of the main attractions near Reykjavik. Route 1, the Ring Road, encircles the country, is paved and easy to drive. There are hotels along the road, or you can use Reykjavik as a jumping off point for day trips. Another option if you don’t want to deal with driving in another country is to sign up with one of numerous tour companies that operate out of Reykjavik for partial day, full day, or multi-day trips. Most hotels will have brochures from the different companies, and can assist you in scheduling your tours. We did a couple of tours through Reykjavik Excursions, but there are other companies operating similar tours as well.
1. Ingólfur Square in Reykjavik
Start exploring Reykjavik in Ingolfur Square, a mostly pedestrian public square with a variety of interesting shops, restaurants, and cafes. Start in the center and poke around the nearby streets and stick your head through any door you find interesting. We found everything from a yarn shop (for mom) to a musical instrument store (for my brother) and a photography gallery (for me). Everyone we met spoke English and was friendly and happy to talk to us.Ingólfur Square, even in the rain, is a great spot to start exploring.
From Ingolfur Square, head east on Austurstræti, across the “major” road Lækjargata, and continue up Laugavegur. Now you have a choice, you can either continue straight up Laugavegur, or take the street that breaks off to the right, Skólavörðurstigur. Both contain more shops, bars, and cafes to explore. From Laugavegur you’ll have to turn right eventually, but Skólavörðurstigur will lead you straight to…
2. Hallgrimskirkja
This modern church is visible from most spots in Reykjavik, standing 73 meters high and towering above the surrounding stores. Pay the few Euros to take an elevator to the observation tower at the top for 360 degree views of Reykjavik. Just be prepared to make a quick descent; we saw a storm rolling in and moved from the open air top viewing platform to the enclosed platform one flight down right before the people above us got hit with snow and rain.
3. Blue Lagoon
Honestly, I found this attraction to be a bit overrated, but that may have been due to a scheduling error on our part. If you do decide to go to the Blue Lagoon, keep in mind that it actually takes about an hour to get there from Reykjavik. We didn’t realize that, and had to turn around almost right away to head back for our Northern Lights tour. It’s probably very relaxing if you’re not so worried about the time.
4. Northern Lights
Obviously, the highlight of our trip was seeing the Northern Lights, right? This is where I explain why I went to Iceland with my mom, TWICE. On our first trip, we did everything we could to maximize our chances of seeing the lights, but alas, Mother Nature had other plans. So, we went back a second time. On the second trip we got well out of the city to get away from the light pollution. Success! We saw the Northern lights on three different nights, and they were amazing!
If you are basing yourself in Reykjavik, I do recommend signing up for a Northern Lights tour. The guides talk to each other and bring you to places where there have been sightings that night. You’re more likely to see them than just driving around on your own. But I don’t recommend a boat tour, it was freezing and with the boat shaking, even if we had seen the lights, unless they were super bright, it would have been hard to get a clear picture.
5. Jökulsárlón
About five hours outside Reykjavik along the south shore of Iceland is the Glacier Lagoon and the Diamond Beach. The lagoon is where the Vatnajökull Glacier meets the water and pieces break off and drift out to sea. Sometimes they get stuck on the black sand beach across the road from the lagoon. Depending on what time of year you go, you may be able to take a boat tour of the lagoon. If not, you can still walk around the edge. I’d recommend trying to book a night at a nearby hotel to try to see the Northern Lights make an appearance over the lagoon, then head back to Reykjavik the next day.
6. Reynisfjara Beach
As you return to Reykjavik along the south shore, you’ll see rock formations in the water from the highway just off the shore of Vik.
Detour down to the black sand beach to look out on the ocean from the most southern point of Iceland.
Just be sure to stay out of the water, the undertow is dangerous.
7. Skógafoss Waterfall
As you drive back to Reykjavik, you’ll see this magnificent waterfall from the road, and maybe hear it too. It is extremely powerful and beautiful and worth a quick stop. Wear a raincoat though, or the massive spray will get you.
8. Seljalandsfoss
Another beautiful waterfall along Route 1 between Vik and Reykjavik.
Depending on the time of year, you may be able to walk behind the waterfall. Again, wear a raincoat, and good shoes or boots, it’s slippery and wet.
Mom and I did the South Shore Tour with Reykjavik Excursions which took us to Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, and the Black Sand Beach of Vik as a day trip from Reykjavik.
9. Golden Circle
Once you’ve taken in the south shore of Iceland, head north from Reykjavik to check out the sights in Western Iceland. One of the most popular routes is the Golden Circle tour. Every tour company has a version of this, or you can drive yourself. You’ll visit three sights, Geysir, Gullfoss, and the UNESCO site Þingvellir National Park. This can easily be done as a day trip from Reykjavik.
10. Snaefellsnes Peninsula
The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is a microcosm of all of Iceland’s ecosystems in one place. You can get a taste of all of Iceland by driving around the peninsula. Or, you can head directly to its most interesting landmark, Kirkjufell Mountain. If you’ve seen pictures of Iceland, you’ve most likely seen this mountain and the triple waterfall at its foot.
11. Hraunfossar Watervallen
If you are driving yourself, I recommend spending a night in Western Iceland along the Ring Road to take in some less visited attractions. Hraunfossar is at the top of my list, I thought is was just an awesome waterfall, and different than any others I saw in Iceland.
If you have the time, and depending on what time of year you go, you could also visit an ice cave, ice tunnel, or lava tube. Mom and I toured a lava tube, which was neat, but doesn’t make MY list of top things to do. Whale or puffin-watching tours are also very popular again, depending on the time of year. We did a whale watching tour out of Husavik, though there are some available out of Reykjavik. I generally enjoyed driving along the Ring Road, and pulling over when we saw something interesting we wanted to explore. Mom enjoys knitting, so we sought out yarn and textile sights as well. Whatever your interests, Iceland has it in spades.
“Route 1, the Ring Road, encircles the country, is paved and easy to drive.” My recollection of the ring road is somewhat different from yours. I remember the parts of this road that were unpaved, rested on sheer drops off the mountainside, had one lane bridges and/or tunnels (that’s one lane total, not one lane in each direction) or were otherwise unnerving. Glad we did it but just saying…
Admittedly, there are sections that are not as well kept as others. My recollection is that all those things you mentioned were encountered in one section of the road, which we unfortunately drove in the dark one night (except the tunnels which did occur in another part of the drive). But that was less than a tenth of the drive we did, literally, it was a few hours of a ten-day road trip. So overall, the road that encircled the country was easy to drive.