CityBuddy
Reykjavik Old Town
Best time to visit
Visit on a weekday morning in May or September for the softest light and the fewest tour groups. Summer midnight sun stretches your visit almost endlessly, while December brings festive lights after just four hours of daylight.
Budget tips
Walking the streets is completely free, and most of the historic exteriors cost nothing to admire. Skip paid guided tours and instead download a free self-guided audio walk, then splurge on one museum pass if you want interiors.
Recommended for
History lovers, Photography enthusiasts, Slow travelers, Couples
Plan your visit
2-3 hours
About
Quick facts: The oldest street here still carries cobblestones laid over a century ago, and you can trace inhabitants back through layers of turf, timber, and volcanic rock. Some of the wooden houses have stood through more than a dozen eruptions that buried parts of the surrounding countryside in ash.
Highlights: The tiny lake at the heart of it all is fed by warm geothermal springs, so the water stays liquid even when winter temperatures drop below minus 10. Locals say the swans that winter here have figured out that the lake never freezes, and they return year after year to paddle through steam rising off the surface.
Insider tips
- Wear grippy boots from October through April, the cobblestones turn to sheet ice and locals are visibly amused by sliding tourists.
- The corrugated iron houses photograph best in the golden hour when the light catches the ridged metal at an angle.
- Skip the main drag where tour buses drop people, duck into the residential lanes behind it for the real character.
- Bring a thermos of coffee in winter and sit by the lake, the steam mixed with your breath makes for a proper Icelandic moment.
Practical info
Where to Stay in Vatnajökull National Park - Skaftafell
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More attractions in Vatnajökull National Park - Skaftafell
Þingvellir National Park (Thingvellir)
Geysir Geothermal Area / Strokkur
Gullfoss Waterfall
Blue Lagoon (Grindavík)
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