Places in Reykjavík
Reykjavík brings colourful streets, a working harbour and a lively food scene within easy reach of one another. Spend a morning with Icelandic history, walk past Harpa’s glass façade and look across the bay towards the mountains. Geothermal bathing makes an inviting pause between outings, while restaurants range from welcoming neighbourhood tables to intimate tasting counters. Allow a few days for the city itself, with time for coastal walks and plans that can shift with the weather.
The Reykjavik EDITION
Old Harbour, Iceland
The Reykjavik EDITION stands beside Harpa and the harbour, with warm wood, pale colours and local artwork softening its contemporary rooms. The setting gives the hotel a strong connection to the water, although views vary between room categories. TIDES restaurant, a café and several bars make it easy to spend time here between outings. Choose it for a polished city stay with a substantial food and drink offering and the waterfront immediately outside.
Waterfront design and dining
Visit Hallgrímskirkja
Skólavörðuholt, Iceland
Hallgrímskirkja rises above Reykjavík with a stepped concrete facade inspired by Iceland’s landscape. The church is both a city landmark and an active place of worship, so a visit should leave room for the life of the building as well as its architecture. Step inside to see the spacious interior and organ, then consider the separately ticketed tower for a view across the rooftops. Clear weather gives the panorama its greatest reach, but the building itself rewards attention in any season.
Architecture and a view over the city
DILL
Laugavegur, Iceland
DILL focuses on Icelandic ingredients and careful use of what the kitchen buys, from fish and shellfish to meat and vegetables. An open kitchen and a relatively restrained style keep attention on the combinations of flavour rather than elaborate presentation. The experience suits diners who want to understand the country through a considered tasting menu. Reserve it for an evening with time to spare, and let the changing ingredients guide expectations rather than planning around a particular dish.
Contemporary Icelandic cooking
ÓX
City centre, Iceland
ÓX makes dinner a close encounter with the kitchen, beginning in a retro lounge before guests settle at the dining counter. The rooms draw on family memories, giving the experience a personal frame for ambitious cooking. Icelandic ingredients are treated with an emphasis on depth and intensity of flavour, rather than decoration for its own sake. Choose it for a special evening when you want the meal itself to be the main event, with few other plans competing for time.
An intimate counter-dining evening
Explore Harpa
Waterfront, Iceland
Harpa’s glass facade changes with the light, reflecting the harbour, sky and city around it. Designed with artist Ólafur Elíasson and Henning Larsen Architects, the concert hall is worth visiting for its public spaces as well as its performances. Walk around the exterior, then look for the shifting patterns inside. A concert or guided tour adds another layer to the visit, while the waterfront setting makes it easy to combine Harpa with a longer stroll along the shore.
Glass architecture and live music
Hotel Borg
Austurvöllur, Iceland
Hotel Borg overlooks Austurvöllur in the old centre of Reykjavík, with an Art Deco identity that sets it apart from the city’s newer design hotels. The historic property combines traditionally elegant public spaces with modern guest facilities, including a spa and fitness area. Its location is particularly convenient for the parliament, museums and central restaurants. Choose it when you want an established hotel with a sense of occasion and a straightforward base for exploring on foot.
Art Deco character in the old centre
Discover Iceland’s nature at Perlan
Öskjuhlíð, Iceland
Perlan introduces Iceland’s landscapes through interactive displays, an indoor ice cave and a planetarium show about the northern lights. The glass dome sits above former water tanks on Öskjuhlíð, giving the building a distinctive shape and the observation deck a broad city view. It is a useful first stop for understanding the country’s geology, glaciers and wildlife, or an engaging indoor outing when the weather is poor. The aurora presentation is a show, independent of conditions outside.
Interactive exhibits and a city panorama
Iceland Parliament Hotel
Austurvöllur, Iceland
Iceland Parliament Hotel sits beside Alþingi and Austurvöllur, making it an easy base for exploring Reykjavík’s oldest streets. The hotel combines accommodation, dining and a spa in a setting closely connected with the civic centre. Its appeal is the balance between a convenient address and enough facilities to make returning indoors pleasant when the weather turns. Stay here for a city break focused on museums, restaurants and walks through the compact historic centre.
Central comfort and a spa
Matur og Drykkur
Grandi, Iceland
Matur og Drykkur gives traditional Icelandic recipes a contemporary treatment, taking inspiration from the influential cookbook of the same name. The restaurant moved to new premises in 2026, where an open kitchen serves a seasonal set menu in an industrial-style room softened by art and colourful details. Local ingredients provide the link between past and present. Choose it for a dinner that introduces Icelandic food culture through thoughtful cooking rather than a literal recreation of old recipes.
Icelandic traditions reworked
Bathe at Sky Lagoon
Kópavogur, Iceland
Sky Lagoon offers an ocean-facing geothermal bathing experience in Kópavogur, just outside Reykjavík’s central area. The warm lagoon and coastal outlook are the main attraction, while the bathing ritual adds contrasting heat, cold, steam and a body scrub. The mood changes with the season and weather, from long summer evenings to darker winter skies. Choose it for a slower outing after sightseeing, and give yourself time to enjoy the setting rather than treating it as a quick stop.
Geothermal water beside the ocean
Reykjavík Konsúlat Hotel
Old town, Iceland
Reykjavík Konsúlat Hotel occupies a former department store associated with the Thomsen family, bringing a small part of the city’s commercial history into a contemporary hotel. Vintage details and old photographs give the public spaces and rooms a personal character. The central setting puts restaurants and harbour walks close by, while the wine room provides an appealing place to finish the day. Choose it for a boutique stay with a warmer, more intimate mood than a large modern hotel.
Historic surroundings and a wine bar
TIDES
Old Harbour, Iceland
TIDES sits inside The Reykjavik EDITION beside Harpa, with a setting that connects the hotel to the harbour. Icelandic produce anchors the cooking, while the menu also draws on ingredients and techniques from farther afield. The choice between à la carte dishes and a tasting menu makes it useful for different kinds of evening. Choose it for a comfortable, contemporary restaurant with a broad enough offering to suit a group whose appetites and preferences do not quite match.
Modern dining inside the EDITION
101 Hotel
Hverfisgata, Iceland
101 Hotel takes a sharply contemporary approach to the Reykjavík city stay, with black-and-white interiors, modern furnishings and Icelandic art. Its location on Hverfisgata puts galleries, cafés and restaurants within easy reach, while the lounge gives the building its own social life. The rooms have an open, uncluttered feel, including bathroom arrangements that will not suit every traveller. Choose it for design and atmosphere, and look closely at the layout of the room you book.
Contemporary art and minimalist design
OTO
City centre, Iceland
OTO brings Italian and Japanese cooking together in a lively restaurant suited to an evening with friends. Handmade pasta, grilled dishes and Japanese seasonings sit comfortably alongside a strong cocktail offering. Guests can share plates or choose the more structured Kaiseki Experience, depending on how much of the evening they want to give to dinner. Its appeal is the combination of confident cooking and an energetic atmosphere, making it a useful change from the city’s quieter tasting-menu rooms.
Italian and Japanese ideas in a lively room
Visit the National Museum of Iceland
Suðurgata, Iceland
The National Museum of Iceland traces the country’s history through objects that connect major changes with everyday life. Its permanent collection moves from the settlement period towards contemporary Iceland, making it a useful place to build context before travelling farther around the country. Allow time to look closely at individual artefacts rather than rushing through the chronology. The museum works particularly well alongside the Settlement Exhibition, with one offering a national perspective and the other focusing on Reykjavík’s earliest streets.
The story of Iceland through objects
Sümac
Laugavegur, Iceland
Sümac combines Icelandic ingredients with Middle Eastern and North African flavours in a lively room on Laugavegur. A visible charcoal grill contributes both aroma and a clear focus to the cooking, while meze-style sharing menus encourage the table to try a range of dishes. Concrete, leather and warm lighting give the restaurant an informal urban character. Choose it for a sociable meal with cocktails, particularly when you want bold flavours without the formality of a long fine-dining evening.
Middle Eastern flavours and charcoal cooking
Kvosin Downtown Hotel
Austurvöllur, Iceland
Kvosin Downtown Hotel occupies a building dating from 1900 beside Reykjavík’s parliament and cathedral. Its small collection of rooms ranges from compact doubles to larger suites, giving it an intimate character in a very central setting. Contemporary furnishings sit within the older building, and the surrounding streets offer plenty of places to eat and drink. Choose it when you want a neighbourhood base with historic character, and match the room category carefully to the space you need.
A small hotel beside the parliament
Explore the Settlement Exhibition
Aðalstræti, Iceland
The Settlement Exhibition is built around the remains of a tenth-century longhouse discovered beneath Aðalstræti in 2001. Preserving the archaeology where it was found gives the visit an immediacy that a conventional display cannot quite reproduce. Interpretation explains the lives of the earliest inhabitants, while the connected exhibition at Aðalstræti 10 follows Reykjavík’s later development. Choose it for a focused introduction to the city’s history, from a small settlement to the streets you walk through today.
Viking-age Reykjavík beneath the streets
Sand Hotel
Laugavegur, Iceland
Sand Hotel sits on lively Laugavegur, with contemporary rooms and artwork providing a calmer retreat from the shopping street outside. Sandholt bakery occupies the ground floor, and the surrounding buildings have a long connection with Reykjavík’s commercial and cultural life. The hotel also serves an included breakfast buffet. It is a good choice for visitors who enjoy stepping directly into cafés, shops and restaurants, then returning to a smaller hotel with a relaxed atmosphere.
Boutique comfort beside a historic bakery
See contemporary art at Hafnarhús
Old Harbour, Iceland
Hafnarhús occupies a former harbour warehouse, giving Reykjavík Art Museum a substantial home in the oldest part of the city. Its programme focuses on contemporary art, with works by Icelandic and international artists alongside the collection associated with Erró. The industrial building provides a different setting from the city’s smaller galleries. Check the exhibitions before visiting and choose what interests you, leaving time to continue through the nearby harbour streets when you return outside.
Icelandic and international contemporary art
Lóla
Old Harbour, Iceland
Lóla offers Italian cooking in a stylish room near the harbour, with an open kitchen that adds movement to the evening. Fresh pasta is a central attraction, supported by dishes that can be ordered individually or as a set menu for the table. The atmosphere makes it suitable for both a dinner for two and a gathering with friends. Leave room for dessert, and consider pairing a meal with a visit to the neighbouring cinema.
Italian cooking near the harbour
Hosiló
Hverfisgata, Iceland
Hosiló occupies a small building on Hverfisgata, with a warm, personal atmosphere that encourages an unhurried meal. Its concise menu changes weekly according to the market, so there is little point arriving with a fixed dish in mind. Fish and seasonal produce are part of the kitchen’s straightforward appeal. Choose it for a smaller restaurant experience in the centre, especially when you would prefer a few carefully considered choices to an extensive menu or a long tasting sequence.
A small, welcoming neighbourhood restaurant
Exeter Hotel
Old Harbour, Iceland
Exeter Hotel brings an industrial style and a sociable atmosphere to the Old Harbour. Rooms vary from straightforward doubles to larger harbour-facing options, while the building’s food and drink spaces give it a life beyond overnight stays. Deig serves coffee, bagels and doughnuts, and Le Kock and Tail cover meals and drinks later in the day. Choose it for a lively base with character, especially if you enjoy being close to the harbour and evening activity.
Industrial design and a lively local scene
Explore Árbær Open Air Museum
Árbær, Iceland
Árbær Open Air Museum brings together historic buildings from Reykjavík around an older farm, creating a village-like setting outside the city centre. Walking between houses reveals changing approaches to building, domestic life and work, with exhibitions that give individual rooms and objects a human context. It offers a different perspective from the grander national collections, particularly for visitors interested in ordinary lives. Check the programme for guided tours and allow time to move between the buildings outdoors.
Historic houses and everyday city life
Fiskmarkaðurinn
Old town, Iceland
Fiskmarkaðurinn, also known as the Fish Market, combines Icelandic seafood with Asian influences in the old centre of Reykjavík. Sushi and sashimi sit alongside cooked fish, shellfish, meat and vegetarian dishes, giving diners several ways to approach the meal. Seasonal tasting menus offer a broader introduction to the kitchen’s style. Choose it when seafood is a priority but the table also wants variety, with the historic central setting adding character to the evening.
Seafood with Asian influences
Canopy by Hilton Reykjavík City Centre
City centre, Iceland
Canopy by Hilton Reykjavík City Centre draws on the site’s history as a furniture factory, music venue and arts space. Contemporary design, an art installation and a vinyl collection give the hotel a playful identity, while its central position keeps shops, cafés and nightlife close. Breakfast is included in the hotel’s offering, and there are dining and fitness facilities on site. Choose it for a comfortable urban stay with more local character than a conventional business hotel.
A relaxed hotel with a musical streak
Go whale watching with Elding
Old Harbour and Faxaflói, Iceland
Elding’s whale-watching trips leave from Reykjavík’s Old Harbour for the waters of Faxaflói, combining time at sea with guidance on the wildlife encountered. Boats have indoor seating as well as viewing areas, and passengers can visit the company’s Whale Watching Centre before or after the trip. Each sailing is different, so go for the experience of looking and learning rather than a promised sighting. It offers a useful change of pace from the city’s museums and streets.
Wildlife at sea
Tower Suites Reykjavík
Höfðatorg, Iceland
Tower Suites Reykjavík occupies the twentieth floor of a contemporary building at Höfðatorg, giving its small collection of suites unusually wide views over the city and surrounding landscape. Floor-to-ceiling windows make the outlook the main attraction, with different suites facing different parts of the coast and mountains. This is a good choice for travellers who value space and privacy. Its location is slightly removed from the oldest central streets, so allow for the walk into town.
Wide views from a small suite hotel
Walk the coast at Grótta
Seltjarnarnes, Iceland
Grótta lies at the western edge of Seltjarnarnes, where coastal paths, tidal flats and a white lighthouse offer a quieter view of the Reykjavík area. The nature reserve supports abundant birdlife, and the open coast gives a strong sense of the surrounding sea and weather. Walk the mainland paths for the scenery, with any crossing to the island dependent on tides and seasonal access. It is a good place for a slower outing away from the busiest central streets.
A lighthouse, seabirds and open skies
Grillmarkaðurinn
Lækjargata, Iceland
Grillmarkaðurinn puts fire, smoke and Icelandic produce at the centre of its cooking. Meat and fish feature prominently, with ingredients sourced through relationships with local farms and suppliers. The room uses materials associated with Icelandic nature, including driftwood and basalt, to create a warm setting for dinner. Choose between individual dishes and a tasting menu, depending on appetite. It is a good fit for diners who enjoy grilled flavours and a restaurant with a substantial, convivial feel.
Icelandic ingredients cooked over charcoal