How to spend 24-48 hours in Reykjavik 🇮🇸

Reykjavik (translating to Smokey Bay) is the capital city of Iceland. A small but colourful city of around 140,000 people, heated almost entirely by geothermal hot springs. It is one of the only cities in the world with no McDonalds or Starbucks and has an epic road with a rainbow painted on the floor which points your view up to the huge 244ft church made to look like basalt lava columns. This unique place is a little slice of civilisation before the rest of the island peters off into unfathomably vast landscapes that hold seemingly endlessly waterfalls and volcanic rock in every direction with built up villages few and far between.

When I landed in Keflavik for the third time, I had decided that THIS trip was going to be the one where I actually explored the city and didn’t just run into two souvenir shops on the last day to grab mementos for my family. I know, I hate to be that person and I am proud to say that I am not her anymore. So, whilst I waited in the hire car (we were upgraded to a jimny!) for my boyfriend, Montel, to land later that afternoon, I planned out our evening and following day to ensure we made the most of our time there.

When we were ready to head into the city that evening we went straight for dessert (obviously). We headed over to OmNom which is an ice cream place with extravagant toppings and designs. The building is colourfully painted and has both indoor outdoor seating. I went for a medium Honey Bee because I knew it was going to be overly sweet. Though they had unfortunately sold out of the honeycomb chocolate decoration, so I got extra chocolate coated caramel instead. My boyfriend and his overly excitable appetite got a large Polar Bear, which he struggled to finish because the portions were generous enough already. Despite the overconsumption, it was 10/10 and I highly recommend a visit.

Post ice cream indulgence we headed into the harbour to embark on the Midnight Sun Whale Watching Tour from Get Your Guide(affiliate link). I loved this experience, it departed at 8.30pm and the evening light in the harbour was gorgeous so I managed to photograph the ferry and harbour before we left for sea. We saw some puffins on the way out and I think we saw some dolphins but they were fast and heading in the opposite direction. We spent about an hour heading out off of the coast before the sun started to dip down into the beautiful midnight sun pastels and we arrived at the whale’s feeding spot. It was incredible. Whales were bubble feeding, jumping out of the water, diving down and thrashing their tails about. I couldn’t believe the size of them or how close they got to the boat. I took photographs but I honestly just wanted to experience the actual whale watching with my boyfriend. So I’ll need you to trust me when I say it’s absolutely worth the money! So much so that if I am lucky enough to visit again it’ll be to the north of the Iceland to hopefully catch a blue whale.

The next morning we took a slow start in the city and decided to meander the few main streets and explore the independent shops there. I fell in LOVE with this handmade, huge, fur hat but the price tag was unfortunately not something I was willing to spend considering it doesn’t have year-round use. We shopped for a few hours, came across a cat sleeping on a pile of scarves in a shop and then decided it was time for lunch. Having heard many good things about Le Kock, and Montel being an avid burger lover, we decided that would be our restaurant of choice. It was delicious, we got the lunch deal and both had a burger, potatoes and a drink. Montel got chicken wings too… see previous comment about his overly excitable appetite. 9/10, it was great and the service was quick! The prices weren’t too offensive considering it’s a pricey city, highly recommend.

We walked the rainbow road and headed up towards the church to take a look inside, it’s a gorgeous building with a beautiful organ. It’s worth a look around but we didn’t feel a calling to buy a ticket up to the viewing platform though this is something you can make time for, instead we headed down to the harbour to spend some time by the ocean. We stopped on the way in an old, 4th generation family owned, booked shop called “Verslunin Bræðurnir Eyjólfsson” or The Old Bookstore in Reykjavik. It had wonderful stationary and a great selection of Icelandic books that had been translated into English.

There isn’t a great deal to do in the city, though it’s definitely worth a visit. I wouldn’t say you need more than one full day here, and though I was very satisfied with our itinerary, there are often events and different places to visit for those who drink alcohol or want a more viking themed experience, so do your research depending on the time of year you’re going.

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the photographs.