Reykjavík Archives ⋆ The Passenger

July 10, 2023July 24, 2023

Sky Lagoon

When you’re at Reykjavík and searching for the right spa to relax you have a tough choice to make. You can drive by car to the Reykjanes peninsula and visit the famous blue lagoon (Bláa Lónið). They market it as one of the wonders of the world, but actually it is just a (beautiful!) lake in a volcanic environment filled with water from a geothermic plant. If you want to skip this often overcrowded place you should have a look at the sky lagoon directly in the capital city. It was opened in 2021 and is located directly at the shore.

July 10, 2023July 24, 2023

Phalluses

Icelandic Phallological Museum, Reykjavík

Don’t call it a penis museum. Yes, it contains a very large phallological collection and the museum doesn’t take itself too serious – but the museum has a scientific background and is not like this special museum at Amsterdam visited by giggling teens. The museum presents 284 phalluses and aims to have one from every mammal living on Iceland. They’re struggling a bit with conserving a human one in good shape, but they’ll probably solve this issue.

July 4, 2023July 23, 2023

Capital by the sea

Reykjavík is a special capital city, as it is the most-northern capital of the world. It can be found in the West of Iceland at the shore. Why is that? It was founded by Ingólfur Arnarson (one of the first settlers) in 874 CE in Viking tradition: he threw wooden poles from his ship and waited where they would reach land. Today the city has 140,000 inhabitants and is the largest settlement in Iceland. Its name literally means ‘smoky bay‘ which might refer to hot springs once existing in the area.

July 4, 2023July 23, 2023

Perlan

On a hill called Öskjuhlíð south of the city center of Reykjavík you can find Perlan (‘pearl’). It is a wonderful place especially for evening hours with nice views on the region (plus it is open until 10pm). Perlan is a double-usage facility: in first line it is a storage for hot water and the city is supplied from their. In 1991 six water storages made of aluminum and covered by a glas cupola were activated. In 2017 the second usage started in addition: it is now also a natural history museum.

July 4, 2023July 21, 2023

Hallgrímskirkja

One of the most important sights of Reykjavík is the Hallgrímskirkja church. It is a Protestant church in expressionist style, the building looks like a row of basalt columns with different height and therefore fits really well to the island. The 74.5 meters high tower is located on a hill close to the city center and you can buy a ticket to get by elevator to the top – giving you fantastic views on the capital city. The church was built from 1945 on and was finally finished in 1986.

July 4, 2023July 21, 2023

Norðurey Hotel City Garden

The Norðurey Hotel at Reykjavík is the perfect motel if you’re exploring Iceland by car and want to have a pitstop at the capital city. The check-in is fully automated, you’ll receive a five-digit code upfront to your stay by e-mail. This code opens the front door of the hotel as well as your hotel room. The region around the hotel is quiet and there are parking lots in front that might be already full if you arrive late; but than you’ll easily find space to park your car in the streets surrounding the hotel.