Two full days on an Icelandair stopover, what to do? Sunny but cold for the first day and clouds move in for the second. Get out of town for the first day – Golden Circle and Northern Lights. Sleep late and enjoy cosmopolitan Iceland in its capital city of Reykjavík.
OTHER PLACES TO SEE FIRST
Weather is a big factor on any trip to Iceland at any time of the year. In mid-October maybe more so. I had been watching the weather in Reykjavík for the previous month noting the constant days of rain. And then a minor miracle. The sun came out the two days before our arrival with at least one full day of sun before the weather changed back to more normal Icelandic conditions.
After doing the touristic bus day tour covering the three main stops on the Golden Circle – Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss – we added on a Northern Lights tour for the evening. Just as we were about to give up, the Lights began to appear in the northern skies above Þingvellir where our bus had returned to in order to find true dark skies. This meant the guarantee of seeing the lights worked out for the tour bus company. They would not see us again for another Northern Lights tour unless we paid for another round.
From this last tour, we returned to our hotel around 0200. Clouds expected in the morning, we decided against spending another full day on the bus on another tour, staying in town to see what we could walk to in the capital city.
THE SMOKY BAY
From your tour guide – Golden Circle, in our case – you quickly find out that Reykjavík gets its name from Old Norse – reykr (smoke) + vík (bay). The smoke refers to the steam coming off local hot springs. The origins of the city date back to 870 when Ingólfr Arnarson showed up with his group from Norway after running afoul of a blood feud in the old country.
There was not much of a town, however, until the middle of the 18th century when Skúli Magnússon helped form Inredningin, a company aimed to focus on improving the economy of the island through several different endeavours – agriculture, wool weaving, ropemaking, fur processing, shipbuilding, fishing.
Reykjavik became the center of construction. The wool industry became the starting point for the city to begin taking shape with several houses and a stone prison – built between 1761 and 1771 – which today houses Iceland’s Prime Minister’s offices. In 1796, the Reykjavík Cathedral became consecrated not long after town rights were granted to the newly forming village in 1786.
THE VILLAGE BECOMES A TOWN BECOMES A CITY
In the 19th century, Reykjavík became the center of Icelandic nationalism, first with the re-establishment of the Alþingi in 1845. Initially, the Alþingi functioned only to advise the Danish king about affairs in Iceland. That changed with an initial constitution being granted in 1874 with the granting of limited legislative powers. Home Rule gave the local government executive powers in 1904 with Iceland becoming a sovereign country – Kingdom of Iceland – in personal union still with the Danish crown in 1918.
The entire time, Reykjavík remained the main center of business, as well as political power in Iceland. At the time of ascending into the ranks of sovereign nations, Reykjavík was home to almost 20,000 people. The town doubled each decade until the middle 1960s and picked up growth again from 1980 until the middle 2010s, today sitting at 136,764 with a total of 242,995 living in the Capital Region – Reykjavík’s metropolitan area. That makes up 63% of Iceland’s total population. A good-sized increase in the population comes from immigrants originating from Europe, especially the newer EU member states from the former Eastern Bloc.
TOURISTS IN THE SMOKE
To say Reykjavík tourism starts and ends on Laugavegur probably states the obvious. The street name means “wash road” in Icelandic. It led from town to the hot springs in Laugardalur close by today’s Laugardalsvöllu, the largest football stadium in Iceland. At one time Laugavegur was the main commercial street of the city. Today, shopping malls have taken over as far as domestic shoppers go. I have heard the only Icelanders found today on Laugavegur work there. If so, even in mid-October, I was amazed at the number of tourists wandering along Laugavegur and its side streets.
To the immediate west of Laugavegur is Austurstræti an extension of the pedestrian area leading to Ingólgur Square. To the south of the six-story buildings lies the Austurvöllur, a grassy square facing the Cathedral and the Alþingi to the south.
We visited the bar at the Kjarval Club – Vínbúðin Kjarval – for a drink and a chance to overlook the heart of Icelandic political power. On the east and west sides of the squares reside some of the most expensive hotels in a relatively expensive city. Cafes line the square in good weather. By the time of our visit, most had retreated inside due to the cold. The square is also the site of many political protests and while, on this trip we did get to see a big political rally in Lisbon, everything was quiet and peaceful here in Reykjavík.
ONE INTIMIDATING STREET
We visited another popular tourist street with the daunting name Skólavörðustigur. We climbed up from Laugavegur past the one block section known as the Rainbow Street, to gain the top of Skólavörðuholt where Iceland’s largest church sits, the Hallgrímskirkja. The church took 41 years to build from construction start in 1945 until 1986, though the tower for which the church is best known for was completed 12 years before the final construction finished. Belonging to the Lutheran Church of Iceland, the church is one of the tallest buildings in the country. Church leaders wanted it to outshine the Catholic Cathedral, the Landakotskirkja which was Iceland’s largest at the time of its 1929 consecration.
Hallgrímskirkja sports a carillon of bells atop ringing out the hours. There are two large pipe organs inside. One can pay to take the elevator up to an observation deck for a view over the city and its surrounding area. Entry into the church is free. A statue of Leifur Erikson stands in front of the church erected in 1930 commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland’s parliament at Þingvellir in 930.
There are a lot of good restaurants in Reykjavík, but they are not cheap. We ate at the Sjávargrillið on Skólavörðustigur just across from the Hegningarhúsið, a former prison which operated from 1872 until 2016. The food was super which helped ameliorate the guilt felt when seeing bill translated from kronur to dollars.
Another stop on the street was the Handprjónasambandið, the Handknitting Association of Iceland. At least, buying here meant it came from here. There were plenty of other Icelandic souvenirs emblazoned “Made in China”.
TOO LITTLE TIME
There was a lot of Reykjavík we did not get to see. We only had a little over half a day, so we missed places like the Concert Hall, the Art Museum, the City Hall on the Tjörnin – City Pond, the National Gallery, the harbor, the National Musuem and adjoining University of Iceland, the Saga Museum, the Perlan Museum. So little time.