What is the Reykjavik self-guided walking tour?
The Reykjavik self-guided walking tour is a walk you lead yourself, with audio narration on your phone instead of a guide. Count on about 3 hours: 41 minutes of that is walking, the route covers 3.1 km, and 10 stops are where you stand and listen. No clock runs and no group has to be followed.
On the shore the narration explains that Jón Gunnar Árnason never meant his steel Sun Voyager as a Viking ship, but as a dream boat and an ode to the sun. On Austurvöllur you hear that the Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir and has sat in this stone house only since 1881. The white National Gallery beside Lake Tjörnin began as an ice house, filled with ice cut from the lake itself.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 41 min · 3.1 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
At every stop the audio gives you the history, the old stories attached to the place and the small things worth noticing. The same words are on screen if reading suits you better.
Keep walking
Google Maps leads you from stop to stop: 41 minutes on foot over 3.1 km, as fast or as slow as you like.
Pause
Warm up over a coffee or look round a museum for an hour, then pick up the walk again, the same day or later in the week.
Eat and browse
Each stop brings suggestions for food and shops nearby. The first stop and the order of the rest are yours to change in the app.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk lines up the harbour, the lake and the shopping streets and explains what you are standing in front of.
Anyone who avoids groups
Nobody to keep pace with and no departure to catch: you stop as long as you want and go on when you want.
A short stop in Iceland
3 hours covers the centre, so a layover or the day before the Ring Road still has room in it.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: the Sun Voyager, Austurvöllur, Lake Tjörnin, Hallgrímskirkja
10 stops · about 41 min walking · start: Sun Voyager (Sólfar) · finish: Hallgrímskirkja
The seafront starts things off at the Sun Voyager, with Harpa and then the statue of Ingólfur Arnarson on Arnarhóll hill close behind. The old centre follows: the Culture House, Reykjavík Cathedral and the Parliament House on Austurvöllur. The route then reaches the lake for the City Hall and the National Gallery of Iceland, climbs the painted stripes of Rainbow Street and ends below the tower of Hallgrímskirkja. You can open at another stop or reorder the route in the app, and not one stop asks for a ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Sun Voyager (Sólfar)Start
This stainless steel sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason was unveiled on the seafront in 1990 and looks like the skeleton of a Viking ship. The artist, however, described it as a dream boat and an ode to the sun. Across the bay behind it rises Mount Esja.
Read the full story →
2Harpa
Harpa concert hall and conference centre opened in 2011 by the old harbour and is home to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Its glass façade, designed by Henning Larsen Architects with the artist Olafur Eliasson, is made of geometric panels inspired by basalt columns that reflect the sky and the sea.
3Ingólfur Arnarson Statue
On the grassy hill of Arnarhóll stands the statue of Ingólfur Arnarson, traditionally regarded as the first permanent Norse settler of Iceland in the 870s. It was made by the sculptor Einar Jónsson and unveiled in 1924. According to the sagas, Ingólfur settled where his high-seat pillars, thrown overboard, washed ashore.
Read the full story →
4Culture House (Safnahúsið)
This stately building was completed in 1908 to house the National Library and the National Archives of Iceland. Look up at the façade, where the names of great Icelandic writers and scholars such as Snorri Sturluson are carved. Today it hosts exhibitions on Icelandic art and cultural heritage.
5Reykjavík Cathedral (Dómkirkjan)
This small Lutheran cathedral, consecrated in 1796, is the seat of the Bishop of Iceland. Each year the opening of parliament begins with a service here, after which the members walk next door to the Parliament House.
6Parliament House (Alþingishúsið)
Iceland's parliament, the Althing, was founded in 930 at Þingvellir and is one of the oldest parliaments in the world. Since 1881 it has met in this building of dressed Icelandic stone, designed by the Danish architect Ferdinand Meldahl. In front lies Austurvöllur square with a statue of the independence leader Jón Sigurðsson.
7City Hall (Ráðhús)
Reykjavík's City Hall, designed by Studio Granda and opened in 1992, stands on the northern shore of Lake Tjörnin and seems to rise straight out of the water. Inside the concrete and glass building is a large relief map of Iceland.
8National Gallery of Iceland
Founded in 1884, the National Gallery holds Iceland's national art collection, with a focus on Icelandic artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Its white building beside Lake Tjörnin was built in the early 20th century as an ice house that stored ice cut from the lake.
9Rainbow Street (Skólavörðustígur)
Skólavörðustígur was first painted in rainbow colours in 2015 for Reykjavík Pride, and the stripes were kept as a sign of the city's support for LGBTQ+ rights. Lined with design shops, galleries and cafés, the street climbs towards Hallgrímskirkja.
Read the full story →
10HallgrímskirkjaFinish
Designed by the architect Guðjón Samúelsson, this Lutheran church was begun in 1945 and completed in 1986, and at about 74 metres it is one of the tallest buildings in Iceland. Its stepped concrete façade is said to recall basalt columns. In front stands a statue of Leif Erikson, a gift from the United States in 1930.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Karolina– Australia –
Collected on GetYourGuide
I think audio could be added for a more enhanced experience. It was raining the day of my tour so it was difficult to read my phone screen containing all the info for each stop. Of course you can’t predict the weather and I’m aware it was a reading tour but consider changing it to add audio commentary. However overall I enjoyed it and the fun facts in between the stops were interesting.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide