Well, summer travels didn’t start quite as planned with a long delay in my initial flight to Reykjavik due to airline staff striking. But I eventually made it to Iceland 10 hours after schedule and therefore arriving in the middle of the night but surprisingly, despite it being 2 am, I wasn’t arriving in the dark.
My first two days were spent exploring around Reykjavik and exploring the shopping streets of Laugavegur and Bankastraeti where you will find all number of boutique shops and plenty of Icelandic jumpers for sale.
For my week in Iceland I booked myself into Hlemmur Square hostel which is a nice central location but not on the main street. Like all accommodation in Iceland I paid a bit more than I would have done hosteling elsewhere but actually the door room was the nicest I had ever stayed in to I didn’t feel so bad about the high price. It also had the added fun of one of Iceland’s most talked about museums across the road – The Icelandic Phallological Museum. As the name suggests this is this is museum dedicated to the history, art and culture surrounding the male genitalia and the museum actually boasts “a collection of more than two hundred and fifteen penises and penile parts”. Despite my accommodation’s close proximity, I chose not visit but did get a good eyeful each time I passed the window display.
A site that is hard to miss in Reykjavik is Hallgrímskirkja Church which sits proudly in the centre of the city but can me seen from all around. I spend a lot of time wandering around and attempting to get a good photo but I think for the most part I failed to capture the impressive structure.
As well as some central attractions I also took a (long) walk out to the Perlan – a hot water tank facility which actually has some of the best views over Reykjavik! From the sites observation deck you get an amazing view of the mountains across the harbour and of the city below.
With only a week in Iceland and no option to hire a car I opted to stay based in Reykjavik and plan trips out from the capital. One of the great things about Iceland’s soaring popularity is that you’ll never be short of tour options. I decided to combine two half day excursions to try out Icelandic horse riding and see the Golden Circle route and have another full day trip exploring the south coast of Iceland.