Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [49]
Quaint old buildings have been uprooted from their original sites and rebuilt at the open-air Árbæjarsafn (off Map; 411 6300; www.arbaejarsafn.is; Kistuhylur 4; adult/under 18yr Ikr600/free, free Fri in summer; 10am-5pm daily Jun-Aug, by tour only 1pm Mon, Wed & Fri Sep-May), a kind of zoo for houses, 4km from the city centre. Alongside the 19th-century homes are a turf-roofed church, and various stables, smithies, barns and boathouses – all very picturesque. There are summer arts-and-crafts demonstrations, and it’s a great place for kids to let off steam. Take bus 12.
Despite its grand name, the Reykjavík Museum of Photography (Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur; Map; 411 6390; www.photomuseum.is; 6th fl, Grófarhús, Tryggvagata 15; admission free; noon-7pm Mon-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun) is really just an exhibition room above Reykjavík City Library. It’s definitely worth dropping in, though – its quintessentially Scandinavian exhibitions are free and usually thought-provoking. If you take the lift up, walk down the stairs, which are lined with funny old black-and-white photos.
Based appropriately in a former freezing plant for fish, the small Víkin Maritime Museum (Víkin Sjóminjasafnið; Map; 517 9400; www.sjominjasafn.is; Grandagarður 8; adult/13-18yr Ikr700/500; 11am-5pm Tue-Sun Jun–mid-Sep, 11am-5pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun mid-Sep–May) celebrates the country’s seafaring heritage, focusing on the trawlers that transformed Iceland’s economy. Much of the information is in Icelandic only, but silent film footage of trawler crews in action is worth a look. Your ticket also allows you aboard the coastguard ship Óðinn, a veteran of the Cod Wars (of the 1970s when British and Icelandic fishermen quite literally came to blows over fishing rights in the North Atlantic), as part of guided tours at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm (2pm and 3pm only at weekends in winter, closed January and February).
Reykjavík has several specialist museums dealing with natural history, medicine, banknotes and coins, and hydroelectricity; contact the tourist office for details.
Galleries
Einar Jónsson (1874–1954) is Iceland’s foremost sculptor, famous for his intense symbolist works. Chiselled allegories of Hope, Earth, Spring and Death burst from basalt cliffs, weep over naked women, sprout wings and slay dragons. For a taster, the sculpture garden (admission free), behind the museum, is dedicated to the artist and contains 26 bronze casts; they’re particularly effective at dusk. If these appeal to your inner Goth, you’ll find gleaming white-marble sculptures on similar themes inside the fascinating Einar Jónsson Museum (Map; 551 3797; www.skulptur.is; Njarðargata; adult/under 16yr/concession Ikr500/free/300; 2-5pm Tue-Sun Jun–mid-Sep, 2-5pm Sat & Sun mid-Sep–Nov & Feb-May). The building itself was designed by the artist and contains his austere penthouse flat, with unusual views over the city.
The excellent Reykjavík Art Museum (Listasafn Reykjavíkur; www.listasafnreykjavikur.is; admission free) is split over three sites: Ásmundarsafn, Hafnarhúsið and Kjarvalsstaðir.
There’s something immensely tactile about Ásmundur Sveinsson’s monumental concrete creations – see for yourself in the garden outside the rounded, white Ásmundarsafn (Ásmundur Sveinsson Museum; Map; 553 2155; Sigtún; 10am-4pm May-Sep, 1-4pm Oct-Apr). Duck inside the museum for smaller, spikier works in wood, clay and metals, exploring themes as diverse as folklore and physics. Ásmundur (1893–1982) designed the building himself; getting into the spirit of things, the council later added an igloo-shaped bus stop in front. Buses 14, 15, 17, 19 and S2 pass close by.