Exploring Reykjavik

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We woke up this morning to find the city covered in snow, apparently it was the first real snowfall of the season in Reykjavik. Today we planned to spend the day exploring snow covered Reykjavik and after getting ready and having breakfast we left the hotel. As we headed down the street in the distance we could see huge mountains covered in snow, it was unexpected, especially since we had walked this way a few times now but only at night. We headed towards the shoreline which had beautiful views of the mountains overlooking Reykjavik. There were hopes of a Northern Lights tour tonight, in the distance was a large break in clouds and the sun was shining on the mountains, I was remaining optimistic. We walked along the shoreline until we came to a sculpture called: The Sun Voyager. It was a modern sculpture made of metal in the shape of a Viking Ship and it stood, looking out to the ocean, quite an impressive piece of art. I took quite a few photos at various angles and as we were leaving someone ran up to the sculpture to get in a photo and slipped right over, it was hilarious, cruel I know, but hilarious.

We headed towards the main shopping street going in and out of different visitors centre’s trying hard to choose a good tour to do tomorrow, but we could never decide. In fact as the weather worsened we were finding that more and more tour operators were cancelling tours in the area, they were expecting a blizzard over the South Coast. We continued on with a handful of brochures and made our way to Hallgrimskirkja Church. After a brief look inside the cathedral we bought tickets for the lift up to the top of the tower. From up here, the highest point in Reykjavik you could see the entire snow covered city and the mountains in the background. The multicoloured rooftops all over the city made for stunning views in this beautiful city. I slowly made my way around the tower taking photos of Reykjavik in every direction. Eventually hunger began to settle in so we left the extraordinary Hallgrimskirkja Church and found a warm café for lunch.

We had an awesome lunch at a place called Paris Café and while there the weather took a turn for the worse. It was now snowing, quite heavily and slowly it started to settle. We walked back to the hotel, via a few more tour operators then had a good long rest until 6PM when we would find out what was happening on tonight’s Northern Lights tour. And soon enough I received the call, tonight’s tour is cancelled due to bad weather. I also asked about another tour to the South Coast we had enquired about, that too was cancelled due to the weather. We were beginning to get desperate now, it was 6PM and we had no tour booked for tomorrow. We spoke to the receptionist who called various tour companies, all of which had cancelled their South Coast tours tomorrow, all except one. Volcano Tours was one we had considered earlier, it was a South Coast tour to see the unspeakable Volcano which recently erupted and caused havoc across Europe, Eyjafjallajokull. So we booked on the tour, then headed out into town to an Indian restaurant recommended by the receptionist. Dinner was amazing, really, really good and again expensive but we didn’t care in the slightest. Still snowing heavily we walked back to the hotel and eventually fell asleep.

Accommodation:
Hotel Reykjavik

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Photos

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The impressive Solfar (Sun Voyager) Sculpture of the waterfront in Reykjavik.

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Views of the city from the waterfront.

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The Hallgrímskirkja Church in the centre of Reykjavik.

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The colourful houses and rooftops of Reykjavik.

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Fantasic views across snow covered Reykjavik from the Hallgrímskirkja tower.