Iceland Things to Do

Only a few minutes from Reykjavik by boat is Videy Island. Here, you’ll find Iceland’s first stone and cement building, the Videyjarstofa, built for the sheriff in 1752. These days it’s a restaurant for visitors to the island. The island was last inhabited in the 1940s and is now a home for seabirds, where at least 30 breeds come here to nest annually. It’s a wonderful place to walk or horse-ride and there are art sculptures dotted around taking advantage of the natural beauty and space of the island.

Harpa, Iceland’s new concert hall on the waterfront in Reykjavik, has been open less than a year and is already garnering praise for its stunning architecture, its views, and its program of events. If you are visiting Iceland in winter, it’s the perfect place to spend at least one of the long, cold dark, evenings, in the warmth of good music and fine performances.

In the middle of Iceland, in Thingvellir National Park – incidentally one of the most beautiful places on earth – the Eurasian and American continents meet and, in fact, drift apart at a rate of about 2cm a year. This leaves a rift in the earth’s surface, a crack that you can peer down into or, if you like adventure, dive into the waters of the Silfra Rift.

In the middle of Iceland, in Thingvellir National Park – incidentally one of the most beautiful places on earth – the Eurasian and American continents meet and, in fact, drift apart at a rate of about 2cm a year. This leaves a rift in the earth’s surface, a crack that you can peer down into or, if you like adventure, dive into the waters of the Silfra Rift.