Several times, I've visited Iceland on the way from New York to Europe, staying for 2 or 3 nights in Reykjavik. For a first-time visit, that's usually enough to get an idea of what Iceland and Icelanders are like.
If you're on a stopover, there will be a free busride to your hotel. Most people stay at the Hotel Loftleidur or the Hotel Esja, although you can usually choose several other hotels too. The Saga Hotel is very central and extremely nice, although the Esja is also a good place.
Reykjavik's city center is very small, and most of what there is to see is just a few minutes walk from place to place. The first spot to visit is Austurvollur Square. It's quiet, considering the national parliament and Iceland's cathedral face the square, but both are quite small. The square has a lot of character. The Hotel Borg is a beautiful building on one side of the square, and there are several cafes nearby.
Behind the square, just to the south is the Tjornin. This is a small lake, and the very modernistic Reykjavik City Hall is built right in it at its north end. A scale model of the entire country is inside the lobby. It's very interesting to see just how empty Iceland is, as well as mountainous.
Tjornin is very pretty, and along the west side of it, are some of Reykjavik's beautiful old houses, mostly built in the first part of the 1900s. On the east side of the pond is the National Gallery, and behind it are several streets with many characteristic Icelandic-style houses with painted corrugated iron exteriors.
Austurstraeti, Bankastraeti, and Laugavegur are essentially all the same street which runs east from the city center. It's the main shopping street in Reykjavik. At Bankastraeti 2 is the city tourist office in handsome old wooden buildings, with lots and lots of useful brochures.
Laugavegur is full of interesting shops. To get an idea of the scope of Icelandic culture (i.e. that a country of 270,000 people can be so prolific), take a look inside Mal og Menning bookstore at Laugavegur 18. It's stuffed with books, almost all of them in Icelandic. A little further up the street is Skifan at Laugavegur 26. This is Iceland's largest cd store. Browsing it you'll discover that Iceland has dozens of rock bands, all with CD contracts, it seems. They generally sing in Icelandic, mostly.
It won't take long to realize that Icelanders are extremely proud of their culture, especially their language. It's in no danger of dying out despite the fact that nearly everyone in Iceland speaks excellent English too. Icelandic has been around a thousand years, and hasn't changed very much. They invent new words for everything modern, and the grammar is incredibly intricate, to say the least.
Laugavegur is full of restaurants and cafes. All of them are expensive, but the service is always good (if a little slow), and the food can be really good. There are a lot of ethnic restaurants in Reykjavik nowadays, and I've had excellent Thai and Chinese food there.
A hint of the Iceland's uniqueness comes on the day-tour organized to show you a bit of the countryside around Reykjavik. It's called the Golden Circle tour, and it's touristy, even kitschy. It's not to be missed though, if only because they take you to Thingvellir. This is one of the most beautiful spots on earth, I think. It's just incredible. It's of great importance to Icelanders historically, not just scenically.
On a two- to three-day visit, one day for the Golden Circle tour, and the rest of the time in Reykjavik is time well spent.
It's a surprise to many that Reykjavik has a very lively nightlife. On Friday and Saturday nights no matter what the weather, the under-30 crowd comes out for pubcrawls along Laugavegur, getting extremely drunk and randy in the process. This is a 'tourist sight' all by itself and worth looking at if you're in Reykjavik on a weekend. No matter what the weather, thousands of people crowd the city center, socializing and picking each other up. Icelanders tend to be a little shy, but not once they've had a few beers! Fortunately they are also very peaceful, and even though the crowds are noisy and rowdy, the worst you will see are passed-out young people strewn about here and there. The ones who can still stand up will queue for late night bus service or race for taxis, since getting caught driving even a little bit tipsy in Iceland is punished with enormous fines.
Even a short visit to Reykjavik will make a convert of many people to the 'cult of Iceland-lovers'. They are people who get a little misty describing their time there, and many (of us) go back again and again. It's a unique place, uniquely beautiful, with a wonderful culture that's surviving just fine even though Icelanders are plugged-in to global influences.
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