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Everyone enjoys boasting about their trip. Saying “fyndið aettirðu að spyrja, vinur minn” (funny you should ask, my buddy) is one example. I trekked into a volcano to look for fairies and elves. Furthermore, it was only the first day. Your pal may think you’re crazy because you’ve never been to Iceland before. Anyone who has visited Iceland, though, knows that the nation is much more than just geysers and waterfalls. Mythologies and customs that continue to influence Icelandic culture today coexist with the country’s natural beauty. Exploring the nation’s cultural offerings is as magnificent as staring at the Goðafoss waterfall and as fulfilling as traveling the Golden Circle. You should include these locations to your itinerary if you want to experience Icelandic culture in its fullest form.
- Participate in the Food Lovers Tour of Reykjavik
Finding local food isn’t always simple when traveling, especially to well-known locations where every restaurant tries to sell itself as “authentic” to entice gullible tourists. When it comes to Icelandic cuisine, the Reykjavik Food Lovers Tour will ensure that you don’t get lost. The food tour departs from Reykjavik’s Ingólfur Square and visits a number of restaurants throughout the city. You will learn about Iceland’s culinary history and customs while sampling Icelandic foods including minke whale steak, lamb soup, lamb hot dogs, and smoked puffin. Highlights include the Reykjavik Flea Market food stalls and the Sægreifinn restaurant, which serves what many consider to be the world’s best lobster soup.
- Take a visit of the Volcano and Lava Center.
Iceland frequently makes headlines when one of its active volcanoes decides to erupt. Understanding Iceland’s distinctive geological terrain is essential to comprehending its people and their way of life. You can gain a scientific understanding of Iceland’s formation as a continent by taking a tour of the Lava Center. Throughout its history, Iceland, one of the biggest volcanic islands in the world, has been sculpted by numerous volcanic eruptions. The museum’s exhibit on earthquakes and volcanoes tells this story in great detail. A movie depicting the most recent volcanic activity, a model of the magma plume beneath Iceland, and an earthquake simulator are all available.
Those who want to get their hands dirty could rather look down into a volcano crater. Fortunately, you can accomplish this without embarking on a perilous and poorly planned solo adventure. Starting with a two-mile journey to the crater, you will be outfitted with a helmet and harness before descending via crane into the magma chamber as part of this tour of the Thrihnukagigur volcano. You will have around an hour to explore the volcano’s interior when the descent is over.
- Enroll in a language course in Icelandic.
It’s obvious that anyone who claims that you can become fluent in Icelandic after just one trip isn’t putting much effort into learning the language. Fortunately, learning Icelandic doesn’t take more than an afternoon, and you’ll come home feeling motivated by one of the oldest languages in the world. This immersive language session covers fundamental vocabulary and pronunciation and is intended for tourists who want a taste of the local way of life. You will study some “survival vocabulary” and match Icelandic words with pictures. “Ég borðaði lunda á íslandi” (I ate puffin in Iceland) is something you might even be able to say to your pals at the end.
- Take a tour of Thingvellir National Park, a well-known location in Iceland situated directly at the meeting point of the Atlantic and Pacific tectonic plates. The location of the Althing and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Iceland is part of Icelandic culture.
Thingvellir National Park offers more than just breathtaking scenery. It is also among the most historically and culturally significant locations in the nation. The park is frequently referred to be the birthplace of the nation because it was established in 930, not long after the first inhabitants arrived in 874. It functioned as a meeting spot and the seat of government, where decisions were taken and legislation passed. In addition to hosting sporting events and banquets, the park served as a meeting spot for people to talk and share stories. Icelanders still gather at Thingvellir to commemorate their most significant national holidays and celebrations.
About 40 minutes from Reykjavik, the park is situated in the Golden Circle and still has remnants of its parliamentary past. The parliament’s true seat was Law Rock, where the session was opened by the priest and chieftain in charge. One of the most noticeable surviving booths, or shelters where people remained during the two-week parliamentary sessions, is Snorri’s Booth, which bears the name of chieftain Snorri Þorgrímsson. Although Snorri’s booth is the largest, remnants of 50 booths have been discovered. An Icelandic national park wouldn’t be complete without a visit to a waterfall, of course. The park’s sole waterfall, Öxarárfoss, is reachable by a short trail.
- Discover how to knit in Iceland.
It’s wonderful to come back from Iceland with memories, but it’s much better to bring back a hand-knit sweater. One of Iceland’s top knitters and designers, Hélène Magnússon is skilled in fusing Icelandic knitting customs and patterns into her creations. She promotes these customs by providing themed excursions throughout Iceland in addition to selling her goods. For instance, her “hiking and knitting with the puffins 2021” tour takes tourists to the Westfjords, where they may see animals, swim in geothermal pools, and stop at wool-friendly locations along the route. The following few days combine knitting classes with sightseeing, fusing the traditional craft with the natural beauty of the area. She also provides a number of different tours, including “knitting in Icelandic nature,” “knitting while hiking,” and “knitting under the midnight sun.”
- Go on the Folklore Walking Tour of Reykjavik
Iceland’s foundation is as much rooted in mythology and folklore as in its geology. Iceland takes its legendary animals seriously, whether they are trolls or elves, who are common in Icelandic sagas, or the “hidden people,” who are sneaky and sly pranksters who live in the wild. You might as well go on a Folklore Walking Tour of Reykjavik since you’re unlikely to run into a troll yourself. The tour makes stops at the Althingi Parliament House, Lake Tjörnin, Iceland’s oldest cemetery (dating back to 900), and other locations that have been known to be haunted by trolls, elves, and ghosts. Stories of various monsters, such as the aquatic creatures that inhabit Reykjavik Pond, will also be told to you.
- Design your own Reykjavik street art tour
Some of Iceland’s finest artwork can be seen without going to a museum. In recent years, Reykjavik’s street art movement has flourished, with striking murals adorning buildings all around the city. To enjoy it, you also don’t have to be with an art expert. Simply explore the town on your own.
Many of the nicest murals in the city may be found on Laugavegur and Grettisgata streets. Don’t forget to explore the little lanes and streets, many of which are brimming with artwork that you may not otherwise see. There are also a lot of murals in the Grandi Harbor region, many of them were made by artist Guido van Helten. Murals are a part of guided walking tours, such as those offered by I Heart Reykjavik, but they are not the primary attraction.
Some galleries, such as The Living Art Museum and Dead Gallery, focus on urban art if you happen to be there in the winter and don’t want to stroll the chilly streets.
- Take a tour of Hallgrimskirkja Church
Perhaps Iceland’s most famous man-made landmark is the Hallgrimskirkja Church. The church, which is 240 feet tall and took 40 years to build, was finished in 1986. It was intended to mimic the scenery of Iceland, especially the towering mountains and glaciers of the nation as well as the basalt columns surrounding the Svartifoss waterfall. Often regarded as the best view in all of Reykjavik, the church’s summit offers a view of the Snaefellsjokull glacier. It is possible to schedule church sightseeing trips.
Leif Errikson, the well-known Viking and the first European to reach North America in 1,000 AD, is depicted in front of the statue. On the 1,000th anniversary of the Althing Parliament’s establishment in 1930, the United States presented the statue.