Travel Guides | Reykjavic Travel Guide
Reykjavic Travel Guide
Northern exposure
The city cherishes its position as the northernmost capital city in the world, out of reach of convention. Being so far off the European map has practically been a licence to be unusual, quirky and ground-breaking in many areas from music to pop art and lifestyles. But behind the futuristic hairstyles and ethereal music lies a city well-grounded in history and folklore. If you counted up all the elves and huldufólk, or hidden people, that are said to exist in the Reykjavík suburb of Hafnarfjörður, the small town would take on the dimensions of any other European city.
Nature or culture
The strangeness of everyday life is mirrored in Reykjavík’s surreal natural beauty. It’s so far north that the sun, like the locals, barely sleeps in summer, dipping briefly into the sea in the early hours of the morning. In the winter it sleeps off a long hangover of its own. Peering out across the Faxaflói Bay, past the old whalers, you can usually catch a glimpse of Snæfellsjökull, the magical glacier which has inspired writers for centuries with a sense of its mystery. Closer still, Mount Esja looms purple, mauve and pink against a bloodshot sky at sunset, its snow-dusted peak changing colour with every passing season.
A place apart
Reykjavík is a city for dreamers, fantasists and individuals. Somewhere you can lose yourself in the Viking Age sagas of independent thinkers who rewrote the laws their way; visit the National Park, Þingvellir, which is growing at a rate of around 2 cm a year; or enjoy Iceland’s sense of humour in the city’s assortment of museums, including the only penis museum in the world. Icelanders have the highest standard of living and longest life expectancy of all of Europe’s citizens. The beer might be expensive but the air is clean, creativity is a way of life and you’ll go home with a different perspective. Out here, it’s the only one they have.
|
