Reykjavik landmarks and where to see them

Most visitors give the centre an afternoon and end up choosing between a church tower and a concert hall, without realising both fit into the same short walk. A short list of Reykjavik landmarks covers the ones that reward the detour: a tower with a lift, a glass hall that costs nothing to enter, a steel sculpture on the shore, and a lighthouse and city hall a little further out. This page settles what each one takes: an entry fee, a walk, or nothing at all. The distances are short enough to link on foot, and the order below runs roughly downtown to the sea.

Downtown: a church tower, a glass hall, a bronze ship

A first pass at the skyline reads Hallgrimskirkja as one more church and Harpa as one more hall, and both undersell what a short stop buys. The tower of Hallgrimskirkja rises 73 m [239 ft] above the square, and the lift to the top runs on its own ticket, priced from 1400 ISK for an adult, according to Visit Reykjavik. The view from the top takes in the coloured roofs of the old town and the water beyond, and the climb itself is short since the lift does the height for you.

Down at the harbour, Harpa looks like an admission-charging concert hall from outside, and it is not one: entry to the building is free, so the lobby, the glass facade and the halls' public floors cost nothing to walk through, according to Harpa. The coloured glass panels that wrap the steel frame are the clearest single piece of Reykjavik architecture in the city centre, built to catch the changing light off the bay rather than to sit still under it. Along the shoreline path toward Harpa, the sun voyager sculpture Reykjavik visitors photograph most is a steel ship frame facing out to sea, best seen with low sun behind it in the early morning or late evening rather than at midday.

Further out: the lighthouse, the town hall and the water

The centre is not the whole list, and skipping the edges means missing the two landmarks that show Reykjavik without a crowd around them. West along the shore path, the Reykjavik lighthouse at Grotta sits on a tidal spit that floods at high water, so the causeway out is only walkable when the tide allows it, and the flat open ground around it is one of the few spots in the city with no buildings blocking the sky. Back toward the centre, the Reykjavik city hall sits low on the edge of the Tjörnin pond, its structure meeting the water on wooden pillars rather than a solid bank, and the pond in front of it draws swans and ducks that locals feed year round.

Both spots change with the season more than anything downtown does. Under 4.1 hours of daylight in December the lighthouse walk suits the middle of the day, while the 21.2 hours of daylight around the June solstice leaves the whole stretch lit into the evening, so the sequence that works well downtown, tower first and harbour last, reverses easily out here depending on when the light is best. Neither site charges to enter, and both sit close enough to downtown to add without reworking a plan built around the church and the concert hall.

Common questions

Is Hallgrimskirkja free to enter?

The church nave is free to enter. The lift to the top of the 73 m [239 ft] tower is a separate paid ticket, priced from 1400 ISK for an adult.

Does Harpa charge admission?

No. Entry to the building, including the public lobby and facade, is free. Only the guided tour and ticketed events cost anything.

Where is the Sun Voyager sculpture?

On the shoreline path facing the bay, a short walk from Harpa toward the centre. Early morning or late evening light suits it best.

Is Grotta lighthouse always reachable?

The causeway to the lighthouse crosses a tidal spit that floods at high water, so the walk out depends on the tide.

How much daylight is there for photos in winter versus summer?

Around the December solstice Reykjavik gets about 4.1 hours of daylight, against about 21.2 hours around the June solstice.