The core Gate 1 Travel portion of our trip to Iceland began on our second full day (third day overall) in Iceland. We dropped our rental car off at the Keflavik Airport and rode a Gate 1-arranged shuttle back from the airport to Reykjavik. The blowing wind across the Reykjanes Peninsula made for poor driving visibility, so we were happy to get to the airport safely and have the bus driver take us back to the city.
Our airport transport was early in the morning because that's when the flights across the Atlantic Ocean from North America typically arrive. This means there are several hours between arrival and check-in time at the local hotels. To fill this time, a Gate 1 Travel tour guide and bus driver take participants on a city tour of Reykjavik. The bad weather we had encountered on our way to the airport and back had led to the closure of several main routes including the Ring Road. Most tours were canceled on this day, but fortunately our tour of the city was one of the few still being held. The tour guide and bus driver decided to visit the Perlan observatory the next day instead of as part of the city tour due to the blinding snow and wind, but otherwise we did the normal city tour.
Aurora Reykjavik - The Northern Lights Center
Our first stop was Aurora Reykjavik - The Northern Lights Center. As is typical of many museums in Reykjavik, this museum was small in physical size, but was packed with displays and information about the northern lights. I enjoyed reading about and watching a highly understandable video about the science of the Aurora Borealis. As I began to better understand the many things that went into the likelihood of one seeing the northern lights, I quickly realized that catching the northern lights is not something that one should take for granted.
There is a film shown at Aurora Reykjavik that shows the northern lights over a wide variety of different locations throughout Iceland. There are some beautiful photos of the colorful sky over majestic Icelandic sites. The map on display and shown in the next photograph indicates whether these photographs were captured in Iceland.
We also appreciated the museum employee leading the discussions and helping people with camera settings for taking photographs of the northern lights. A nice souvenir photograph can be obtained by standing in front of a wall with a scene of a beautiful Iceland Aurora Borealis and having a photograph taken automatically and e-mailed to your personal account.
Ráðhúsið (Reykjavík City Hall)
We stopped at Ráðhúsið (Reykjavík City Hall) for another indoor activity on this bad weather day. It was fairly deserted due to the holiday season still underway, but it was open and we were able to view the large three-dimensional map of Iceland.
It was interesting to pick out on this map where we had been in Iceland already.
Reykjavik City Pond (Tjörnin)
We went outside of city hall to the adjacent Reykjavik City Pond (Tjörnin). Most of the photographs I had seen of this were taken in a season when it was all water, but it was beautiful to see it mostly frozen on top.
Hallgrimskirkja Church and Statue of Leifur Eiríksson
The Hallgrimskirkja Church is arguably the most recognized landmark in Reykjavik.
Unfortunately, the weather was still inclement with driving wind while we were at Hallgrimskirkja Church. Bits of ice were blown into our face and made it difficult to walk and stand outside the church. It also meant that the view from the top would be largely obstructed, so we opted to not pay to go on the tower.
Like other buildings in Iceland, the inside of the church was warm and a welcome shelter from the weather.
There is a statue of Leifur Eiríksson (better known in the United States as statue of Leif Eiríksson) directly in front of the church.
On the other side of the statue is downtown Reykjavik.
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre
Our next stop on the Reykjavik city tour was another well-known Reykjavik site, the Harpa Concert Hall.
We didn't get to attend a concert, but we did enjoy the grandeur of the inside of the building.
There were some nice views of the harbor from inside of the building.
The views of Mount Esja from outside Harpa Concert Hall are pretty good as well.
Reykjavik Sun Voyager
We did not actually see the Reykjavik Sun Voyager as part of the city tour, but instead saw it the next day on walking from Harpa (where the shuttle from Perlan dropped us) to our hotel (Fosshotel Reykjavik). However, I include photographs of the Sun Voyager here because it's one of the city's well-known sites.
Conclusion
Reykjavik is an interesting city that is, for the most, part largely walkable. It would be especially so when the weather's better than it was for us while there the first week of January. In a future blog post, I will cover one of the most popular attractions in Reykjavik, the Perlan museum.
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