The world's most northerly capital,
Reykjavik
has a sense of space and calm that
comes as a breath of fresh air to
travellers accustomed to the bustle
of the traffic-clogged streets of
Europe's other major cities, and
often literally so. Although
unrepresentative of the majority of
the country for its relative
urbanization, a visit here is a good
place to obtain as true a picture as
possible of this highly individual,
often apparantly contradictory
society, secluded on the very edge
of the Arctic. While it's true, for
example, that Friday- and
Saturday-night Reykjavik has earned
the place a reputation for
hedonistic revelry, with locals
carousing for as long as the summer
nights allow - despite the
legendarily high price of alchohol
here - the pace of life is in fact
sedate. The tiny centre, for
example, is more of a place for
ambling around, taking in suburban
streets and cornerside cafés set
against mountain and ocean scenery,
rather than being somewhere to
hurtle around between department
stores and designer-clothes shops.
Similarly, given the city's capital
status, Reykjavik lacks the grand
and imposing buildings found in the
other Nordic capitals, possessing
instead apparently ramshackle
clusters of houses, either clad in
garishly painted corrugated iron or
drearily daubed in grey-brown
pebbledash as protection against the
ferocious North Atlantic storms.
This rather unkempt feel, though, is
as much part of the city's charm as
the blustery winds that greet you as
you exit the airport, or the views
across the sea to glaciers and the
sheer mountains that form the
backdrop to the streets. Even in the
heart of this capital, nature is
always in evidence - there can be
few other cities in the world, for
example, where greylag geese
regularly overfly the busy centre,
sending bemused visitors, more
accustomed to diminutive pigeons,
scurrying for cover.
Today, amid the essentially
residential city centre, with its
collection of homes painted in reds,
yellows, blues and greens, it is the
Hallgrímskirkja , a
gargantuan church made of white
concrete towering over the
surrounding houses, which is the
most enduring image of Reykjavik.
Below this, the elegant shops and
stylish bars and restaurants that
line the main commercial
thoroughfare of Laugavegur ,
busy with shoppers seemingly
undaunted by the inflated prices of
goods - import taxes and cuts by
middlemen are to blame - are a
consumer's heaven, even if
window-shopping is all you can
afford.
With time to spare, it's worth
venturing outside the city limits
into Greater Reykjavik , for
a taste of the Icelandic provinces -
suburban style. Although
predominantly an area of dormitory
overspill for the capital, the town
of Hafnarfjöoður , is large
enough to be independent of Reykjavik
and has a couple of museums and a
busy harbour, though it's for the
summer Viking Festival that
the town is perhaps best known.
Alternatively, the flat and treeless
island of Viðey , barely ten
minutes offshore of Reykjavik, is
the place to come for magnificent
views of the city and of the
surrounding mountains - there are
also some enjoyable walking trails
here, which lead around the island
in an hour or so.
The city also makes a good base
for excursions around Reykjavik,
including to three of Iceland's most
popular attractions: the site of the
old Alþing at Þingvellir
, the waterspouts and waterfalls of Geysir
and Gullfoss
, and Skálholt
church - all within simple reach by
public transport - or, more
expensively, on day-long guided
tours from the city. Also worthwhile
is the Reykjanes peninsula
, a bleak lavafield that's as good
an introduction as any to the stark
scenery you'll find further into
Iceland, and home to the
mineral-rich waters of the Blue
Lagoon
- the most visited attraction in the
country.
