At the end of our Ring Road tour, we spent two full days in Reykjavik. We stayed at the Konsulate Hotel, located right in the center of the city’s main areas. Visitors to Iceland can read about all the best hotels and restaurants – there are many – and I am not going to get into details of the ones we visited. But I will tell you here where we ate and what we did.

Restaurants

Old Iceland – small intimate cafe located a few blocks away from our hotel. I would highly recommend this place as the food was excellent. We particularly liked the arctic char.

Kol – located near the main church. Good food, nice menu. We ate lunch there (and Hahn’s went back for dinner). Nice soups especially the carrot, and a really flavorful cod.

Hofnin – nice homey two story restaurant at the harbor. Owner always there (we ate two dinners). The langoustine with risotto was wonderful.

Baejarns Beztu Pysurg – hot dog joint beside our hotel. There since 1937 and very popular. Hot dogs with dried onions, mustard, ketsup and remoulade. Not bad.

Sights

Perlan Museum – Planetarium/museum featuring the wonders of Iceland, with great videos of the most recent volcano eruption, extensive historical and animal exhibits and a 100 m long ice cave.

Hallgrimskirkja Church – Largest in Iceland and 244′ tall, this church towers over the city and offers nice views. Inspired by the basalt columns at Svartifoss waterfall. Built 1986.

Waterfront – Typical city waterfront with commercial, fishing and tourist (whale watching) vessels. Nice to visit.

Shops and Blocks

The city has extensive shopping on interesting streets, and is worth spending time walking around.

Food Favorites

• cod
• arctic char
• lamb
• fish & chips
• beef (OK)
• breads
• soups – lamb, tomato, carrot
• langoustine
• shrimp
• skyr

Our last day on the road before returning to Reykjavik. Mostly driving but we did stop to see a pair of wonderful waterfalls, and a raging stream. But first a wonderful hot spring.

Deildartunguhver is the most powerful hot spring in Europe. Billowing clouds of steam rise from scalding water bubbling from the ground. and of course a new spa Krauma nearby offers sleek hot pools, a cold pool and two steam rooms.

Then the picturesque twin waterfalls of Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. Hraunfossar is a fascinating series of waterfalls seemingly originating in a field without a river of lake. The water is actually streaming through rivulets in the Hallmundarhraun lave field. Another waterfall nearby is Barnafoss, which is more like a series of rapids caused by the water of Hvita entering a narrow passage.

Nearby we stopped to watch a raging stream run down from a nearby mountain.