Reykjanes Peninsula
At the eastern end of Njarðvík's waterfront, the spectacular Víkingaheimar is a Norse exhibition centre built in one beautiful, sweeping architectural…
Getty Images/Gallo Images
Reykjanes Peninsula
The Reykjanes Peninsula expands in drama as you move away from the highway between Reykjavík and Keflavík International Airport. You’ll find not only the Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s most famous attraction, but numerous other gorgeous and interesting sights, many of them based around active volcanoes. The busiest towns are amenity-rich Keflavík and nearby Njarðvík, but the sweet, windswept fishing hamlets of Garður and Sandgerði – great for whale watching – are just minutes to the west of the airport on a small northwestern spur. The rest of the Reykjanes, from dramatic Reykjanestá in the southwest to the Reykjanesfólkvangur wilderness reserve in the east, is an untamed landscape of multihued volcanic craters, mineral lakes, bubbling hot springs, rugged mountains and coastal lava fields.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
-
Reykjanesfólkvangur Reserve
The volatile geothermal field Austurengjar, about 2km south of Kleifarvatn, is often called Krýsuvík after the nearby abandoned farm. At Seltún, the main…
-
Reykjanesfólkvangur Reserve
This deep, brooding lake sits in a volcanic fissure, surrounded by wind-warped lava cliffs and black-sand shores. A walking trail runs around the edge,…
-
Reykjanes Peninsula
These strangely shaped cliffs and hardened volcanic ash layers were formed in an eruption in the early 1900s. The formations are named tuffs, and consist…
-
Reykjanes Peninsula
Boardwalks allow visitors to get close to the eerie Gunnuhver site, which is filled with vigorously bubbling mud pools and billowing steam. Some…
-
Sudurnes Science & Learning Center
Reykjanes Peninsula
This scientific learning centre has a fascinating exhibit about Polar explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot, whose ship Pourquois Pas? wrecked near here in 1936 …
-
Reykjanes Peninsula
To the northeast of Keflavík's harbour sits the larger-than-life Giantess, a giant troll character from Herdís Egilsdóttir’s children’s books. A local art…
-
Reykjanes Peninsula
In a long red warehouse by the harbour, Duushús is Keflavík’s historic cultural centre. There’s a permanent exhibition of around 60 of Grímur Karlsson’s…
Plan with a local
