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Category Archives: reykjavik


Welcome to Our ‘Hood: Skólavörðustígur

If Laugarvegur is Reykjavík’s High Street, then Skólavörðustígur is as close as Iceland gets to Portobello Road.
In this soon-to-be recurring feature, we’ll give you an insider’s look at places we live and like. If you need to find the closest hotel to the Blue Lagoon, get a guide book. If you want to see locals in their natural […]

Road Tripping

Driving around Iceland’s famous Ring Road might be like flicking through the pages of a geography book, but it’s not all wild and remote — along the way you’ll have to pass through a handful of towns. We’ll just call them “cities” for fun, ok?

Reykjavík, City of Fear
Population 190,000
Your starting point, and the only real […]

Something for May: The More Artsy, Less Fartsy Edition

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this May, as prepared by your gastricly challenged culturally enlightened editors.

The Reykjavík Arts Festival takes over the capital May 10 to 26. It features hundreds of people that you’ve never heard of who have more talent than Robbie Williams. Oh right, there are mimes too, so, uh, the less said the better.
And you thought the rite of […]

Something for the Weekend: The Fleeting Moments Edition

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t editors.

Right. “The world’s most exciting techno band,” Booka Shade, take the stage at Gaukur á Stöng Friday evening. Also on the bill: some people (we think) called Jack Schidt, Djuna Barnes, Miss Lori, Darren C, Hairdoctor and Fm Belfast. The guys […]

Something for the Weekend: Family Edition

A round-up of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, as prepared by your family friendly editors

Wake up early Friday morning, since this will be the last day to see the McNaught Comet, visible between the horizon and the moon around twilight.
Too fab to just call it a sale, the concept/design store Kron Kron is […]

And a happy new year to you, too

Did you just miss the biggest fireworks display in the world?
According to Iceland Review, Icelanders just blew up one thousands tons of fireworks this New Year’s Eve, worth about €16 million.
In case you missed it, check this out.

More fireworks videos here, here and here. Also lots of great fireworks photos on Flickr

Special Offer: Lots of December Flights to Iceland

Iceland Express is offering 2.990 seats to and from Iceland, from €35, £25, or DKK 255, one-way, plus taxes and charges.
Open for Sale:
From Friday 1 December, 10.00 CET (that’s 9am British Time).
Travel Period:
1 to 30 December 2006.
Routes:
Between Iceland and Alicante, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt Hahn, and London.
Price:
€35, £25, or DKK 255, one-way, plus taxes and charges.
Remember:
Selected […]

Something for the Weekend: The Sugarcoated Edition

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your sweet, yet sassy, editors.

For all you lovers of that big church on the hill, this weekend there are 20 years since it was opened. Photographs of the church throughout its 50+ year building process are on display. Nearer my God, to thee.
Thursday […]

Something for the Weekend: The Let’s Ignore the Weather Edition

I see you baby, shaking that ass

Dance the somewhat nippy winter weather away, Friday start your evening somewhere very hot indeed. The Icelandic Bellydance Championships are held at Ýmishúsið and begin at 8pm. a mere 1800isk to see 19 ladies (including one of our fabulous editors) flick their hips in a way which ensures you’ll […]

Something for the Weekend: The Arty Out of Towner’s Edition

Iceland wakes up again.

Starting this Friday, the Young Art Festival, organized by Hitt Húsið, a cultural centre for “young people.” (Well, 17-25 year-olds. After that you’re old, apparently.) The first night, at Tjarnarbíó, is dedicated to students of The Icelandic Academy of Arts, and the fun starts at nine. Watch out for the street performers.
Later […]

Welcome to Iceland. Now, get on the bus

Everything you always wanted to know about your first 45 minutes in Iceland.
Being a part of the international jet set is so hard.
Especially since that weekend in Berlin, after which our bosses at Iceland Express closed our expense account, and we keep finding ourselves onboard the Flybus all the time. (Farewell, sweet limo drivers!)
Still, listening […]

Something for the Weekend: Post-Airwaves Depression Edition

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your very, very tired editors.

The city is fairly quiet this weekend, and in recovery after that festival thing. Maybe this would be a good chance to chillax with it and soak a bit in one of those lovely warm swimming pools. We know […]

Iceland Airwaves:
Sunday’s Top 5

Official Hangover Day.
Thankfully, the official schedule has almost nothing in store for us today, but if you’re still alive, there are some off-venue gigs.

In the highly unlikely event that you’re feel fresh, you could start at The Naked Ape, a colourful design store at the corner where Skólavörðustígur meets Laugavegur. There you can see a […]

Iceland Airwaves:
Saturday’s Top 5

At Gaukurinn, the all-star band Sometime starts at 22.15. You know, provided the drummer holds his drink.
At midnight in Iðnó, the old theatre by the lake, Stórsveit Nix Noltes (Nick Nolte’s Big Band) will make you sweat like a gypsy.
Two options at 01.00. Either go back to Gaukurinn to see the Hairdoctor, a band of […]

Iceland Airwaves:
Thursday’s Top 5

Tonight starts at 19.00 with Ske at the Reykjavík Art Museum. They go through front(wo)men faster than other bands go through groupies. Everyone is excited to see their line-up this year.
For you cutie pie lovers, Skakkamanage and Þórir are playing at Gaukurinn, back to back. Skakkamanage starts at 20.45 and Þórir at 21.30. Decide for […]

Something for the Weekend: the (Almost) Non-Airwaves Edition

Yeah, yeah. Iceland Airwaves, blah, blah, blah. We get it. Just check their website, ok?
On Saturday, check out the noon-to-midnight off-venue Airwaves concert at Hljómalind on Laugavegur. Pardon us while we abuse our position and encourage you to check out super-cutie Mr. Silla (pictured above, pretending to be tough) and her new best friend, Mongoose, […]

Iceland Airwaves: Wednesday’s Top 5

Cynic Guru play poppy, alternative rock at Gaukurinn at 20.15 (that’s a quarter past eight for civilians and Brits). You may be interested to hear that frontman Roland Hartwell plays the violin with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He also plays guitar with the band. And sings. Like the old lady said to the other old […]

Hipsters of the world unite at Iceland Airwaves

The international hipster community prepares for a difficult weekend by donning wristbands, as the most important music festival in the solar system begins in Reykjavík tonight.
Unless you’ve had more important things to think about, you’ll know that the annual Iceland Airwaves music festival starts in Reykjavík today, and continues through to Sunday.
Beginning in 1999, what […]

Icelandic Music 101: GusGus

The grand old men and women of Icelandic dance music apparently still have last night in their bodies.
Established in 1995 as some kind of multidisciplinary art conglomerate, GusGus have gone through more personnel changes than Fleetwood Mac and Van Halen put together, only to end up better than ever.
While you wait for their next album, […]

Sirkus: Hold the soleil

Crowded, chaotic, unpredictable and fun, Sirkus is a Reykjavík bar that’s more than the sum of its dilapidated parts.
Sirkus is a rather improbable place. For starters, the fact that it’s still there at all is surprising in itself. This charmingly squalid, colourful and ramshackle little Reykjavík bar looks like it might have collapsed by your […]

Here’s Nonni!

Death gets seriously warmed up as artist slash designer Jón Sæmundur — a.k.a. Nonni — opens Liborius.
It was a black day, literally, for fashionable neo-goths when the Dead Store closed its doors in Reykjavík a few months ago. More Addams’ Family than the Grateful Dead, Nonnabúð (as it was called in Icelandic) was filled to […]

Something for the Weekend

Is it Friday already?

The National Theatre is doing its best to prepare us, and all you wannabe Scandinavians, for a long, dark and depressing winter with its fun, fun, fun version of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt (surprisingly not called Peer Gyntson but Pétur Gautur). They’ll be showing it at The Barbican in London in February, but […]

If it’s Thursday, this must be Something for the Weekend

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your lovely and very well connected editors.

Krzyztof Penderecki conducts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra tonight, playing Beethoven and himself, with soloist Florian Uhlig. Play the funky music, Krzyztof.
The Reykjavik Jazz Festival is in full, er, swing. If you can bear to wake up before […]

Andri Snær Magnason cements status as Reykjavík’s Prince of Darkness

Courtesy of an Icelandic author, some of the biggest stars in the world can be seen in Reykjavík on Thursday night.
For years, Andri Snær Magnason has been asking Reykjavík city authorities to turn off the street lights for a few hours. If all goes well, this Thursday night he’ll finally get his way.
Andri Snær — […]

Less coffee, more bar

Kaffibarinn is the granddaddy of Reykjavík bars/clubs.
Featured prominently in a gazillion guidebooks and magazine articles over the years, Kaffibarinn is probably the best known bar in the universe Reykjavík.
Founded back in the early nineties by some really, really fun people whose names escape us, this Reykjavík institution featured prominently in a little film called 101 […]