Reykjavik with Teens and Older Kids

By Rhonda Carrier

Going away with grown-up kids is revealed as a whole new kettle of fish after the realisation painfully dawns that you can’t just drag your offspring around seeing and doing and eating what you want – that they are quite willing and able to say a flat no to any activity, itinerary or eatery you might suggest, however much you feel it will appeal to them. Darn it! It’s enough to make you wish they were toddlers again, or almost.

'A new discovery for us was the Kolaportið indoor market where you can sample fermented shark and buy everything from ready-made spells prepared by ‘hidden people’ (elves) to fish-skin journals and hilariously random finds from the old-school fleamarket section.’

And this goes double if you return to a place that you’ve been to before, and where you’ve already covered all of the main sights. Thus it was with a recent 24-hour stopover in Reykjavik with my middle son Ripley, 21, as we returned from a two-week expedition cruise from Svalbard to east Greenland and then western Iceland with HX.

Having spent time in the Icelandic capital before, we weren’t particularly motivated to go whale-watching (we’d sighted several whales from HX's MS Fram), to return to the nature exploratorium Perlan or the beach of Nauthólsvík with its hot-springs lagoon, or to delve back into the Maritime Museum, fabulous as all of these were.

Or course there are other museums and galleries to check out, including the National Museum of Iceland and the Reykjavik Art Museum. But we were quite tired after a packed two weeks of outdoor adventures amidst icebergs and epic geology and wildlife, and most of all we just wanted to mooch and munch. Or as the American have it, to ‘lollygag’.

Twenty-four hours hardly seems enough for such a cool city as Reykjavik, but even if you’re discerning you can cover a lot. The Icelandic capital is in fact a popular stop-over destination with people flying transatlantic, because Icelandair offer the chance to break their journey in Reykjavik for anything for a day to a week en route to the USA at no extra charge. With more than 24 hours you can branch out from the capital and take in the classic sights of the Golden Circle (Þingvellir National Park, Strokkur geyser and Gullfoss waterfall) by day trip, spend some time languishing in the iconic Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik, or in season go out hunting for the Northern Lights.

With so little time, we stuck to the city centre, enjoying some things that Ripley wouldn’t have been interested last time we visited 10 years before. Puffin-filled souvenir shops aside, there are some fantastic book, gift and lifestyle stores to be browsed, including Nomad, and some very good vintage clothes shops. 

A new discovery for us was Kolaportið, a fantastic indoor market with a local food section where you can sample or stock up on the likes of smoked lumpsucker or whale and fermented shark, stalls selling everything from ready-made spells prepared by ‘hidden people’ (elves) to fish-skin journals, and an old-school fleamarket section crammed with hilarious finds including some so-bad-it’s-good art.

Reykjavik also has brilliant street food (don’t miss Turf House not far off the main shopping street Laugavegur for its seafood and lamb soups and its juicy lamb burgers packed with Icelandic condiments), lots of colourful street art to be admired, and the spectacular modernist Hallgrimskirkja church to be ogled from every angle (go inside and you might catch some live organ music).

Food was uppermost on our minds, though. We absolutely had to return to the iconic Saegreifinn (Sea Baron) in its humble hut down on the harbourfront to make sure its famous lobster soup was still up to scratch (it was), and we also stopped off in our old favourite The Laundromat Café, famed for its family-friendliness. The Sandholt bakery was new on our list for its cinnamon buns, which didn’t disappoint – although we preferred the pistachio versions.

And we couldn’t leave Reykjavik without at least one trip to the legendary Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur hot-dog stand down by the opera house, where even someone who, like me, isn’t normally a fan of the classic sausage buns goes weak at the knees for these lamb, pork, and beef pylsurs served with cronions (a mix of raw and crispy fried onions), a sweet, brown mustard, ketchup and Remolaði, an Icelandic mayo-based sauce with pickles, vinegar and onions.

We were only thankful we had them before we ventured into the nearby Icelandic Phallological Museum, as we certainly wouldn’t have been in the mood after viewing its more than 200 biological specimens from whales, seals, a polar bear and more, together offering an offbeat insight into Iceland’s wildlife, maritime history and folklore. Perhaps a must when visiting Reykjavik with teens or older kids, but definitely not for the squeamish.

Find out more about Iceland family holidays or contact us on 020 3633 0653">020 3633 0653 or using our enquiry form for a bespoke Iceland trip tailored to your family, which might include a Reykjavik city break, a Golden Circle tour, a self-drive Iceland itinerary or a small-group organised tour.