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Jon Heidar, Editor of Stuck in Iceland Travel Magazine
Reykjavik is full of great places to go out for a stroll. Grótta is perfect for bird watching and romantic walks and Elliðarárdalur valley has a really nice river flowing through it and is perfect for cycling or walking. But let me tell you about the perfect walk in downtown Reykjavik.
Stroll around the pond
Try walking around Reykjavik pond or “Tjörnin” in the city center. It is a good idea to start at the City Hall on the north bank of the pond and check the massive 3D map of Iceland. Behind the old Iðnó Theatre building you are pretty sure to find ducks and geese to feed if you are interested in that sort of thing.
Video: View of the perfect stroll
See what could be the first selfie in Iceland
On the east bank you will walk past the National Gallery of Iceland and a nice little church. Walk further on the east bank you walk through a park called Hljómskálagarður or literally “Music Hall Park”. It is named after a small octogonal building. It is the first building in Reykjavik dedicated to music, completed in 1923 for the Reykjavik Brass Band. Contrast that with the Harpa Concert Hall! Walk a little further and on your left you will see one of the first statues erected in Reykjavik. It is a self portrait (selfie?) of the first ever Icelandic sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen unveiled in 1875. The statue was originally situated in front of the Althingi building but it was moved to the park in 1931. It replacement was a statue of the national hero Jon Sigurdsson.
Walk a bit further and on the south bank you will see a statue of a guy sitting on a bench. This is a statue dedicated to the poet Tomas Gudmundsson (1901 – 1983) who was the real heavyweight poet to cover the city in his work. The police sometimes get phone calls in winter reporting a man sitting motionless on a bench. On the south bank you will find, yes you guessed it, Japanese cherryblossoms trees. They are still really small but will be a sight to see in a few years I guess.
How to get there
Written by Jón Heiðar Þorsteinsson
