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For July’s Museum of the Month I visited the National Museum of Iceland in the capital city, Reykjavík. To reach the museum I walked through Hljómskálagarður Park. The beautiful sunny day wasn’t the best day to visit an indoor museum, but it did provide a lovely walk.

The tour guide from my free city walking tour said if we had time to visit only one museum in the city we should visit the National Museum of Iceland. Because I did only have time to visit one I went with his recommendation. I haven’t visited any others so I can’t claim it is the best, but my favorite museums are usually history museums that are about the place I am visiting. The National Museum was exactly that. The museum gives the history of Iceland from its discovery until more recent days.

The museum is laid out really well in chronological order with English and Icelandic informational panels accompanying the many artifacts. Throughout the museum I learned about the creation and changes within politics and religion as well as some other information thrown in, like foreigners thoughts on visiting Iceland a couple centuries ago. I thought it was a really good overview of Iceland and a good amount to read along with the artifacts without it being too dry or overwhelming. I spent about two hours in the museum leisurely looking around and reading a good deal of the information. 

Some of the information I heard again throughout the week on my many guided tours. Often the information on tours was more of a snippet, so I found it really helpful to basically know the whole history and have a basic context to learn more from. Just don’t quiz me on Icelandic history!

Along with the permanent exhibit, there was also an exhibit on saddles. Do you know the difference between aside and astride riding?

Visiting Information

Where

Suðurgata 41, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland

How to get there

If you are staying in central Reykjavík you can walk to the museum. It is about a 17 minute walk from Hallgrimskirkja church and 10 minutes from the city hall and main downtown area. Here is a link to the bus website if you need public transportation.

Recommendations

Before or after your visit if you need a pastry I recommend you visit Braud & Co (Vesturbær, Reykjavík, Iceland). There are other locations, but I visited this one because it was 13 minutes walking distance from the museum and I got to see some of the more residential areas of the city before returning back to the downtown area. The bakery is known for its cinnamon rolls but I had a delicious chocolate croissant.

FYI

With a ticket to the National Museum of Iceland you also receive a free ticket to the Culture House in Reykjavík. They do not need to be used on the same day. Toilets, free lockers, a cafe and a gift shop are also in the museum.

Check out my Museum of the Month page to see all my museum reviews!

More About Iceland

• Incredible Iceland
• One Day in Reykjavik
• How to Get from Keflavík Airport to Reykjavík, Iceland
• Day Tours from Reykjavík
• SUP
• Kayaking in Iceland
• Hot Springs Hike & Glacier Hike, 
• Jökulsárlón & South Island
• Books about Iceland & Finland

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