Reykjavík

The Old Harbour & Grandi

A working fishing harbour that never stopped working, with a converted-warehouse district growing out of the end of it. Trawlers still unload at one quay while whale-watching boats leave from the next, and behind them the old fish-processing sheds on Grandagarður now hold a chocolate factory, an ice cream counter, a contemporary art museum, a lava show and the best food hall in the city.

Who it's for: Anyone with a half-day and an appetite — this is the single best walk in Reykjavík outside the centre, and it is ten minutes on foot from Austurvöllur. Families, because Whales of Iceland, FlyOver Iceland and the Lava Show are all within four hundred metres of each other. Seafood eaters. And anyone who wants a boat: whale watching, puffins and the Viðey ferry all leave from here.

Things to know

  • It is a ten-minute walk from Austurvöllur or fifteen from Hallgrímskirkja — do not take a bus or a taxi. Walk out along the harbourfront past the Reykjavík Art Museum and keep going.
  • This is where every boat leaves from. Whale watching and puffin tours go from Ægisgarður pier; the Viðey ferry runs from the Old Harbour between June and August (and from Skarfabakki, further east, the rest of the year).
  • Whale watching runs year-round but the sightings and the sea are both far better April to October. Elding's classic tour is 14,500 ISK for adults, 2.5–3.5 hours; the one-hour puffin tour is 8,300 ISK and runs roughly 20 April to 20 August.
  • Take seasickness tablets before boarding, not when you feel ill. Faxaflói bay is open water and the swell is real even on a calm-looking day. The boats hand out overalls; take one, because it is much colder at sea.
  • Omnom no longer runs chocolate factory tours — they were stopped on health and safety grounds. The shop and the ice cream counter at Hólmaslóð 4 are still open, and that is what you go for.
  • Grandi Food Hall opens 11:00–21:00 daily and is the easiest lunch in the district — seven or eight independent kitchens under one roof in a 1930s fish plant.
  • The Marshall House galleries are free to enter and almost nobody realises it. Ólafur Elíasson's studio is in the same building but is a working studio, not a public gallery.
  • The district is fully exposed to the sea wind and there is very little shelter between the sheds. It is measurably colder here than on Laugavegur and the wind can take a car door off — brace it when you open one.
  • Almost everything closes by 18:00 except the restaurants, and the whole area is dead in the evening. Do the museums in the day and eat here early, or eat downtown.
  • There is a lot of good large-scale street art on the gable ends along Grandagarður — walk with your head up.