Reykjavík

Öskjuhlíð, Nauthólsvík & the Southern Shore

The city's hot-water quarter. A wooded hill with six enormous water tanks on top and a glass dome over them, a heated sand beach in a sheltered cove below it, a coastal path around the fjord, and — a few minutes further south across the water — an infinity-edge lagoon looking at the open Atlantic. This is where Reykjavík goes to get warm and to look at the view, and almost none of it is downtown.

Who it's for: Anyone doing a 'thermal' day, which is the single best use of a spare day in Reykjavík: pool or beach in the morning, Perlan in the afternoon, Sky Lagoon at sunset. Families, for Perlan's ice cave and planetarium. Walkers and cyclists, for the Fossvogur coastal path. And anyone who wants the Blue Lagoon experience without the fifty-kilometre drive.

Things to know

  • Nauthólsvík geothermal beach is FREE from 15 May to 18 August and 895 ISK for adults from 19 August to 14 May. Under-18s are free year-round. Summer hours are 10:00–19:00 daily; winter it opens Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00–19:00 and to 16:00 on Saturdays.
  • The sea at Nauthólsvík is genuinely cold — the geothermal water warms the enclosed lagoon behind the sea wall, not the Atlantic. Icelanders swim in the open sea off it all winter and then get in the hot tubs. Do not confuse the two bodies of water.
  • Perlan has a single ticket covering every exhibition, the ice cave, the planetarium and the observation deck. Booking online saves 400 ISK per ticket — around 5,990 ISK for adults online against roughly 7,290 ISK at the door.
  • The Perlan ice cave is held at about −10°C. It is a hundred-metre tunnel built from 350 tonnes of real snow and ice. Bring a warm layer; they lend jackets but the queue for them is a nuisance.
  • Sky Lagoon is at Vesturvör 44–48 in Kópavogur, about 9 km from the centre — ten to fifteen minutes by car or a dedicated shuttle. Saman (public changing) runs about 12,990–13,990 ISK and Sér (private changing) about 15,990–16,990 ISK. Both include the seven-step Skjól ritual.
  • Allow at least 90 minutes at Sky Lagoon for the full ritual, and book a time slot in advance — walk-ins are not reliable.
  • The Grapevine's 2026 panel ranked Sky Lagoon as runner-up for Best Lagoon behind Hvammsvík, which is 45 minutes out of town. If you have a car and a spare half day, that is worth knowing.
  • Öskjuhlíð's woodland trails run from the Perlan car park down to Nauthólsvík in about fifteen minutes. The WWII bunkers and gun emplacements are scattered through the trees, unmarked and unfenced.
  • This district has very little food. Satt at the hotel below Öskjuhlíð and a handful of places across in Kópavogur are essentially it — plan to eat downtown or in Grandi.
  • Kópavogur is a separate municipality with its own museums, library and concert hall clustered at Hamraborg, and its own swimming pools. Reykjavík city cards and pool passes do not apply there.