MONEY, SAFETY, AND STAYING CONNECTED
Top Kids’ Sights and Activities
With relatively few museums and plenty of stunning natural wonders and other outdoor activities, Iceland is practically made for kids. Icelandic culture prizes kids. You’ll find many restaurants and museums have designated play areas, and every neighborhood has a playground. And its mind-blowing landscapes make for a road trip that rivals the great national parks of the US. Encourage your kids to learn about exciting geological features like volcanoes and glaciers so they can play tour guide. Figure out what their friends’ names would be using the Icelandic naming system (I’d be “Rick Dicksson”). And challenge them to master the pronunciation of “Eyjafjallajökull.”
Involve your kids in trip planning. Have them read about the places that you may include in your itinerary (even the hotels you’re considering), and let them help with your decisions.
• Accommodation selection is critical. In Reykjavík, hotels are pricey and can be cramped; renting an apartment or house (such as through Airbnb) can be cheaper and gives you more space. Particularly with a family, the advantages of renting a home in Reykjavík’s suburbs are substantial—you’ll have more space and a better look at real Icelandic life than tight downtown hotels near rowdy nightlife streets. But be warned that short-term rentals might not be childproofed or fully equipped for small kids (unlike hotels, which are likely to have a loaner crib available). Search carefully for the specific amenities you’ll need—or, if necessary, bring them along.
• Outside of the capital area, you’ll find fun farmstay opportunities that are ideal for families. For more on farmstays, see the “Sleeping” section of the Practicalities chaper.
• Minimize changes by planning longer stays. From the Reykjavík area, you can spend days side-tripping to many of Iceland’s highlights: Golden Circle, South Coast, Blue Lagoon/Reykjanes Peninsula, West Iceland, and more. If doing the entire Ring Road, budget plenty of time to minimize one-night stays; spend multiple nights in places like Mývatn, Southeast Iceland, or the South Coast.
• Aim to stay at places with restaurants (on-site or nearby), so older kids can go back to the room while you finish a pleasant dinner.
• In most of Iceland, hot water is piped directly from geothermal sources. It can be scalding right out of the tap. Show your kids how to carefully test the water temperature before washing their hands or getting in a shower or bathtub. (Also reassure them that the sometimes-sulfurous odor of the hot water is perfectly natural and safe.)
• Don’t bother bringing a car seat—car-rental agencies usually rent them (but reserve in advance).
• Bring your own drawing supplies and English-language picture books, as these are pricey in Iceland.
• Pack a swimsuit, towel, and maybe goggles for fun in Iceland’s many thermal swimming pools.
• With the unpredictable weather (even in summer), bring a waterproof jacket and plenty of layers to bundle up your child if the wind starts howling.
• If you’re flying Icelandair, ask for the nice, complimentary box of items that kids under 10 will appreciate. And there’s a wide variety of video entertainment showcasing Iceland’s many attractions that may help get your child excited about what lies ahead.
Iceland offers plenty of food options for children.
• Icelandic soups (especially the staple lamb soup, called kjötsúpa) are hearty, nourishing, and plenty accessible for kids.
• Iceland’s wide variety of yogurt-like treats (þykkmjólk, jógurt, and skyr) are tasty for kids and grown-ups alike.
• Most accommodations provide a hearty buffet-style breakfast (including cereals, breads, cheeses, juices, yogurts, etc.) with enough options for kids to fortify themselves for a busy day of sightseeing.
• While certain Icelandic dishes might challenge less adventurous young eaters, plenty of familiar American-style food is available—and many restaurants offer a children’s menu. Hot dogs are a mainstay even for Icelandic families; you’ll find Subway sandwich shops all over the country; burgers and fries are easy to find (and taste more or less like their American counterparts); and fish-and-chips is readily available. In the Reykjavík area, Domino’s, the IKEA cafeteria, and other international chains are good fallbacks.
• Most kids will enjoy sampling local sweets. Icelandic candy is tasty and unique. Licorice encased in chocolate is a specialty. Note, though, that a lot of Icelandic licorice is stronger than a kid’s palate is used to. And Icelanders love soft-serve ice cream. For a special treat, ask at an ice-cream store for a bragðarefur—an overflowing cup of soft serve with candy or sauces mixed in. Also look for familiar sweets in new packaging—for example, Rís Buff (puffed rice and marshmallow covered in chocolate). Kids also might like to try the local orange soda, Egils Appelsín.
• Adventurous older kids might get a kick out of trying some of Iceland’s more exotic foods, such as whale, the infamous fermented shark, or other “hardship meats.”
• Eat dinner early, when restaurants are less crowded.
• Skip romantic or super-traditional eateries. Try relaxed cafés (or fast-food restaurants) where kids can move around without bothering others. Many eateries around the country have play areas.
• Picnics work well. Stock up on supplies at one of Iceland’s budget supermarkets, Bónus and Krónan.
The key to a successful Iceland family vacation is to slow down. Tackle one or two key sights each day, mix in a healthy dose of pure fun at a park or natural area, and take extended breaks when needed.
• Lower your sightseeing ambitions and let kids help choose daily activities. Plan longer stays at fewer stops—you won’t regret it.
• To make your trip fun for everyone in the family, mix heavy-duty sights with kids’ activities—such as having a picnic after tackling a museum.
• Keep in mind that museums in Iceland can be very expensive. Even a fairly modest exhibit that takes less than an hour to see can cost $20 or more per person; younger children may get discounts. To avoid blowing through a lot of money, carefully weigh your sightseeing options and consider the investment each place requires...and remember that, for families with a car, most of Iceland’s best attractions—in the great outdoors—are free.
• Older kids and teens can help plan the details of a sightseeing visit, such as what to see, how to get there, and ticketing details.
• Audioguides are great for older children. Many exhibits—like the Museum of Icelandic Natural Wonders at the Pearl in Reykjavík, or the Lava Centre near the South Coast—offer interactive exhibits that will keep kids of all ages engaged. For younger children, hit the gift shop first so they can buy postcards and have a scavenger hunt to find the pictured items. When boredom sets in, try “I spy” games.
• Bring a sketchbook and encourage kids to select an object or landscape to draw. It’s a great way for them to slow down and observe.
• Souvenirs tend to be extremely expensive. Parents may find it wise to give kids a budget and advise them to choose their souvenir carefully. You’ll soon realize that many of the same items are available (and are the same price) at multiple locations; it seems there’s a finite number of souvenirs, and most stores stock the same items.
• One of my favorite suggestions is to buy your child a trip journal where he or she can record observations, thoughts, and favorite sights and memories. This journal could end up being your child’s favorite souvenir.
• For a group project, keep a family journal. Pack a small diary and a glue stick. While relaxing at a café, take turns writing about the day’s events and include mementos such as ticket stubs from museums, postcards, or pinches of black sand from volcanic beaches.
• Younger kids may enjoy a typically Icelandic stuffed animal, like a cuddly puffin. An Icelandic flag is simple, colorful, and low-cost. T-shirts with unique Icelandic words or sayings are fun.
Before your trip gets underway, talk to your kids about safety and money.
• Give your child a money belt and an expanded allowance; you are on vacation, after all. Let your kids budget their funds by comparing and contrasting the dollar and the króna.
• If you allow older kids to explore a museum or neighborhood on their own, be sure to establish a clear meeting time and place.
• It’s good to have a “what if” procedure in place in case something goes wrong. Give your kids your hotel’s business card (or write down the address of your rental apartment), your phone number (if you brought a mobile phone), and emergency taxi fare. Let them know to ask to use the phone at a hotel if they are lost. And if they have mobile phones, show them how to make calls in Iceland (see the “Staying Connected” section of the Practicalities chapter).
• If traveling with older kids, you can help them keep in touch with friends at home with cheap texting plans and by email. Hotel guest computers and Wi-Fi hotspots are a godsend. Readily available Wi-Fi (at just about every business in Iceland) makes bringing a mobile device worthwhile. Most parents find it worth the peace of mind to buy a supplemental messaging plan for the whole family: Adults can stay connected to teenagers while allowing them maximum independence.
For specifics, see the individual listings under “Sights in Reykjavík,” here.
The large 3-D map of Iceland (on display some, but not all, days) will fascinate many kids and can be a nice prelude or postscript to your Iceland visit.
This valley, just east of downtown, is where Icelanders spend time with their kids. It has a “family park” (including the city’s biggest jungle gym and a few amusement-park rides), a zoo (with mostly farm animals), botanic gardens, and an indoor ice rink.
Not far from Laugardalur, this very kid-friendly exhibit lets you walk through historic buildings from around Iceland.
While this attraction is very expensive, kids love wandering among the life-size models of majestic giants. Actual whale-watching cruises may bore kids; read my description in the Icelandic Experiences chapter before assuming yours will enjoy one.
Open weekends only, this downtown flea market is fun for the whole family to explore.
This architecturally distinct church is an eye-catching symbol of the capital, which kids might enjoy seeing inside and out. If the line isn’t too long, ascending its tower offers a fine view over the city’s colorful rooftops. The statue of Leifur Eiríksson out front is a fun photo-op landmark (with a dramatic story).
The free viewpoint here offers a farther-out, big-picture view of Reykjavík, and the Museum of Icelandic Natural Wonders downstairs makes Icelandic nature fun for kids, especially the ice tunnel and interactive exhibits. Enjoy an ice cream with a 360-degree view of the city and surroundings.
The small lake in the heart of Reykjavík has walking paths and ducks to feed—and if it’s cold enough in winter, they may have a skating rink. At the northeast corner of the lake, find the sweet little “Mother’s Garden” (Mæðragarðurinn)—designed in 1925 for moms to bring their kids to play (notice the touching statue, called Motherly Love).
On a nice day, the paths along the south side of the Reykjavík Peninsula make for a nice stroll and have lots of diversions. At low tide, you can walk down onto the rocks and sand (in the bay, there are no giant ocean waves to worry about). Start near the streets called Ægisíða and Faxaskjól (take bus #11).
Kids can spend an afternoon on bouncy castles and doing other tumbly activities at several indoor facilities. Both major shopping malls have supervised play zones where parents can pay to leave kids for an hour or two (ages 3-9). These include Ævintýraland in Kringlan, (www.kringlan.is/aevintyraland) and Smáratívolí in Smáralind (www.smarativoli.is). The giant IKEA has a small, supervised play area, called Småland, for kids ages 3-7 (free for up to an hour or so, may be a line to get in, www.ikea.is).
Life-size mannequins enacting great moments of early Icelandic history help bring those tales to life. But some of the mannequins may be too graphic (violence and a little nudity) for certain kids; before buying tickets, flip through the picture book at the entrance to help you decide. At the end of the visit, kids have a chance to dress up like a Viking. Skip the audioguide—it’s too dry for younger kids.
Kids enjoy walking around the lobby of this bold concert hall—with its many multicolored windows—and walking out on the jetty just beyond it for views back on the sailboat harbor in front of the building. The nearby Sun Voyager sculpture is a fun spot to take photos.
Older kids might enjoy seeing the actual remains of this Viking Age longhouse from the 10th century, well-explained by interactive exhibits.
Jaded, older teenagers (bored with every other museum in town) may show a spark of interest at this collection of preserved animal phalluses. In some ways, 12-year-old boys are the most fitting audience possible for this collection.
Near the international airport in the town of Keflavík, this museum features a replica Viking boat and some interactive exhibits. For younger kids, the highlight is across the parking lot, in the Settlement Age petting zoo (summer only). While mostly underwhelming, this exhibit is a handy place to kill some time near the airport and Blue Lagoon (see here).
There are many remarkable things for kids to see in nature—from glaciers to volcanoes, and from puffins to horses. Most of these are equally suitable for kids as for adults, though some do have age restrictions. Below I’ve called out a few highlights for families. For an overview of these activities, see the Icelandic Experiences chapter.
Important Safety Warning: Particularly outside of the capital area, Iceland’s nature is untamed and can be quite dangerous. Anytime you’re near the open ocean (especially along the South Coast), be aware of the risk of sneaker waves—which can suddenly deluge a beach, pulling people out to the open ocean. At any geothermal area (such as at Geysir on the Golden Circle), keep children very close at hand and ensure that they understand the extreme danger of straying from marked paths and into scalding springs. (Impress on your kids that the water is extremely hot, not just warm...they shouldn’t try to “test” the temperature with their finger.) And if you’re walking up close to a glacier, don’t go on top of the ice unless you are properly outfitted and with a guide. For a complete rundown about safe travel, see the sidebar on here.
Iceland offers many opportunities to get up close to waterfalls, from Gullfoss (on the Golden Circle) to Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss (on the South Coast) to Dettifoss (in the North). Each one’s a bit different, but they’re all thrilling. Surefooted kids particularly enjoy Seljalandsfoss, where they can walk behind the falls (see here). Be very careful at any waterfall when it’s cold—the mist can make footing icy and slippery.
The black sand beach at Reynisfjara, on the South Coast, has seaside caves and stair-step basalt columns that kids enjoy climbing on (see here). But be very careful with kids at this beach, as this is one of the places prone to sneaker waves (see safety warning above).
All along the South Coast, you’ll spot glacial tongues lapping down from giant, slow-motion rivers of ice. If you’re doing a long road trip, the best place to see these is from the glacier lagoons in Southeast Iceland: Jökulsárlón and Fjallsárlón (see here). You can also walk right up to a glacier at Skaftafell National Park (see here) and at Sólheimajökull, which is a bit closer to Reykjavík (see here). Older kids might enjoy walking (or snowmobiling) on top of a glacier, or touring an ice cave, both of which you can experience by joining an excursion. For more on these options, see the “Glaciers” sections in the Icelandic Experiences chapter.
Iceland’s volcanic landscape is fascinating to see and learn about. For some tips, see the “Volcanoes” section of the Icelandic Experiences chapter.
Grábrók (in West Iceland, see here) and Hverfjall (by Mývatn, see here) are comparatively easy and safe crater experiences for small kids (they’ll still need a bit of hand-holding at the top). The most kid-friendly volcano museum is the Lava Centre in Hvolsvöllur, which you’ll drive right by on a South Coast day trip (see here). And the best all-around volcanic sight is the Westman Islands, where you can walk up onto a lava flow that partly covered the town in 1973, visit the excellent Volcano Museum (called Eldheimar), and hike up to the still-warm summit of Eldfell (see the Westman Islands chapter).
At places like Geysir Geothermal Field (on the Golden Circle), it’s mind-blowing for kids to walk through a bubbling, steaming, spurting landscape of hot water (see here). But—again—stay on the trail!
The Mývatn volcanic area in North Iceland—with its many unique land formations, steaming geothermal landscapes, and easy nature walks—is Iceland’s Yellowstone. The lava castles at Dimmuborgir are fun for kids and relatively safe. If you’re setting up for a few days of nature trips anywhere outside of the capital, Mývatn is a good choice (see here).
While its historical importance may be lost on younger kids, Þingvellir, on the Golden Circle route, can still be fun. Although the rocky outcrops and rushing river may make parents nervous, children like the boardwalks and paths. Near the P2 parking lot are picnic benches, woods, and a grassy area that’s suitable for games (see here).
In the northern town of Skagafjörður, the open-air Glaumbær Museum does a fine job re-creating the lifestyles of medieval Icelanders. You can actually walk through several sod-walled homes and really understand how people lived. While the museum is not specifically aimed at kids, older children interested in local folk culture enjoy it (see here).
Slakki Zoo, just off the Golden Circle route, is a combination petting zoo and indoor minigolf complex that’s aimed at kids under eight. Families could make this their main target for a Golden Circle day trip and manage to glimpse some of the better-known sights on the way (see here).
In the summer, try to find a place to look for puffins. You can spot these adorable seabirds all over—you’re likely to have luck on a short cruise from Reykjavík or on the Westman Islands (where you can usually meet a real, live puffin in the feathers, at the local aquarium).
Icelandic farms are getting into the tourism game. Many have horseback riding experiences, accommodations, restaurants, or areas where visitors can see animals and learn a bit about the workings of Icelandic farm life. Many of my accommodations outside of Reykjavík are on working farms. Good restaurants on farms include Efstidalur II and Friðheimar on the Golden Circle, and Fjósið on the South Coast (see those chapters for details). There’s also Cowshed Café near Mývatn and Jón Ríki in Southeast Iceland (see the Ring Road chapter).
The unique Icelandic horse—typically small and mighty—offers an enjoyable horseback riding experience for visitors old and young. Riding opportunities are plentiful at any one of dozens of horse farms around Iceland, including some near Reykjavík (for details, see here). In West Iceland, kids love the family-run Háafell Goat Farm, which is working hard to revive the nearly extinct Icelandic goat. It’s a fun visit for families—with hands-on goat encounters (here).
Iceland’s thermal bathing scene is extremely kid-friendly—particularly at the municipal swimming pools, which you’ll find around the capital area and throughout the country. Many of the larger pools have colorful waterslides and other activities that are designed just for kids, and there’s usually a shallow wading section for tiny tots. For tips on thermal pools—including the procedure for entering a pool complex—see the Icelandic Experiences chapter.
Note that Iceland’s upscale premium baths are less suitable for kids. For example, families may want to steer clear of the famous and expensive Blue Lagoon, as it doesn’t have any areas or activities designated for children, the mellow and spa-like atmosphere feels very grown-up, and its opaque water makes anything that slips under next to impossible to find. I also wouldn’t take younger kids to the rugged natural thermal bathing experiences (like Reykjadalur); those landscapes are quite volatile, and it’s easy to absentmindedly step into too-hot water. It’s best to stick with the many municipal pools around Iceland.
If you’re in Reykjavík on a snowy winter day, you can borrow sleds and drive to the slope at Ártúnsbrekka in the eastern part of the city. It’s off the street called Rafstöðvarvegur, near the Elliðaá River.