Icelandic Times

19/02/2026

It is both rewarding and enjoyable to visit the The National Gallery of Iceland on Fríkirkjuvegur right now. Four distinct exhibitions currently fill the building.
Staðarform is an exhibition of architectural drawings by two artists who understood, perceived, and expressed architecture in their work: Hörður Ágústsson (1922–2005) and Donald Judd (1928–1994). The exhibition is curated by Gavin Morrison.
Snertifletir is a group exhibition exploring harmony in Icelandic visual art from 1970 onwards. Seventeen artists reflect a forty-year chapter in Icelandic art. Curated by Pari Stave and Gavin Morrison, the exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Pétur Arason (1944–2023), a visionary art collector and a driving force behind dialogue and collaboration among artists.
Sjávarblámi is an exhibition by Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson. Through their visual art, they create new perspectives and illuminate the complex relationships between humans and whales, as well as other living beings. The exhibition is curated by Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir.
Finally, Grandalaus viðbrögð is an exhibition by the Polish artist Agnieszka Polska, curated by Pari Stave. In these two video works, attention is directed toward the fragility of existence at a time when the relationship between humans and nature is changing rapidly.
Four outstanding exhibitions.

06/02/2026

In 1939, KEA, a dairy cooperative, opened a new milk processing facility in Akureyri. Designed by architect Þórir Baldvinsson in a distinctive Bauhaus style, the modernist structure served as a dairy producer for nearly half a century.
Since 1993 the building has been home to Akureyri Art Museum. Today, it stands as the largest art museum in Iceland outside the capital region and has firmly established itself as one of the country's most dynamic and highly regarded institutions.Visiting the museum is always a delight—as Icelandic Times discovered firsthand.

Currently, eight diverse and captivating exhibitions are on view, offering something for every art enthusiast:
Það eru átta sýningar í gangi í safninu, ólíkar og heillandi:
Jóhannes S. Kjarval - Undir Berum Himni
Samsýningin 'Viðbragð'
James Merry - Nodens, Sulis & Tarnis
Ýmir Grönvold - Milli Fjalls og Fjöru
Valin verk fyrir sköpun og fræðslu - Margskonar I-II
Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir - Sjálfsástarvírus
Björk Viggósdóttir - Hreyfing fyrir sjón / Movement for vision
Guðmundur Ármann - Aðflæði / Influx

All interesting exhibitions in the capital of the bright North.

27/01/2026

Vatnsleysuströnd is a 15 km long coastline on the northern side of the Reykjanes Peninsula, stretching between Hafnarfjörður and Keflavík. The beach is covered by ancient lava, known as Þráinsskjaldarhraun, which flowed from a crater located northeast of Fagradalsfjall several thousand years ago.

The coastline is beautiful, and despite being almost right along a major route—since Iceland's busiest national highway, Reykjanesbraut, runs just south of Vatnsleysuströnd—surprisingly few people venture along the old coastal road that follows the shoreline.

Today, about 100 people live along the beach itself, and 1,100 in the village of Vogar, making a total of around 1,200 residents in the municipality. The area has been densely populated throughout the centuries, despite challenging conditions for livestock farming. Instead, many farms along the coast maintained strong rowing-boat fisheries for generations, thanks to their proximity to rich and productive fishing grounds.

Ancient remains are widespread across Vatnsleysuströnd, including ruins of seasonal fishing huts (verbúðir) and other structures related to traditional fishing operations.

Icelandic Times / Land & Saga explored the coastline and took photographs—it is truly an excellent spot for enjoying outdoor activities, right in the vicinity of Keflavík and the Capital Region.

26/01/2026

As a photographer, one should showcase their favorite places. Places one has visited countless times, yet which never cease to surprise. By sheer coincidence, mine all begin with the letter L.
These are Landmannalaugar in the heart of the highlands, Langisjór which lies tucked beneath the western edge of Vatnajökull in West Skaftafell County, Lónsöræfi in East Skaftafell County at the other end of Vatnajökull, and finally Langanes, on the northeastern corner of Iceland. There, the midnight sun is at its most beautiful.

26/01/2026

In Gallery D at the Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, young artists who are shaping the scene are invited to hold their first solo exhibition in a public institution.
Kristín Helga Ríkharðsdóttir (b. 1993) is the 53rd artist to exhibit in Gallery D. Silkimjúk is a new video installation in which we follow a woman with a desire—or an obsession—for perfectly smooth, silky legs. Kristín Helga works across media, and here, under the curation of Þorsteinn Freyr Fjölnisson, she explores the tension between the natural and the artificial. A beautiful and silky-smooth exhibition…

26/01/2026

On my way down to the Reykjavík Art Museum / Hafnarhús, I passed by Tjörnin (Reykjavík’s Pond).
There was a moment that simply demanded a photo.
Here it is… countless seagulls perched on the ice of the pond, with one of the capital’s most beautiful streets—Tjarnargata—in the background.

Energy

23/01/2026

Ideas are born. They roll off the assembly line, but few people ever finish them—let alone finish them well. Photographer Kristján Maack does it exceptionally well in his exhibition at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Sleeping Giants. Kristján’s goal with the show is to reveal a world in flux, offering us insight into a realm of melting ice where these “sleeping giants” rise up and vanish just as quickly. For surging glaciers are the outposts of the ice cap itself—places where, after thousands of years of slumber, they awaken and ascend, only to disappear again.

22/01/2026

Few places in Reykjavík have changed as dramatically over the centuries as Örfirisey. Once an island connected to the mainland by a beach that could be walked across at low tide, it lay west of Kvosin, where settlement in Iceland first began.
Today, Grandi has been expanded through extensive land reclamation, and Örfirisey forms the westernmost part of Reykjavík Harbour. It serves as the main shopping area for groceries in the western part of the city, while remaining a vibrant hub for the fishing industry—home to two major fishing companies.
The area also stores the nation’s oil reserves, attracts tourists with its sights, restaurants, and several museums.
Örfirisey and Grandi now form a lively “village” in the heart of the capital: a reclaimed peninsula with just one residential block and a sparse but lively population where tourists and locals mingle on an island shaped almost entirely by human hands. The land reclamation has made the harbour both safer and more efficient, creating an exciting new neighbourhood right west of the city centre.
Icelandic Times took a stroll through this blend of new and old in the capital.

22/01/2026

The Kaldidalur (“Cold Valley”) route is an ancient highway from Thingvellir up into
Borgarfjordur and from there further north. Kaldidalur was the first mountain road to be cleared in Iceland, in 1830, at the initiative of the poet and district governor Bjarni Thorarensen.

The road ranks among the highest in the country, reaching an altitude of 730 m (2,400 ft) west of Langjokull. It is only passable in summer, and then only for reasonably well equipped vehicles. The route runs mostly across barren gravel plains, stretching from Thingvellir National Park down to Husafell in Borgarfjordur, a beautifully green oasis.

From Husafell it is just a stone’s throw to Hraunfossar, the waterfalls that cascade from under a lava field into the river Hvita. For travelers wishing to experience as many sides of Iceland as possible, this makes an excellent day trip: a round journey from Reykjavik to Thingvellir, then through Kaldidalur down into Borgarfjordur, continuing on to Reykholt, Hvanneyri, and Borgarnes before returning to the capital.

20/01/2026

Nestled between the fjords of Skerjafjörður to the north and Hafnarfjörður to the south, Álftanes is a scenic peninsula extending westward into Faxaflói Bay. At its heart stands Bessastaðir, a historic estate that has been a prominent farm since around the year 1000.

The renowned poet and chieftain Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), famous for authoring the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, once owned Bessastaðir. After his death in 1241, the estate—with its lands, documents, and valuables—came under the control of the Norwegian crown, marking it as one of the earliest properties in Iceland to enter royal hands.

Today, Álftanes features a peaceful, low-lying landscape with modest settlement in the southern part of the Capital Region. It was an independent municipality until merging with Garðabær in 2012. Icelandic Times / Land & Saga explored this charming, often-overlooked spot—a wonderful mix of rich history and outdoor experiences, conveniently close to Reykjavík or Hafnarfjörður.

20/01/2026

The shadows are still long. Three weeks after the winter solstice, the day in the capital has lengthened by more than an hour. Or even more, because one can feel and see that it is so much brighter than it was on December 22 last year. Icelandic Times set out on foot, chasing the light, along the sea that surrounds the Seltjarnarnes peninsula, home to two municipalities: Seltjarnarnes, farthest west on the peninsula, and the capital city of Reykjavík. On this peninsula, which is 10 km long and 4 km wide on average, roughly one-third of the nation’s population lives, of whom just over 1% reside in the town of Seltjarnarnes.

19/01/2026

Thingvellir is a sacred place for us Icelanders. At Thingvellir, the Republic was founded — finally free — on June 17, 1944. It was also here that Althingi, the national parliament, was established in the year 930, fifty-six years after the settlement of Iceland. The world’s oldest national parliament.

Thingvellir is now a national park — the first in the Republic — founded in 1928, and thus approaching its centennial in just under three years. Only 50 km (30 mi) from Reykjavik, it is one of the most visited destinations in the country, not only for its history but also for its unique natural setting.

There is no better time to visit Thingvellir than autumn, when the landscape transforms and dresses in the colors of the season. Icelandic Times / Land & Saga made the trip east to Thingvellir, in wind and rain, along with hundreds — even thousands — of other visitors eager to see the autumn colors before Old Man Winter takes hold.