How To Explore Reykjavik As A Couple

Whether you and your partner are interested in the same activities or not, your arrival in Iceland must mean you have a common interest in this quirky Nordic island. With plenty of gourmet restaurants where you can explore the cuisine together as well as late night bars and daytime cultural activities to engage in, Reykjavik offers a lot of intimate activities for a visiting couple.

Restaurants and bars

For a typically Icelandic dinner with local seafood and a romantic atmosphere, check out Snaps. With their low-lit lamps, flora-filled greenhouse dining room and extensive gin and tonic menu, you can’t go wrong taking your significant other to this French-Icelandic-style bistro in downtown Reykjavik. Another great place with romantic potential and a quintessential offer of Icelandic specialties is Thrir Frakkir, a long-term establishment on a quiet side street in downtown Reykjavik with renowned fish dishes and a cosy atmosphere. For an after-dinner drink, check out the Gallery Bar located in Hotel Holt. The plush red leather sofas, classic bar menu and charcoal sketches by the beloved Icelandic landscape painter Johannes S. Kjarval on the walls will definitely put you in a good mood together.

Museums

Reykjavik has a wide variety of museums to explore together that concern a huge array of interests. If you’re interested in looking at ancient Icelandic culture, check out The National Museum of Iceland where you can explore Viking history together. If you’re more interested in contemporary art from both local Icelandic artists and international artists, go to The Marshall House located in the newly renovated Grandi neighborhood by the fish processing plant in the harbour. Here you can find three floors of art exhibitions, each featuring a different gallery or museum.

Nature walks

If you want to explore the surrounding nature together, there are also plenty of ways in which to do that. There are bike rental offers downtown, allowing you to explore the whole coastline of Reykjavik from downtown by Harpa concert hall to the tip of Seltjarnarnes peninsula where the bird-watching area Grotta opens into an inviting expanse of rocks, dunes and vistas of Mount Esja. It is also possible to take the local bus only 30 minutes outside of town to the base of Mount Esja and climb this majestic and easily traversable mountain to the top for wholesome views of Reykjavik and the surrounding North Atlantic ocean. The routes of the mountain take you through forests and over tiny streams, offering lots of privacy in which to bond with your significant other.