Reyk­javík City Mu­seum
Our His­tory

The guide takes guests to all the main houses of the museum and tells their stories. The guided tour is in English and takes just over an hour.

Can you find the little yellow cat? Welcome to a treasure hunt around the Settlement Exhibition at Aðalstræti on Museum Night, Friday, February 6th, from 10:00 to 23:00. Free admission and everyone is welcome! At the Settlement Exhibition downtown, there is a little yellow cat. It wanders all over the exhibition — into display cases, onto tables, and up onto window ledges. If you follow the little yellow cat around the exhibition, you might just discover where it lives. The event is part of the Reykjavík City Museum’s Museum Night programme.

Welcome to the Settlement Exhibition Aðalstræti on Museum Night, Friday 6 February from 18:00–23:00. Free admission and everyone is welcome! At Aðalstræti 10 and 16 in Reykjavík’s city centre, you can explore how the city developed from Iceland’s settlement period to the present day. Stretching underground from Aðalstræti 16 – which houses the archaeological remains of a 10th-century Viking longhouse – to the central Kvosin area’s oldest remaining building at Aðalstræti 10, this historical exhibition traces Reykjavík’s development from a farm to a city. The exhibition’s older part, at Aðalstræti 16, draws on archaeological findings in Reykjavík to depict the lives and work of its first settlers. Combining multimedia technology and archaeological interpretation, it shines a spotlight on the life and times of Reykjavík’s first inhabitants and their relationship with their environment in a new country. The exhibition’s centrepiece is a 10th-century Viking longhouse discovered in 2001, which is preserved in its original location and gives a fascinating glimpse into settlement-period ​Reykjavík. North of the longhouse, a wall fragment predating the longhouse was also found. Dating from before 871, this fragment is one of Iceland’s oldest archaeological remains. The exhibition stretches onward underground from Aðalstræti 16 to Aðalstræti 10 – the Kvosin area’s oldest building – and continues into the present day. The visitor is taken through different chapters of Reykjavík’s history, learning about the daily existence of its residents and getting a taste of what life was like in the different periods. From farm to village, from town to city – visit Aðalstræti to experience Reykjavík’s history in a nutshell!

Welcome to the exhibition Fókus – Amateur Photography Club at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography on Museum Night, Friday 6 February, from 18:00–22:00. Free admission and everyone is welcome! The photographers behind the exhibition will be on site to chat about the exhibition and the association. Movement is the title of the first exhibition by members of Fókus - Amateur Photography Club, which will take over the SKOTIÐ exhibition space in 2026. The word movement can be interpreted in photography in many ways — for instance by freezing motion in an image, following movement with the camera, or photographing various “movements” in society, such as the labour movement or protest movements. Exhibiting artists: Dagþór Haraldsson Geir Gunnlaugsson Ósk Ebenesersdóttir Ólafur Magnús Håkansson Sveinn Aðalsteinsson Þorsteinn Friðriksson A slideshow by Fókus members titled "With the Sun in Our Hearts" will also be shown on a screen — a 15‑minute presentation running continuously throughout the night. The event is part of Reykjavík City Museum’s Museum Night programme.

Let's go on an expedition! Welcome to a family workshop at the Reykjavík Maritime Museum on Museum Night, Friday 6 February from 18:00–22:00. Free admission and everyone is welcome! Imagine you are going on a long journey across the ocean. You travel by ship and get one large travel chest to pack everything you need for the expedition. In the 19th century, explorers and scientists went on long and difficult journeys across the ocean to study new lands. Paul Gaimard was a French naturalist who came to Iceland in 1835 with a large group of scientists. They brought trunks and chests full of equipment they needed to survive and carry out their research. Inside the chests were the most extraordinary things. What would you take with you? The event is part of the Reykjavík City Museum’s Museum Night programme.

Welcome to the Reykjavík Museum of Photography on Museum Night, Friday 6 February from 18:00–22:00. Free admission and everyone is welcome! Sleeping Giants is an exhibition by Kristján Maack and is about the fateful times in which we live. In nature, there are sleeping giants that are slowly awakening. Deep within nature’s core, time has stood still for millions of years. Time is preserved there, along with the essence of nature itself. For millennia, water, oxygen, and all the particles of the land have been stored in the perfect place—compressed under their own immense weight to preserve their origin. In darkness and cold, the core is best preserved. Time has stopped for millions of years, waiting for what will happen next. The mass and its tremendous weight affect everything in its surroundings, both nourishing and suffocating the entire environment through its presence. Icelandic glaciers are disappearing. If you look deep into the core of a glacier, you can find everything that once existed: atmosphere, water, dust, flora, and even the smallest particles of the universe. All of this is stored in nature’s freezer. Movement is the title of the first exhibition by members of Fókus - Amateur Photography Club, which will take over the SKOTIÐ exhibition space in 2026. The word movement can be interpreted in photography in many ways — for instance by freezing motion in an image, following movement with the camera, or photographing various “movements” in society, such as the labour movement or protest movements. Exhibiting artists: Dagþór Haraldsson Geir Gunnlaugsson Ósk Ebenesersdóttir Ólafur Magnús Håkansson Sveinn Aðalsteinsson Þorsteinn Friðriksson