Reyk­javík City Mu­seum
Our His­tory

Painting by Jón Helgason: 11. Lækjargata in snow, 1894. Oil on canvas mounted on wood. In a gilded wooden frame.

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Reykjavík Museum of Photography

A photographic exhibition featuring the work of the first full-time staff photographer at an Icelandic newspaper.

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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.

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Our locations

Events

Árbær Open Air Museum

Guided tour at Árbær Open Air Museum

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.

Guided tour at Árbær Open Air Museum
The Settlement Exhibition Aðalstræti 10 and 16

Are you learning Icelandic? - Guided tour in easy-to-understand Icelandic

Are you learning Icelandic? The Reykjavík City Museum offers a guided tour of Aðalstræti 10 and 16 for people who are learning Icelandic. The tour will take place on Saturday, 14 November, from 14:00 to 15:00. The tour will be led by Katleen Abbeel, who will provide information and stories in clear and easy-to-understand Icelandic.

Are you learning Icelandic? - Guided tour in easy-to-understand Icelandic
Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Exhibition Talk with the Curators of Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene

On 15 November at 14:00, curators Íris Gyða Guðbjargardóttir and Hlín Gylfadóttir will lead a free tour of On the Scene, an exhibition of photographs by Icelandic photojournalist Ólafur K. Magnússon (1926-1997). The tour will be conducted in Icelandic and entry is free.

Exhibition Talk with the Curators of Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene
Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Visual Description in Icelandic - Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene

The Reykjavik City Museum offers a visual description for the visually impaired in Icelandic of the exhibition Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene on 17 November at 13:30. The visual description is free of charge.

Visual Description in Icelandic - Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene
Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Guided tour in Sign Language - Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene

The Reykjavik City Museum offers a guided tour in Icelandic sign language of the exhibition Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene on 29 November at 14:00. The tour is free of charge, and everyone who uses sign language is warmly welcome.

Guided tour in Sign Language - Ólafur K. Magnússon: On the Scene
The Settlement Exhibition Aðalstræti

Guided Tour in English: Christmas in Reykjavík - From the Past to the Present

Welcome to a Christmas themed guided tour of the Settlement Exhibition Aðalstræti in English! The tours will be taking place on 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18 December at 11:00. Please notice that the minimum amount of guests for the tour is 2 people.

Guided Tour in English: Christmas in Reykjavík - From the Past to the Present
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Ex­hib­i­tions

Tungnaá river, 2024. Photo: Arngrímur Blöndahl
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Wa­ter I Skotið in Fókus 2026

"Wa­ter" is the title of the sev­enth and last ex­hib­i­tion by mem­bers of FÓKUS, the Am­a­teur Pho­to­graphy Club, which has taken over the ex­hib­i­tion space SKOTIÐ at the Reyk­javík Mu­seum of Pho­to­graphy.

Ólafur K. Magnússon at Morgunblaðið news paper in 1953.
Reykjavík Museum of Photography
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On the Scene│Ólafur K. Mag­nús­son Press Pho­to­grapher

When Ólafur K. Mag­nús­son (1926–97) joined daily Mor­gun­blaðið in 1947, he was the first pho­to­grapher on the per­man­ent staff of an Icelandic news­pa­per

Drawing by Auguste Mayer
Reykjavík Maritime Museum

A View of the North

How could the mys­ter­i­ous dis­ap­pear­ance of a French naval ves­sel cause a turn­ing-­point in the his­tory of the Icelandic na­tion?

Growing Pains
Árbær Open Air Museum

Grow­ing Pains

The ex­per­i­mental ex­hib­i­tion "Grow­ing Pains" gives you an in­sight into the world of primary school chil­dren in Reyk­javík between 1898 and 1974.

Ancient Roots of Árbær in the museum building Landakot/ÍR House

An­cient Roots of Ár­bær

An ex­hib­i­tion about an ar­chae­olo­gical ex­cav­a­tion tak­ing place at the Ár­bær farm site.

Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries. Photo: Vigfús Birgisson, 2026
Reykjavík Maritime Museum

Fish & folk – 150 years of fish­er­ies

The ex­hib­i­tion Fish & folk – 150 years of fish­er­ies at the Reyk­javík Mari­time Mu­seum is about the his­tory of the Icelandic fish­er­ies, from the time when row­ing boats gave way to large fish­ing ves­sels in the late 19th cen­tury, through to the 21st cen­tury.

Milestones by Richard Serra, 1991.
Viðey Island

Mile­stone­s│Richard Serra

For the Reyk­javík Arts Fest­ival of 1990, a work of art by US sculp­tor Richard Serra was crea­ted on West is­land.

The Imagine Peace Tower
Viðey Island

The Ima­gine Peace Tower

Work of art concei­ved by the leg­end­ary art­ist, mu­si­cian and peace ad­voc­ate Yoko Ono as a beacon for world peace.

Suðurgata 7 │A Reykjavík home around 1925
Árbær Open Air Museum

Suður­gata 7 │A Reyk­javík home around 1925

Suður­gata 7, built in 1833 in cent­ral Reyk­javík, was en­larged in stages. It has been in its present form since 1883.

Inside the exhibition "Hábær House 1950"
Árbær Open Air Museum

Hábær House 1950

The ex­hib­i­tion Hábær 1950 seeks to shed light on the liv­ing con­di­tions of a poor fam­ily around the year 1950

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