Reyk­javík City Mu­seum
Our His­tory

Here you can view our Summer programme.

View

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

The exhibition "Half a Century Through the Lens" explores press photographer Gunnar V. Andrésson’s career, that lasted more than fifty years – from 1966 to 2018.

View

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
Reykjavík Maritime Museum

The Coast Guard Vessel Óðinn - guided tour on board

We offer daily guided tours at 13:00, 14:00, and 15:00 on board the Coast Guard vessel Óðinn from 1 March to 31 October, focusing on the Cod Wars and the vessel's rescue history. Welcome aboard!

The Coast Guard Vessel Óðinn - guided tour on board
Árbær Open Air Museum

Icelandic Sheepdog Day

On Friday, 18 July, Icelandic Sheepdog Day will be celebrated at Árbær Open Air Museum. There, it will be possible to greet the dogs and their owners who will happily answer all questions about the Icelandic Sheepdog. The dogs are sweet and smart and it is safe to pet them with the owners' permission.

Icelandic Sheepdog Day
Árbær Open Air Museum

ISLEK 2025 - Traditional Nordic Dance Performance

This summer, the 50th anniversary of ISLEK – the Nordic folk dance festival that has united dance enthusiasts from the Nordic countries since 1975 – will be celebrated 🇮🇸🇬🇱🇫🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇴🇫🇮 This year, the festival will be held for the ninth time, and on Saturday, 19 July, guests dressed in national costumes from Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland will perform folk dances throughout Árbær Open Air Museum's grounds. From 14:00 to 16:00, guests will be able to enjoy a variety of dances and colourful costumes that reflect the cultural heritage of the Nordic countries. Welcome!

ISLEK 2025 - Traditional Nordic Dance Performance
Árbær Open Air Museum

The Antique Automobile Day

On Sunday, 20 July at 13:00-16:00, the annual and popular Antique Automobile Day will be held at Árbær Open Air Museum. The Icelandic Antique Automobile Association will be displaying various notable cars owned by members on the museum grounds. Members will be on site and chatting with guests. At 14:00-15:00, the band Korsiletturnar (Corselets) will take to the stage, specializing in swing and jazz music from the 1920s to the 1950s. The band consists of a trio of singers, guitarists and drummers. Lovely jazz standards mixed with original material and hits from recent years performed in an old-fashioned way.

The Antique Automobile Day
Reykjavík City Library Grófin

Evening Walk | Our Buildings - Family Architecture Walk

Welcome to a free family architecture walk on Thursday, 24 July at 18:00. Alma Sigurðardóttir, a specialist in building preservation, will lead a family-friendly guided tour around the Reykjavík Pond. Special emphasis will be placed on educating children.

Evening Walk | Our Buildings - Family Architecture Walk
View all events

Ex­hib­i­tions

The Women's Day Off October 24 1975
Reykjavík Museum of Photography
-

The Wo­men's Day Off Oc­to­ber 24 1975

Cur­rently on view in Skotið ex­hib­i­tion space - an ex­hib­i­tion from the mu­seum col­lec­tion on the oc­ca­sion that this year marks the 50th an­niversary of the The Wo­men's Day Off on Oc­to­ber 24 1975 which was a mo­nu­mental mo­ment in Icelandic (wo­men's) his­tory.

Steingrímur Hermannsson, prime minister with drag queens on election night, 20 April 1991
Reykjavík Museum of Photography
-

Gun­nar V. An­drés­son Press Pho­to­grapher │Half a Cen­tury Through the Lens

The ex­hib­i­tion "Half a Cen­tury Through the Lens" ex­plores press pho­to­grapher Gun­nar V. An­drés­son’s ca­reer, that las­ted more than fifty years – from 1966 to 2018.

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.

Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries
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.

Consumption – Reykjavík in the 20th century
Árbær Open Air Museum

Con­sump­tion – Reyk­javík in the 20th cen­tury

The ex­hib­i­tion aims to show the huge and rapid changes that took place in con­sump­tion pat­terns in Reyk­javík dur­ing the 20th cen­tury – to ex­plore the factors that af­fected con­sump­tion, and how tech­nical ad­vances, gov­ern­ment ac­tions, wars, and events in Ice­land and abroad in­flu­enced the daily life of the people of Reyk­javík.

The Wheel Age
Árbær Open Air Museum

The Age of Carts

Even though the wheel is a an­cient in­ven­tion it ar­rived late to Iceland. Trans­port over long dis­tances were in prin­ciple the same from the time of set­tle­ment to the 19th cen­tury, namely on horses

Toy Exhibition: Come and play!
Árbær Open Air Museum

Come and play!

The ex­hib­i­tion fo­cuses on chil­dren's cul­ture, toys and games in the last cen­tury. It is housed in a former church and sports hall called Landakot. The ex­hib­i­tion is in­ter­act­ive and it suits chil­dren in all age groups. Open at the same time as the mu­seum.

From High Mass to High Jump
Árbær Open Air Museum

From High Mass to High Jump

The story of the build­ing Landakot is told in the ex­hib­i­tion From High Mass to High Jump. The house was built in 1897 as the first cath­olic church in Ice­land since the Re­form­a­tion. In 1930 it be­came a sportshall and re­mained as such un­til 2004 when it was re­lo­cated to the mu­seum.

View all exhibitions