For a city the size of Reykjavík, there’s definitely a lot going on (per capita, of course), and luckily for you, you’re holding (or scrolling through) an exhaustive list of hotspots worth your attention. Our cultural experts keep tabs on the town’s happenings, but not in a pretentious, professional way — they live here, so they are nothing but upfront about what’s a hit or a miss. 2025 was a great year for culture, with multiple new galleries popping up in Reykjavík, museums seriously levelling up, and some institutions going into hibernation. If you’re going to do anything cultural in Reykjavík, start with some of these.
Best Permanent Exhibition
Elliðaárstöð, Elliðaárdalur
Rafstöðvarvegur 6-14
The area around the Elliðaárdalur power station has transformed into a project that “checks so many boxes,” one panellist says. There’s an outdoor park, playground, and family restaurant, but its interactive exhibition is what truly stands out. “It’s the closest thing we have to a science museum, like a hydro science museum,” points out another panellist. “They’ve got these playthings for kids that I was having a lot of fun playing with outside. You can pump water from the ground and create a little waterfall. It’s wicked cool.”
Runner Up:
World in Words, Edda
Arngrímsgata 5
Until recently, Icelandic manuscripts were largely inaccessible, but a 2025 exhibition changed that, attracting even non-history buffs. Rotated for preservation, the manuscripts are paired with impressive projections and audio narrations, allowing visitors to encounter this part of history up close. “You can read the pages if you speak Icelandic, which I think is kind of a cool connection to the manuscripts locked up in Denmark that we regularly have a national conversation about. This finally gives us a place where we would be able to put them if we ever get them back,” one panellist says.
Runner Up:
Hljóðhimnar, Harpa
Austurbakki 2
Hljóðhimnar, which translates as Sound Worlds, is a free, shoes-off exhibition at Harpa. Designed for kids and families to learn about sound through play, it’s engaging and very well-crafted. “Kids love hanging out there,” the panel agrees, highlighting the interactive orchestra, which allows children to play the notes of different instruments, or even try on the role of conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Previous Winners:
2025: Chromo Sapiens, Höfuðstöðin
2024: Perlan
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