Húsdýragarðurinn
Reykjavík’s ‘zoo’ (and the attached family fun park with its zip lines, trampolines and rides) is basically where happiness was born and where it returns periodically to get jazzed up all over again. There are bunnies. There are horses. There are sheep and cows and roosters and arctic foxes and reindeer and enormous pigs and some random cats that seem to kind of live there. And, of course, there are goats (our favourite!). It’s a magical place to go in the spring when the place is just lousy with tiny, baby cute things, but there’s fun to be had year-round, such as horse rides for kids on weekend and holiday afternoons. Make sure to check the day’s schedule to find out when all the animals will be fed (watching the seals catch the whole fish that are flung at them is a total, unfettered joy), as well as the ‘running of the pigs’ from their holding pen to a nearby field. Dee-lightful. If you don’t have a kid to take with you (and can’t borrow one for the day), we won’t judge you if you go alone.

2013: Fjölskyldugarðurinn
2012: Lynghagaróló Playground

Photo by Axel Sigurðarson