From Reykjavik you can easily go to see Gullfoss and Geysir, a lovely combination of a beautiful waterfall and some hot springs/geysers, Thingvellir, where Iceland's parliament used to be held a few centuries back, Thorsmork, a very nice National Park, or you can head off for a trip of few days and see volcanoes, glaciers, whales or whatever you desire.
What more?
For the Reykjavik nightlife, check out "Nightlife"
and for recreation in Reykjavik, also see "Recreation".
The Reykjavik area offers many outdoor, geothermal bathing areas and swimming pools. For more on this, see below.
For more on Reykjavik, there's also always www.reykjavik.com as well as www.reykjavik.is
The Reykjavik area offers many outdoor bathing areas and swimming pools that are heated by Iceland's geothermal water. Some of the main one's are:
· Sundlaug Kopavogs. A very good and modern swimming pool in the town of Kopavogur. It has a 50m long swimming pool, a 12m long and around 1m deep playing pool for children, a sauna, 5 hot tubs, sun benches, a water slide with an accompanying small pool (all outdoors), tanning facilities and gym facilities.
· Arbaejarlaug. A very good swimming pool in the suburbs of Reykjavik. Offering outdoor and indoor swimming pools, hot tubs and a sauna.
· Laugardalslaug. Swimming facilities on the city centre outskirts, right in the middle of Reykjavik's main outdoor and family area. It offers a 50m long outdoor pool, with a long water slide, 3 hot tubs and 3 other pools, infant slide, steam bath, sun benches, massage and a cafeteria. The Laugardalur outdoor area adds to that basketball, football and hiking areas. An ice skating rink, a small zoo of sorts, a plant/vegetation park and "Fjolskyldugardurinn", which is a kind of theme park without all the bright lights. Lastly, there is
· Sundholl Reykjavikur, which is right in the centre and has an indoor pool only, with diving facilities and outdoor hot tubs.
If, however, you prefer a beach atmosphere, why not try Reykjavik's newly renovated bathing area, Nauthólsvík.
Nautholsvik
Across the water from Nauthólsvík is one of the capital area's
main sailing clubs; there you can also rent boats of various kinds to sail
out into the water.
But in Nautholsvik itself, there is now a nice sandy beach, which in good
summer weather can be the best place to be. In an effort to make it even nicer,
and possibly healthier, geothermal water is being pumped into the sea closest
to the beach, which should guarantee that the water won't be too cold.
Here's a bit more on Nautholsvik (it also enters into the History category):
"Our neighbours in Scandinavia, and in fact many others, speak about shark, harðfisk, the Icelandic brennivín liquor, and 'hot pots' as something specifically Icelandic. Gullfoss, Geysir and Þingvellir would follow closely, and many would mention the Blue Lagoon and Perlan. Shortly the people of Reykjavík will be able to add yet another aspect to that list. At Nauthólsvík beach, hard work has taken place over the past year at constructing a so called 'Thermal beach.' Mighty dams have been built and inside those, tons of golden sand have been offloaded. These structures will produce a beautiful lagoon, where the sea will mix with thermal water from Reykjavík's district heating. Despite the cold climate and cold sea that makes bathing beaches virtually unthinkable in Iceland, the thermal waters enable Icelanders to create conditions more reminiscent of the Mediterranean than the North Atlantic. As a matter of fact, at Nauthólsvík beach Icelanders get two things the Mediterranean countries don't get; the sea is much cleaner and less polluted, and the thermal waters are good for bathers' health."
By Gísli Árni Eggertsson, provided by the Reykjavik Tourist Information Centre
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