Cheap things to do in Reykjavík under €60

Reykjavík is not cheap, but it is not all €150 boat trips either. Five things here cost €60 or less, and three of them are good. The walking tour is the best of the five, the Saga Museum is the safest museum pick, and the Puffin Express is only worth it in summer.

Prices are the adult price per person, as we list them today.

The walking tour: the best €40 you will spend

Reykjavik Walking Tour small group – CityWalk is €40 for two and a half hours. Walk with a Viking is €46 for two hours. Both run several times a day and both are small groups.

A walk gets you the layout of the town, the story of the settlement, and a local who can tell you which restaurant to avoid. Do it on your first morning and the rest of your days get easier to plan. It is also a good wet-weather decision, because guides keep going in rain. Dress for it.

The downside is obvious. It is an outdoor tour in a city where the wind comes off the harbour. In January you will be cold by minute forty.

The museums: Saga Museum and the Phallological Museum

The Saga Museum is €29, about an hour, with an audio guide in seven languages. It recreates key moments in Icelandic history with silicone figures, and you can try on Viking dress at the end. Free cancellation until departure, and the ticket has no fixed time, so you can go when it rains.

It is a little theatrical. It is not a serious history museum. If you want the proper version, the National Museum is better, though we do not sell it. For an hour and €29, it works, and children usually like it.

The Phallological Museum is €28.63 and takes about an hour and a half. It describes itself as the most visited museum in Iceland. Children aged 12 and under go free with an adult, collected at the front desk. Treat it as a curiosity, not a cultural highlight. It is funny, a bit odd, and you will have a story afterwards. That is the whole pitch.

The Puffin Express: only in summer

Puffin Express is €60 for one hour out of the Old Harbour. It is the cheapest boat trip we sell from Reykjavík. It leaves from the Special Tours ticket office and the trip is run on a shared boat with partners.

Puffins are around from roughly May to late August. Outside those months there is nothing to see and you should not book it. Even in summer, a puffin sighting is likely, not certain. The boat gets close to the islands in the bay, but the sea is the sea. If you can afford a longer trip, our puffin guide compares the options.

The Geothermal Exhibition: cheap, but far

The Geothermal Exhibition is €19 and sits inside the Hellisheiði Power Plant, 25 km from Reykjavík on the road towards the Golden Circle and the south. It is a self-guided audio tour, open 09:00 to 16:00 from November to March and 09:00 to 17:00 from April to October. You can see into the turbine halls and feel the steam power.

Public transport out there is poor. If you have a hire car, or you are going east anyway, it is a decent 45-minute stop. If you do not, leave it.

A sensible €100 day

A walk at 10:00 (€40), the Saga Museum after lunch (€29), and something free for the evening, such as the harbour and Hallgrímskirkja. That is under €70 per person for a full day. Add the Puffin Express in summer and you are still under €130.

Our honest take

Book the walking tour first. It pays back the most. Pick the Saga Museum second, mostly for rainy hours and for kids. Take the Phallological Museum only if you want to laugh and do not mind the subject. Treat the Puffin Express as a summer-only extra, and the Geothermal Exhibition as a stop for people with cars.

None of this replaces a proper day tour outside the city. But if your budget is tight, Reykjavík on foot for €70 is a good day.