Reykjavík history walk: street art, punk or folklore
Four small-group walks in central Reykjavík from €118 to €193. Which one fits which traveller, how long each takes and where each one is thin.
The short version
- The general history and sightseeing walk is the safe pick: 2 hours, about €118.
- Street art and backstreets is 2.5 hours at about €157. It is the best choice if you have already seen Hallgrímskirkja.
- The punk history walk is 1.5 hours at about €193, the dearest per hour. It suits people who care about the music.
- Folklore walks run from about €46 (Your Friend in Reykjavik, 1.5 hours) to about €157 (Reykjavik Wayfinder, 1.5 hours).
Book the history and sightseeing walk if you want one walk and have only a morning. It is two hours, about €118, and it gives you the town in order. Pick street art, punk or folklore only if one of those is what you actually came for.
The general walk: the safe pick
Reykjavik History and Sightseeing Walking Tour is from €118 and takes two hours. It is the one to book on day one of a trip: you learn where things are, you hear how a fishing village became a capital, and you leave with a short list of places to return to.
The downside: it is a survey. Two hours across a city’s whole history means nothing gets depth.
Street art and backstreets
Reykjavik Street Art Backstreets and Stories is from €157 for two and a half hours. It takes you off Laugavegur and into the lanes behind it, where the murals are, and ties each one to a person or an event.
We like this one for second-time visitors and for anyone who has already done the main sights. You see a part of the centre most day-trippers miss.
The downside: murals get painted over. What you see on the day is not what the photos show, and the guide can only describe it. It is also a longer walk than it sounds, so wear proper shoes.
Punk history
Walk through Reykjavik Punk Museum History is from €193 for an hour and a half. That is the highest price per minute in this group by a wide margin, and it is only worth it if you care about the music. The story is real: Reykjavík had a small, loud scene in the early 1980s, and it fed straight into bands that later went global.
If you do not know the music, skip it. If you do, you will get more from this than from a general tour.
Folklore
There are two on the site, and they are different products.
Reykjavik Folklore Walking Tour from Your Friend in Reykjavik is from €46 and runs 1 hour 30 minutes. Icelandic Mythology and Folklore Experience from Reykjavik Wayfinder is from €157 for the same length.
The cheaper one is a walk with stories. The dearer one is, by the description, a more produced experience. We have not walked the difference, so we will not pretend to rank them on quality. On price, the €46 walk is the easier one to try.
Time of year
All of these run on foot in the centre, in every season. In December and January the light is gone by about half past three, which suits folklore better than it suits street art. In June the light lasts, and the murals read best.
Dress for rain. Walks do not stop for it, and the lanes behind Laugavegur have little shelter.
Which one, if you have an hour spare
- First visit, one walk: the general history walk.
- Already seen the sights: street art.
- Music fan: punk.
- On a budget, or with children who like stories: the €46 folklore walk.
Our honest take
Book the general history walk if this is your first day. It is cheaper than the others per hour and you will use it for the rest of the trip.
If you have been before, take the street art walk and ask the guide where the next mural is going up. We would skip the punk walk unless you can name two Icelandic bands from 1982, and we would try the €46 folklore walk before the €157 one.
