Cities / Reykjavik
Iceland
Reykjavik: A farm in 874, a Danish trading post, a republic, a summit and hot water.
Reykjavik was a farm for nine hundred years and a city for one. A historian walks the site of the first settlement, the Danish trading post that became a town in 1786, the parliament of the republic of 1944, the house where Reagan and Gorbachev met in 1986, and the pipes that heat the whole city from the ground.
The timeline the walk follows
The first settler throws his high seat pillars into the sea and builds where they land.
The Danish monopoly ends; a town of 167 people.
Independence declared at Thingvellir on 17 June.
Britain concedes the 200 mile limit.
Reagan and Gorbachev meet for two days.
Themes
Choose one, or name your own.
Two hours covers one theme well. Three hours links two.
- Settlement and the sagas
- From Danish trading post to capital
- Independence 1944 and the Cod Wars
- The 1986 summit at Höfði
- Geothermal Reykjavik: a city heated by the earth
Private walk
Your group only, your questions, your pace.
Group walk
Schools, companies, cruise and coach groups. Larger groups split.
Your theme
A period, a person, a family story. We find the historian who knows it.
Led by
A historian from Reykjavik, from LocalBini’s vetted network
Meeting point
Central, confirmed in your booking email
Not included
Entry tickets to monuments and museums
Questions
About Reykjavik.
Weather?
Walks run in most weather; in a storm we reschedule. Bring a shell.
Thingvellir?
A separate half day with transport, led by the same historian.
Cancellation?
Free cancellation up to 7 days before the walk. Within 7 days the walk is non refundable, since the historian has reserved the time. We reschedule for severe weather at no cost.
Walk Reykjavik with a historian.
Date, time, length and theme. We reply within a day and confirm your historian within two to three.