Reykjavik's museums split between the national and the narrowly obsessive, and the city is better for having both. The National Museum of Iceland dates from 1863; the Icelandic Phallological Museum from 1997. Between those poles sit a national art museum, the body described as the largest visual art institution in Iceland, a maritime museum, a museum dedicated to the works of a single Icelandic sculptor, and a house in Mosfellsbær that changes its hours with the season. Hours broadly run 10:00 to 17:00 at several of them, one stretches Thursday to 22:00, and one stays open until 19:00. This list is for the visitor who would sooner spend a wet afternoon learning something than queueing for a photograph. Where we could not verify an address or a timetable, the entry says so plainly, and you should confirm before you set out.
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1 Icelandic Phallological Museum
2 Geirsgata, Reykjavík, 101A single-subject museum dating from 1997 that stays open until 19:00
At 2 Geirsgata in the 101, the Icelandic Phallological Museum is open 10:00 to 19:00. The name states the subject, and the museum has no interest in softening it. It dates from 1997, long enough for the easy joke to wear thin and for something more stubborn to show through: a place that treats one narrow subject as worth a whole building. Skip the novelty-shop version of Icelandic eccentricity; this one rewards you most if you walk in curious instead of giggling. The 19:00 close makes it a sensible last stop of the day. The official site is phallus.is, and a look before you go is worthwhile.
Dates from 1997
Hours: 10:00-19:00
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2 National Museum of Iceland
41 Suðurgata, Reykjavík, 102The national museum, dating from 1863, open every day of the week
The National Museum of Iceland has been in the business of documenting Iceland since 1863, and it does that work today at 41 Suðurgata in the 102. Doors open 10:00 to 17:00, Monday through Sunday, so there is no wrong day to come. Forget the potted history printed on the back of a tour leaflet; give this place a morning early in your trip and the rest of the country will make more sense as you move through it. A museum with that many years behind it rewards an unhurried visit, so arrive at 10:00, take your time, and leave the gift shop for last.
Dates from 1863
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
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3 National Gallery of Iceland
7 Fríkirkjuvegur, Reykjavík, 101The national art museum, open daily 10:00 to 17:00
The National Gallery of Iceland is at 7 Fríkirkjuvegur in the 101, open 10:00 to 17:00 every day of the week, and it is an art museum whose national title has a way of making visitors feel they owe it a full, dutiful afternoon. They don't. One focused hour, with a return visit if the first earns it, is how a gallery like this is best approached. What's on the walls matters more than the name over the door, so read listasafn.is before you commit, then go for the show you want to see rather than the one you feel you should.
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
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4 Reykjavik Art Museum
A late Thursday until 22:00 at the largest visual art institution in Iceland
Thursday is the night to know at the Reykjavik Art Museum: closing moves from 17:00 to 22:00 while every other day of the week runs 10:00 to 17:00. Described as the largest visual art institution in Iceland and dating from 1973, it is a lot of museum to take on when time is short. We'd skip the midday rush that most visitors default to; an evening in the galleries, dinner still ahead of you, is a better use of the ticket. We could not verify a street address for this entry, so take the location and the current programme from listasafnreykjavikur.is before you head out.
Dates from 1973
Hours: Mo-We 10:00-17:00; Th 10:00-22:00; Fr-Su 10:00-17:00
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5 Reykjavik Maritime Museum
Grandagarður 8, 101 ReykjavíkA maritime museum dating from 2005, open seven days a week
Dating from 2005, the Reykjavik Maritime Museum is young by the standards of the company it keeps on this list, and it is a maritime museum with a plain timetable: 10:00 to 17:00, Monday through Sunday. A museum on this subject asks something of you that the nautical-themed gift shops never do, which is to think about the work behind the postcard. Give it the attention you would give an art collection and it tends to repay you. We could not verify a street address here, so confirm the location at sjominjasafn.is and plan to be through the door well before 17:00.
Dates from 2005
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
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6 Reykjavík Museum of Photography
Grófarhús, Tryggvagata 15, 6. hæð101 ReykjavíkA photography museum classed as a heritage institution, dating from 1981
Weekends start late at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography: Saturday and Sunday run from 13:00 to 17:00, while weekdays are more generous, with Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 18:00 and Friday from 11:00 to 18:00. Classed as a heritage institution, it dates from 1981, which hints at an archive's patience more than a gallery's gloss. Avoid the habit of treating photography as the fallback when bigger museums are full; a weekday morning lets you stand in front of a print without a queue forming behind you. No street address could be verified for this entry, so find it through borgarsogusafn.is/ljosmyndasafn.
Dates from 1981
Hours: Mo-Th 10:00-18:00; Fr 11:00-18:00; Sa, Su 13:00-17:00
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7 the Settlement Exhibition
16 Aðalstræti, Reykjavík, 101A daily exhibition at 16 Aðalstræti, open 10:00 to 17:00
Number 16 on Aðalstræti, in the 101, is the door for the Settlement Exhibition, open 10:00 to 17:00, Monday through Sunday. The name states its subject without decoration, which is more than can be said for most attractions trading on the same period. Skip the costumed dinner shows that turn early history into a floor routine; an exhibition is the grown-up way to meet the subject. We will be straight with you: beyond the address and the timetable, we could verify little about what is inside, so treat this as a firm recommendation to look and a prompt to read up first. The daily hours make it easy to fit around anything else.
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
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8 Einar Jónsson Museum
A museum dedicated to the works of Icelandic sculptor Einar Jónsson, dating from 1923
A single artist is the whole subject at the Einar Jónsson Museum, dedicated to the works of the Icelandic sculptor it is named for. It dates from 1923 and opens 10:00 to 17:00, Tuesday through Sunday, staying shut on Monday. A one-artist museum calls for a different pace than a survey collection: you are not ticking off movements, you are spending an hour inside one person's head. Sculpture needs to be walked around, so go when you are not rushed and circle each piece. We could not verify a street address for this entry; confirm it before you go, and do not turn up on a Monday.
Dates from 1923
Hours: Tu-Su 10:00-17:00
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9 Gljúfrasteinn
Gljúfrasteinn, Mosfellsbær, 270A house in Mosfellsbær with hours that change by season
Gljúfrasteinn sits in Mosfellsbær under postal code 270, and that detail alone tells you this takes planning. The timetable says the same thing: June through August it opens every day, 10:00 to 17:00; March to May and September to October it runs Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 to 16:00; November through February it shrinks to Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 to 16:00, so winter weekends are out entirely. Not the kind of place you drop into on a whim. Check gljufrasteinn.is, choose your day deliberately, and what you get is a domestic interior that the big institutions cannot offer: a sense of scale you can measure against your own home.
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10 The Living Art Museum
The Living Art Museum, The Marshall House, Grandagarður 20 - 101 Reykjavík, IcelandAn art museum dating from 1978
The Living Art Museum requires some homework before you go, because the one verified fact on record is that it dates from 1978. It is listed as an art museum, placed at about 64 degrees north, and that is where our confirmed knowledge ends: no street address, no opening hours, no website we can stand behind. We would rather tell you that plainly than fill the gap with invented detail. Don't show up on the strength of a map pin; find the current address and timetable before you commit an afternoon. A museum that has held its ground since 1978 has outlasted a great deal, and that record is reason enough to keep it here.
Dates from 1978
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11 Reykjavík City Museum
Listed on location alone; confirm hours and address before visiting
The Reykjavík City Museum sits at roughly 64 degrees north and 22 degrees west, and it is the entry on this list we know least about. A map position is all we could verify: no street address, no opening hours, no founding date. The name tells you whose story it means to tell, and a city's own museum is usually where a place explains itself without the national gloss. Reykjavík locals know to check a timetable before crossing town, and at this stop that caution is not optional. Find the current hours and the exact address first, and do not plan a whole day around this stop until you have them. If the details check out, give it an hour early in your stay.
This is an early version of the Reykjavik list. We add picks as we test more places.
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