Reyk­javík City Mu­seum
Our His­tory

Here you can view this summer's micro courses at Árbæjarsafn

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Here you can view our Summer programme.

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Reykjavík Museum of Photography

03.05.2025

The exhibition "Half a Century Through the Lens" explores press photographer Gunnar V. Andrésson’s career, that lasted more than fifty years – from 1966 to 2018.

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Our locations

Events

26.06.2025
Árbær Open Air Museum

Guided tour at Árbær Open Air Museum

The guide takes guests to all the main houses of the museum and tells their stories. The guided tour is in English and takes just over an hour.

Guided tour at Árbær Open Air Museum
26.06.2025
Reykjavík Maritime Museum

The Coast Guard Vessel Óðinn - guided tour on board

We offer daily guided tours at 13:00, 14:00, and 15:00 on board the Coast Guard vessel Óðinn from 1 March to 31 October, focusing on the Cod Wars and the vessel's rescue history. Welcome aboard!

The Coast Guard Vessel Óðinn - guided tour on board
29.06.2025
Árbær Open Air Museum

Village Life

Welcome to Árbær Open Air Museum on the Sundays of 28 June and 10 August at 13:00-16:00. Then the village comes to life at the museum, and visitors get to experience various tasks and daily life in a village from days gone by.

Village Life
13.07.2025
Árbær Open Air Museum

The Reykjavík Accordion Festival and Haymaking

The Reykjavík Accordion Festival will be held in collaboration with Árbær Open Air Museum on Sunday 13 July at 13:00-16:00.

The Reykjavík Accordion Festival and Haymaking
18.07.2025
Árbær Open Air Museum

Icelandic Sheepdog Day

On Friday, 18 July, Icelandic Sheepdog Day will be celebrated at Árbær Open Air Museum. There, it will be possible to greet the dogs and their owners who will happily answer all questions about the Icelandic Sheepdog. The dogs are sweet and smart and it is safe to pet them with the owners' permission.

Icelandic Sheepdog Day
19.07.2025
Árbær Open Air Museum

ISLEK 2025 - Traditional Nordic Dance Performance

This summer, the 50th anniversary of ISLEK – the Nordic folk dance festival that has united dance enthusiasts from the Nordic countries since 1975 – will be celebrated 🇮🇸🇬🇱🇫🇴🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇴🇫🇮 This year, the festival will be held for the ninth time, and on Saturday, 19 July, guests dressed in national costumes from Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland will perform folk dances throughout Árbær Open Air Museum's grounds. From 14:00 to 16:00, guests will be able to enjoy a variety of dances and colourful costumes that reflect the cultural heritage of the Nordic countries. Welcome!

ISLEK 2025 - Traditional Nordic Dance Performance
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Ex­hib­i­tions

Steingrímur Hermannsson, prime minister with drag queens on election night, 20 April 1991
Reykjavík Museum of Photography
03. May 2025-07. December 2025

Gun­nar V. An­drés­son Press Pho­to­grapher │Half a Cen­tury Through the Lens

The ex­hib­i­tion "Half a Cen­tury Through the Lens" ex­plores press pho­to­grapher Gun­nar V. An­drés­son’s ca­reer, that las­ted more than fifty years – from 1966 to 2018.

Growing Pains
Árbær Open Air Museum
25. April 2024

Grow­ing Pains

The ex­per­i­mental ex­hib­i­tion "Grow­ing Pains" gives you an in­sight into the world of primary school chil­dren in Reyk­javík between 1898 and 1974.

Fish & folk – 150 years of fisheries
Reykjavík Maritime Museum
08. June 2018

Fish & folk – 150 years of fish­er­ies

The ex­hib­i­tion Fish & folk – 150 years of fish­er­ies at the Reyk­javík Mari­time Mu­seum is about the his­tory of the Icelandic fish­er­ies, from the time when row­ing boats gave way to large fish­ing ves­sels in the late 19th cen­tury, through to the 21st cen­tury.

Milestones by Richard Serra, 1991.
Viðey Island
18. September 2015

Mile­stone­s│Richard Serra

For the Reyk­javík Arts Fest­ival of 1990, a work of art by US sculp­tor Richard Serra was crea­ted on West is­land.

The Imagine Peace Tower
Viðey Island
18. September 2015

The Ima­gine Peace Tower

Work of art concei­ved by the leg­end­ary art­ist, mu­si­cian and peace ad­voc­ate Yoko Ono as a beacon for world peace.

Consumption – Reykjavík in the 20th century
Árbær Open Air Museum
05. June 2014

Con­sump­tion – Reyk­javík in the 20th cen­tury

The ex­hib­i­tion aims to show the huge and rapid changes that took place in con­sump­tion pat­terns in Reyk­javík dur­ing the 20th cen­tury – to ex­plore the factors that af­fected con­sump­tion, and how tech­nical ad­vances, gov­ern­ment ac­tions, wars, and events in Ice­land and abroad in­flu­enced the daily life of the people of Reyk­javík.

The Wheel Age
Árbær Open Air Museum
02. July 2009

The Age of Carts

Even though the wheel is a an­cient in­ven­tion it ar­rived late to Iceland. Trans­port over long dis­tances were in prin­ciple the same from the time of set­tle­ment to the 19th cen­tury, namely on horses

Toy Exhibition: Come and play!
Árbær Open Air Museum
17. June 2008

Come and play!

The ex­hib­i­tion fo­cuses on chil­dren's cul­ture, toys and games in the last cen­tury. It is housed in a former church and sports hall called Landakot. The ex­hib­i­tion is in­ter­act­ive and it suits chil­dren in all age groups. Open at the same time as the mu­seum.

From High Mass to High Jump
Árbær Open Air Museum
17. June 2008

From High Mass to High Jump

The story of the build­ing Landakot is told in the ex­hib­i­tion From High Mass to High Jump. The house was built in 1897 as the first cath­olic church in Ice­land since the Re­form­a­tion. In 1930 it be­came a sportshall and re­mained as such un­til 2004 when it was re­lo­cated to the mu­seum.

Aðalstræti
Aðalstræti
12. May 2006

The Set­tle­ment Ex­hib­i­tion - Step into the Vik­ing Age

Just be­low ground in the main street in the centre of Reyk­javík called Aðal­stræti, an open ex­cav­a­tion un­cov­ers the city's Vik­ing Age his­tory. A new ad­di­tion to the ex­hib­i­tion was opened in May 2022. This new dis­play is a dir­ect con­tinu­ation of The Set­tle­ment Ex­hib­i­tion, rep­res­ent­ing Reyk­javík's his­tory from set­tle­ment to the present day.

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