Harpa, Reykjavik, Iceland...Photo © Christian Gehrig / // / <a href="http://www.mainone.ch">Website</a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MainonePhotography">Facebook</a> | <a href="http://www.flickr.com/Mainone">Flickr</a>

Harpa

Top choice in Laugavegur & Skólavörðustígur

LoginSave

With its ever-changing facets glistening on the water's edge, Reykjavík’s sparkling Harpa concert hall and cultural centre is a beauty to behold. In addition to a season of top-notch shows (some free), the shimmering interior with harbour vistas is worth stopping in for, or take a highly recommended, 30-minute guided tour (1500kr); these run two to three times daily year-round, with up to eight daily tours between mid-June and mid-August.

Harpa dazzles the eye with an intricate lattice of convex and concave glass panels that sparkle at night like the switchboard of an alien spaceship. Designed by Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects, Icelandic firm Batteríið Architects and Danish-Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson, Harpa opened in 2011. The lobby houses design boutiques and a cafe, and gourmet restaurant Kolabrautin perches on the upper level. The Iceland Symphony and the Icelandic Opera are based here.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Iceland - Thingvellir National Park, October, 10, 2014 - Beautiful view of people walking in the seam between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

    Þingvellir National Park

    27.11 MILES

    The world’s oldest parliament, Althingi (pronounced ál-thingk-ee; also called Alþing) was uniquely situated at this monumental site where two tectonic…

  • Alþingi Site

    Alþingi Site

    25.61 MILES

    Near the dramatic Almannagjá fault and fronted by a boardwalk is the Lögberg (Law Rock), where the Alþingi (Parliament) convened annually. This was where…

  • Tectonic Plates

    Tectonic Plates

    26.22 MILES

    The Þingvellir plain is situated on a tectonic-plate boundary where North America and Europe are tearing away from each other at a rate of 1mm to 18mm per…

  • x-default

    Hallgrímskirkja

    0.6 MILES

    Reykjavík’s immense white-concrete church (1945–86), star of a thousand postcards, dominates the skyline and is visible from up to 20km away. An elevator…

  • National Museum interior.

    National Museum

    0.74 MILES

    Artefacts from settlement to the modern age fill the creative display spaces of Iceland's superb National Museum. Exhibits give an excellent overview of…

  • Carving depicting Thorolf Skallagrímsson, a character.from Egil’s Saga at the Settlement Centre.

    Settlement Centre

    26.71 MILES

    Housed in an imaginatively restored warehouse by the harbour, the must-see Settlement Centre offers fascinating insights into the history of Icelandic…

  • Settlement Exhibition

    Settlement Exhibition

    0.36 MILES

    This fascinating archaeological ruin-museum is based around a 10th-century Viking longhouse unearthed here from 2001 to 2002 and other Settlement-Era…

  • TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Nina LARSON .People visit Iceland's Phallological Museum on June 28, 2011 in Husavik. From gigantic whale penises to speck-sized field mouse testicles and lampshades made from bull scrotums, Iceland's small Phallological Museum has it all, and recently put its first human member on display. AFP PHOTO / HALLDOR KOLBEINS (Photo credit should read HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

    Icelandic Phallological Museum

    0.71 MILES

    Oh, the jokes are endless here... This unique museum houses a huge collection of penises, and it's actually very well done. From pickled pickles to…

View more attractions

Nearby Laugavegur & Skólavörðustígur attractions

1. Árnarhóll

0.16 MILES

A statue of Iceland's first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, takes pride of place at Árnarhóll, a greensward that is also a central gathering place for parades…

2. Culture House

0.2 MILES

This fantastic collaboration between the National Museum, National Gallery and four other organisations creates a superbly curated exhibition covering the…

5. Punk Museum

0.23 MILES

Head to the Punk Museum to see Icelandic punk-rock history glued to the white tiles of a former underground public latrine. The exhibition is tiny and the…

6. Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús

0.25 MILES

Reykjavík Art Museum's Hafnarhús is a marvellously restored warehouse converted into a soaring steel-and-concrete exhibition space. Though the well…

8. Reykjavík Museum of Photography

0.27 MILES

This gallery room, high above Reykjavík City Library, is well worth a visit for its top-notch exhibitions of regional photographers. If you take the lift…