The Reykjavík City Museum is spread out over several locations, with the most fascinating being the Árbæjarsafn (Árbær Open Air Museum), situated roughly 9km (5.5mi) outside the city center. Once upon a time this used to be pure farmland, but the population explosion in Reykjavík over the past 100 years has caused a ring of suburbs to spring up and encase this out-of-the-way museum. The population of the greater Reykjavík area in 1918 was 19,000 people, which has mushroomed to 220,000 in 2018; the total population of Iceland is only 330,000. (If you’re curious about tracking Reykjavík and/or Iceland’s population this site is fun to play around with.) Bus #12 stops right in front of the museum, but I was in the mood for a morning challenge, ultimately deciding I would hike out and only take the bus back.
My first stop on the way out of town was the Ásmundarsafn, the branch of the Reykjavík Art Museum devoted to the sculptures of Ásmundur Sveinsson. Just a 10 minute walk east of the museum are both the Grasagarður Reykjavíkur (Botanical Garden) and Húsdýragarðurinn (Zoo and Family Park). (I genuinely fear for the children of Iceland at their Spelling Bees!)
The Botanical Gardens were really lovely; travelint in the first week of June was the perfect time to catch the early spring flowers creeping out of hibernation. The garden is currently expanding to include an arboretum, but there’s still plenty of flora to take in before grabbing a cappuccino at the nice garden cafe.
Right next door is the Zoo, which also grants you admission to a family park with loads of rides and games for kids. (The Botanical Gardens are free, but everything else- the Zoo, Árbæjarsafn and public transit- are all included on the Reykjavík City Card, which will save you a bundle as opposed to purchasing each item separately.) This isn’t your typical zoo with lions, tigers and monkeys. The focus is on animals you can find in Iceland, which makes the place more like a giant petting zoo, but that was fun too. All of the animals were raised in captivity and show no signs of fearing humans. I befriended one of the horses and I’m pretty sure one of the sheep would have followed me all the way back to New York if I had let him!
Once I walked past the zoo there weren’t any signs leading me onwards to the museum- I don’t think (m)any people walk out here! One nice thing about Reykjavík is that there are paved bike/walking paths EVERYWHERE and most of them show up on google maps to boot. I kept to the paths and sinply allowed them to take me in the direction of the museum, like a leaf drifting down a river. If Icelanders all have this intense bond with nature, why not try to get in on the action too?
A highlight of the hike was traversing Elliðaárdalur, a wild park not yet taken over by suburban sprawl. I tried to get someone to teach me how to pronounce “Elliðaárdalur,” but it was completely hopeless. I physically couldn’t get my mouth to produce the Icelandic sounds, even when repeating them slowly. Double consonants are pure evil in Icelandic and “ll” is the worst! We just don’t have any English equivalent to these sounds and the guy helping me out got a few good chuckles at my awkward attempts to nonetheless reproduce them!
I finally made it out to the Árbæjarsafn and practically had the whole place to myself. The museum is run by university students, who are dressed up in early 20th Century garb, ready to explain the history of the farm upon which the museum was built. Árbær was a working farm up until 1950, when it was abandoned and purchased by the museum in 1957. All of the 30+ buildings that make up the museum are original structures once used in Reykjavík and later moved out to Árbær. Exhibits are set up in each building that detail its history as well as the general development of Reykjavík during the 19th and 20th Centuries. For example, one of the buildings was an old church that was turned into a fitness club before being annexed by the British in WWII. The fitness club eventually regained control, but after they outgrew the facility it was sold to the museum and painstakingly moved to Árbær.
Only three of the original structures from the farm remain and I got a great surprise inside one of them: lummur. Lummur (beware the double “m”) are a delicious Icelandic pancake-like food that one of the students makes everyday. You sprinkle the lummur with sugar before eating and it makes quite the tasty treat! I also had a great chat with the student working the house, talking about everything from the 2o08 financial crisis, New York (she had been) and of course Trump. (As soon as you tell anyone you’re American, the first thing they will ask you about is Trump.)
Turf houses have been built in Iceland for over 1000 years and are still in use by some today. A base of rocks would hold a wooden frame where multiple layers of turf could be lain. Timber supplies have fluctuated greatly since Iceland was settled in the 9th Century and turf often acted as the most readily available (as well as cheapest) insulation material. Nowadays, most of the buildings in Reykjavík have replaced turf with corrugated iron, but turf dwellings still exist in rural areas. There are several examples of turf buildings at Árbæjarsafn, including an old sheep stable, church and blacksmith shop.
There are three exhibitions currently on display at the museum: architecture and construction methods in downtown Reykjavík, women in Icelandic society, including their liberation movement and a decade-by-decade exploration of Reykjavík’s expansion in the 20th Century. At first I thought all the dressed-up students would be too cheesy for me, but their enthusiam for the history won me over and despite the museum being out of the way, I’m surprised more people weren’t there.
Animals are always going to be my favorite part of anything, so without further ado, here are the Árbæjarsafn chickens! They all have names and their own placards at the chicken coop. They really are that nice added touch of authenticity to make you feel like you’re back on the old Árbær farm.
After all this walking, there was no way that I could have hiked back into the city. The bus system, known as Strætó, has extensive routes all over the city and a great app that I highly recommend downloading before you get to Reykjavík. Again, you receive unlimited free rides on Strætó with the City Card; most of the bus drivers spoke English and were happy to help me figure out which stop I needed to get off at.
