Sagas and geothermal swimming pools – Reykjavík moves to a different rhythm

Wild landscapes, distinctive architecture and child-friendly facilities also help raise the happiness levels of our writer on a stay in the Icelandic capital

It is said that when Norse explorer Ingólfur Arnarson and his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttir threw some wooden posts from their ship in AD878 they floated to a bay covered with steaming springs, hence the name Reykjavík, or “stormy bay”, and that’s where Arnarson decided to settle. I am here researching women in Icelandic sagas for my next book, and our two small children have accompanied me, with their father sharing childcare.

We do the usual touristy tour around the Golden Circle, and the children pet Icelandic horses, swim in Iceland’s oldest geothermal bath and see the aurora borealis. But Reykjavík itself is an interesting, child-friendly city with much to offer. Our children especially enjoy the National Gallery of Iceland and learning about trolls and Viking history at the Saga Museum.