Reykjavík City Hall

About Reykjavík City Hall

Reykjavík City Hall (Ráðhús Reykjavíkur) is the seat of the city council, a concrete building standing in the water at Tjarnargata 11 on the northern edge of Tjörnin, the pond in the old center. Most people walk straight past it, but the ground-floor hall holds one of the best free sights in the capital: a three-dimensional model of the whole of Iceland, laid out on the floor.

The building was inaugurated on April 14, 1992, and still houses the city council and its offices. The public part is Tjarnarsalur, a large hall used for exhibitions, meetings and community events.

The relief map of Iceland is the reason to go. Built at a scale of 1:50,000 with the height doubled so the mountains read clearly, it covers 76.4 square meters in 57 sections, 43 of land and 14 of sea. It was started in 1985 from layers of 1 mm cardboard cut along the contour lines, and seeing the glaciers, fjords and highlands at once makes the rest of your trip easier to picture.

City hall in Reykjavík is open weekdays 08:00–18:00, Saturdays 10:00–18:00 and Sundays 12:00–18:00, and entry is free and open to everyone. The map stands in the west side of Tjarnarsalur, so it's off view whenever the hall is booked for an event, and the city announces any closure dates in advance.

Plan on 15 to 30 minutes. Afterward, carry on around the pond toward the Parliament House and Austurvöllur square, both a couple of minutes away on foot.