Short break: Reykjavík, Iceland
It’s only two hours away from the UK, but it feels like another planet. Iceland expert and guide Cathy Harlow introduces Europe’s coolest capital and its spectacular surrounds
The most northerly capital in Europe, Reykjavík is informal and friendly with a quirky edge to its subculture, tons of fresh fish, world-class music in its bars and a huge adventure playground on its doorstep.
Political turmoil in ninth-century Viking Norway prompted an exodus of land-hungry seafarers to head west to Iceland. First to stake his claim was chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson, who grabbed the south-west corner of the island and built his farm at Reykjavík: ‘Smoky Bay’. For the next 800 years Reykjavík was little more than that.
By 930 AD the island was fully settled and the Althing national assembly was set up as the ruling body. Governed by its laws, independent Iceland flourished for almost 250 years, trading homespun woollen cloth and dried fish. This was the era of the Sagas, epic family dramas scripted on vellum.
Iceland’s ‘Golden Age’ ended when quarrelling chieftains brought the island to near civil war. In 1262 the Norwegian King Hákon brokered a peace initiative in return for legislative control of the island and some useful tax revenue. A century later, Iceland came under the control of Denmark following the Kalmar Union, the aim of which was to counter the growing power of the German Hanseatic league.
To curb foreign interests in Iceland, the Danes imposed a monopoly on trade with the island, bringing economic decline and progressive isolation. Then epidemics and disastrous volcanic eruptions took their toll – Hekla in 1693 and 1766; Öræfajökull in 1727; the Myvatn Fires in 1724 and Laki in 1783.
What is unusual about Iceland’s history is that until the late 1700s there were no villages or towns on the island. Icelanders were subsistence farmers or farm labourers, supplementing their livelihood by seasonal fishing. One fifth of them died of famine after Laki’s toxic ash falls spoiled the land.
To kick-start the economy, free trade returned and workshops were set up at the farm at Reykjavík to tan hides and work sheep’s wool. Soon the settlement had its own town charter, bishopric and school. With improvements to the port, Reykjavík was positioned to become the island’s capital yet by 1900 had a population of only 6,000. Since Icelandic independence in 1944, the capital’s population has grown to 120,000.
Wherever you are in this pint-sized capital, the sea is never far away so brace yourself for a buffeting, though the gulf stream keeps the climate warmer than you might expect. Also, heated by geothermal water, the city is clean, as well as safe and friendly.
Steer away from any mention of Icesave and recall that in the wake of the financial crisis Icelanders threw out their government and voted in a comedian as mayor of the capital. You’ll be surprised at the air of buoyant optimism and sense of moving forward that’s present in this cultural, cosmopolitan city, yet the traditional wool lopapeysa (Icelandic jumper) is still worn with pride.