The Best View in Reykjavik: Hallgrímskirkja Church

In Reykjavik’s city center, most tourists use the white tips of the Hallgrímskirkja Church to help find their way around - you’re never lost in the city if you can find the “big white church” (a nickname much easier to pronounce).

The church is a Lutheran church and, with a tower 73 meters high by the church's own count (you'll often see 74.5 meters quoted), it's the largest church in Iceland and one of the tallest buildings in the country. State architect Guðjón Samúelsson was commissioned to design it in 1937, and he modeled it on the basalt lava flows of the country; inside you’ll find a massive pipe organ with over 5000 pipes. Though the interior and exterior of the church are both quite interesting, the main reason most tourists visit is to ride the elevator to the top, for one of the best views in Iceland.

From the top of the tower you can see pretty much the entire city of Reykjavik, the brightly-colored aluminum-sided houses the below, the bay and snow-topped mountains in the distance. The platform is open to the elements and can be quite windy (so windy that the hands on the clock above it are often blown off course) so dress warmly.

Admission to the church is free, but the ride to the top for the view costs 1,500 ISK per adult and 200 ISK for kids aged 7 to 16 as of 2026 (and it's well worth it). You can't book tower tickets in advance. From September through May the church is open from 10am to 5pm, with last entry to the tower at 4:45pm; in summer it's open from 9am to 8pm, and the tower closes at 7:45pm.

Photo by meg nicol