Places/Iceland

Capital Region

Reykjavik

A small capital at the edge of Europe, and a poor place to sleep if the island itself is the point and you have given it one night.

Iceland is in Schengen and not in the European Union. Reykjavik is a town of corrugated iron, a concrete church, and pools that locals actually use. It is not the waterfall. It is where you eat, sleep, and wait out a gale.

Give the city a night or two at one end of the trip. Do not try to see the south coast between a landing and a dinner reservation.

See

• Hallgrímskirkja

  The tower if you want the lay of the colourful roofs. The church itself is a room of plain conviction. Photograph it and then go to the harbour.

• The harbour

  A walk, not a whale-watching compulsion. The sea is the city’s employer and its weather report.

• A public pool

  The local bath is hotter, cheaper and more honest than a luxury lagoon booked as a personality. Go, follow the shower rules, talk or do not.

• One excursion, not five

  A Golden Circle day is a product and a reasonable one if you have no car. It is not the island. Read what you will actually see before you buy the word ‘circle’.