Nature tours in Reykjavík mostly begin by leaving it. The Golden Circle is the standard first day: Þingvellir, where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart and you walk down the rift; Geysir, where Strokkur throws water twenty metres up every few minutes; and Gullfoss, dropping in two stages into a canyon that stays loud from the car park. Eight hours round trip, running all year, and in winter the same route is done on ice.

The south coast is the other direction and the better one if you only have a day. Seljalandsfoss lets you walk behind the water, Skógafoss puts a rainbow in the spray on any bright morning, and Reynisfjara has the black sand and basalt columns — along with sneaker waves that have killed people, which is why the guides insist you stay off the shoreline. Further on, glacier hikes and ice caves on Sólheimajökull run with crampons and a guide, no experience needed.

Closer in, outdoor activities in Reykjavík fill the evenings: whale watching from the old harbour with a 90–95% sighting rate in summer, horse riding on Icelandic horses that still have the fifth gait, and the northern lights between September and March, hunted by bus on whichever night the forecast breaks. Bring waterproofs whatever the season — the weather here changes inside an hour, and every guide will tell you the same thing about it.