Reykjavík Literary Trail

The dark wood siding and white trim of Gröndalshús stand out among the modern buildings of downtown Reykjavik. This house belonged to Benedikt Gröndal, a nineteenth century poet and scholar who spent his final years here surrounded by his…

The Reykjavik City Library occupies a building defined by its thick, charcoal-colored concrete walls and deep-set windows that create a heavy, fortress-like silhouette against the harbor. Before this site became a hub for readers, it…

The bronze statue of Tómas Guðmundsson sits casually on a bench in Hljómskálagarður park, his legs crossed and his hat resting beside him. Tómas was the poet of Reykjavík, a man whose verses captured the quiet transformation of the city…

The gray stone building with the steep, dark roof is Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík. It has served as Iceland's oldest educational institution since eighteen forty-six, when it moved here from a smaller town. Students still attend classes in…

The dark wood paneling and the row of leather booths inside Mokka Kaffi look almost exactly as they did when the shop opened in nineteen fifty-eight. Guðmundur Baldvinsson and his wife Anna opened the cafe to showcase modern art, a novelty…

The Hús máls og menningar building is marked by its bright yellow facade and the large, rounded corner windows that curve toward the street. It was built in nineteen thirty-two for the Mal og Menning publishing house, which became a…

Bókin Books sits behind a plain storefront, recognizable by the hand-painted, slightly faded sign hanging above the entrance. This shop contains a dense, floor-to-ceiling collection of secondhand Icelandic literature and international…