# Cities of Iceland, small to...less small



## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

Tall buildings are kind of a new thing to Iceland.  Seeing as how up until the 1950s some people were still living in these:










I spent a good part of my teenage years living in the north of Iceland, so I decided to start this thread to show the different looks of the cities in towns. As you can probably guess the skylines of each city in Iceland are more defined by the backdrop of the mountains and winding fjørds than skyscrapers and buildings. 

I also decided to not include a whole lot of towns because I didn't want to bore anybody (they all start to look the same after a while--I know, I did the big road trip back in '02).












*Höfn* pop. 2,300









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/70/223606688_327db9d5e1_o.jpg


*Húsavík* pop. 2,500









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/80/248439480_6262700fa2_o.jpg


*Ísafjörður* pop. 4,200 (an avalanche decimated the town back in the '70s. you can no doubt see how that could be)









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/339352336_c3cb1b54d7_o.jpg


*Sauðárkrókur* pop. 4,300









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/2096362062_f4241b30ce_b.jpg


*Vestmannaeyjar* pop. 4,400 (island off the south coast)









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/340617386_8ac2b14cd4_o.jpg


*Akranes* pop. 5,700









http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1355/1338107062_6f29b5df27_o.jpg


*Keflavík* pop. 11,000









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/166/334539446_4440f06cc9_b.jpg


*Akureyri* pop. 17,300 (my "hometown" & "capital of north Iceland!")









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/2218045903_b5fe9e2b09_o.jpg


*Hafnarfjörður* pop. 23,900









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/322680369_cf06896280_o.jpg


*Kópavogur* pop. 27,000









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2291/2176337954_42169ca97c_o.jpg


*Reykjavík* pop. 115,000 

even with the recent addition of highrises midtown...









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/278988568_32ce468879_b.jpg

the tallest building in the city is still Hallgrímskirkja









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/99412817_b2dbbb1941_b.jpg









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/443308704_5fe24f8d53_b.jpg


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I come from the province of Manitoba, in Canada.... where there is a very strong Icelandic community around Lake Winnipeg (Gimli, Hnausa, etc...). For 118 years Manitoba has had an Icelandic Festival, called "Islendingadagurinn". Every year a woman is chosen to be "Fjallkona" (maid of the mountain).


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## Jr82 (Nov 15, 2006)

Very nice pictures - Iceland looks great. 

Sidenote - what brings you to Orlando?


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice counrty, nice cities :cheers:
From the images (not only yours) i see that Reykjavic continues to grow.
I believe that Reykjavic is one of the most beautiful cities :banana:
Thanks! kay:


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## juniorzzi (Dec 25, 2006)

Love it!!!
The cities just looks the same!
Like all!


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## WolfHound (Jun 28, 2006)

Iceland looks beautiful.


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## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

Jr82 said:


> Very nice pictures - Iceland looks great.
> 
> Sidenote - what brings you to Orlando?


A friend of mine from college ended up going to work for Disney. Around the summer of last year I was kind of looking for a change of scenery, so I came to Orlando to live with her and to work at Ikea, haha. Since then I moved downtown, changed jobs, and kind of branched out on my own. Now I love Orlando even more than she does, lol.


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## alitezar (Mar 10, 2006)

Great tour and very informative. Thank you


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## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

I'm still mad that I didn't get enough time to pop into Rekjavik during a stop over en route to London, UK from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I only had 3 hours and didn't want to chance it. Iceland's fascinating. Great pics.


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## Deanb (Jun 7, 2006)

looks really really interesting and different... love to go


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

yay amazing!
Looks so out of this world


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Iceland is so civilized.


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## samba_man (Dec 26, 2004)

Id like to visit Icelend some day...!


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Beautiful...some of these pics (like the church) reminded of the viking days!


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## Chicagoago (Dec 2, 2005)

Very nice, I spent some time exploring Reykjavik this summer, I LOVED it.


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## jam5 (May 30, 2007)

Are there any plans in the works to reforest the island? I recall reading that it was once covered in primeval forests that were wiped out once the Vikings settled it, and stayed deforested once the whole island was opened to pasturage.


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## Dan (Jun 16, 2007)

I was lucky enough to be able to do a drive around the country visiting many small places... it was beautiful.


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## Alle (Sep 23, 2005)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/57/198352003_5515078149.jpg?v=0

This is what i call archicteure that is in harmony with nature 

Beautiful towns and villages.


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## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

jam5 said:


> Are there any plans in the works to reforest the island? I recall reading that it was once covered in primeval forests that were wiped out once the Vikings settled it, and stayed deforested once the whole island was opened to pasturage.


There aren't really any reforestation plans that I know of as of right now. The truth is that the soil up there is just not good for trees to grow naturally. Just outside of Akureyri there is a "planned forest" called Vaglaskógar that actually has some pretty tall trees, but they were all there artificially. 

It is rumored that Iceland used to have a lot of trees, and that the Vikings cut them all down. The truth is that there were very few trees on the island when the Vikings landed there because the volcanic soil sucks, it's a very cold climate, and it's very windy. They probably did cut down what was there, but if you ever visit far into the wilderness of Iceland, you see that there just really aren't any trees, and no possible way that before the invention of all-terrain vehicles anyone could have even gone that far into the country and cut them down.

If you notice in some of the pics some "christmas tree" looking trees have been planted in the towns, to make the community look less arctic and desolate.


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## WinoSoul (Sep 14, 2005)

I think Reykjavík is one of the most beautiful cities in the world!


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## Ally Theanlyn (Aug 8, 2008)

*Thanks for sharing*

Hello,


Your "childhood hometown" is really beautiful.

Nice night scene too.



Thanks your viewing to my posting.

Ally Theanlyn
( Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia )


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## ferkas (May 26, 2007)

Nice pictures.I'd like to visit Iceland some day.


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## NorthWesternGuy (Aug 25, 2005)

I´d really like to visit Iceland It looks so beautiful, so quiet and so developed. Very good picskay:


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## Gordion (Oct 26, 2005)

Love it, it looks great.


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## Oaronuviss (Dec 11, 2002)

Awesome pics. Iceland is beautiful... I've been trying to plan a trip there with friends for the last two years, I don't think they realize how awesome it is there.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Awesome country :cheers:


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## tatun (Apr 11, 2008)

*I Love Iceland*

Been there 6 times, and planning to go 70 times more..I love that country; it is soooo relaxing, fun, scenic, etc. etc...Thank you so much for the great pictures...


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Great looking place - can't wait to visit! 



tatun said:


> Been there 6 times, and planning to go 70 times more..I love that country


Are you from the Faroe Islands?


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## rockin'.baltimorean (Jul 5, 2008)

iceland's a beautiful place. the views are breathtaking!!!kay:


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## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

Interesting country, isn't it? And nice landscapes! At the same time it looks a bit boring though...

Do you have more pics of Akuyre(sp?!?!) and Reykjavik?


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## Ackebooa (May 15, 2007)

My viking ancestors did quite a good job there i see haha  damn i wish we in sweden still used that cool old language :<


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## l'eau (Jul 7, 2008)

awesome.


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## guydebord (Feb 5, 2008)

The homeland of sigur ros! Iceland is special man!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Awesome indeed


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## MNiemann (Sep 5, 2007)

More pics of Akureyri found on flickr:









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2001/2176381094_8e6c76a57a_o.jpg









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/1972087236_e111edcd9c_o.jpg









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/265084784_0745a83e33_o.jpg

Aerial of downtown:








http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2284225666_c5b1274f2f_o.jpg

Close-ups of the downtown shopping district:









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/83/251159306_a63779b0a8_o.jpg









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/305574932_d78757a300_o.jpg









http://farm1.static.flickr.com/122/305574975_22bd919193_o.jpg

One day my swimming teacher took us to this museum. I enjoyed it because it had a lot of English captions on everything:









http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2172401980_56a964d479_o.jpg


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## DrT (Jun 24, 2005)

Wonderful thread!
Insights into not oft-seen places.
Thanks --DrT, fellow Floridian forumer.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice town ^^


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## Dockside (Jun 16, 2008)

As a child, ive dreamt of Iceland, so primeval in its landscape


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