Old Harbour (Grandi District)
Construction on Reykjavik's Old Harbour began on a strip of sand in 1913 — land that barely existed, connecting the city to a small island called Örfirisey. More than a century later, that reclaimed ground has become the Grandi District: a working waterfront where trawlers still unload their catch each morning alongside converted herring factories turned galleries and food halls.
The eastern docks remain genuinely operational — if you arrive between seven and nine in the morning, you'll find the fish coming off the boats. The western end, along Grandagarður street, is where the old industrial buildings have taken on second lives as museums, studios, and the restaurant and bar scene that has quietly made this stretch one of the city's most interesting to walk.
💛 What travellers fall for
Return visitors tend to anchor a morning here with Kaffivagninn — Iceland's oldest restaurant, on the waterfront since 1935, started as a coffee wagon for dock workers and still opens early. From there, climbing Þúfa, Ólöf Nordal's eight-metre grass mound at the end of Grandi, gives you a clear sightline across Faxaflói bay toward Mount Esja.
The story behind Old Harbour (Grandi District)
The harbour's origin is owed in large part to Einar Benediktsson, an entrepreneur and poet who established the joint-stock company Hofn with British financiers to fund its construction. Danish engineer N.C. Monberg's offer was accepted, work started on 8 March 1913, and the harbour officially opened on 16 November 1917 — built on what had been little more than a tidal sandbar.
Through the early twentieth century it became a centre of Iceland's trawling industry. When commercial shipping shifted to the newer Sundahöfn harbour, the old buildings emptied out. The turnaround came in 2001, when the Reykjavik Art Museum converted a 1930s warehouse into Hafnarhús. The 1948 herring factory followed, becoming the Marshall House — now home to galleries and Ólafur Elíasson's Reykjavik studio. The Reykjavik Maritime Museum occupies a former fish-freezing plant, and moored outside it sits the coast guard vessel Óðinn, which saw active service during Iceland's sea rights disputes with the UK.
Good to know
Bus route 3 reaches the harbour, and a free shuttle runs from City Hall. The harbour area itself is free; the coast guard vessel Óðinn offers guided tours for 1,500 ISK. Allow a relaxed two hours for a walk and café stop, or half a day if you're adding a museum or boat tour.
Summer, from April through September, brings the longest days and the best conditions for whale-watching boats that depart from the harbour. Winter temperatures drop to around -6°C, but the dark months from August through April are when northern lights boat cruises run — the harbour is one of the main departure points.
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What travellers say about Old Harbour (Grandi District)
A beautiful old harbour with a range of food places to stop at. Worth the stroll along and stop along the way.
Nice dock area with quaint cafes and restaurants
Lovely 😍
Nice neighborhood with flyover experience
Sorry for what ppl went through. Worth visiting to support them
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