Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
The Reykjavík Family Park and Zoo (Húsdýragarðurinn) is a small zoo and playground in the Laugardalur valley, a few minutes from central Reykjavík. It is open every day, 10:00–18:00 in summer and 10:00–17:00 in winter, and most families spend two to three hours there.
Húsdýragarðurinn is mainly a farm zoo. You can see Icelandic farm animals such as horses, sheep, goats, pigs and hens, along with reindeer, arctic foxes and seals. Icelandic animals are used to people, so children can often get close.
It is the biggest zoo in Iceland, though small by international standards, and it works as a petting zoo with an amusement park next door. Besides the farm animals there are mink, doves and other birds, and a limited number of exotic animals. In summer the animals are out in the grassy paddocks. In winter most of them are kept indoors, so you visit them in the barns.
Next to the zoo is the Family Park (Fjölskyldugarðurinn), a small fairground and play area that runs in summer. It sits in Laugardalur, the valley that also has the botanical garden and the Laugardalslaug swimming pool, so it fits easily into a family day in the city.
For children it is a good first meeting with Icelandic animals, and a calm way to learn to be gentle with them. Adults tend to enjoy it more than they expect.
Iceland has very strict laws on importing animals, so this is not a zoo of lions and elephants. The zoo opened in 1990, and the Family Park was added a few years later. The few frogs and lizards the zoo has kept are said to have come by way of a pet shop that later gave them to the zoo.
The park also takes in injured wild birds and animals and looks after them until they are well again. Over the years visitors have seen owls, falcons, eagles and vagrant birds here, so what is on show can change from one visit to the next.
The zoo is connected to Fjölskyldugarðurinn, the Family Park, so one visit covers both. It is a small park with rides and play equipment in green surroundings, and it is where most children want to go once they have seen the animals.
The funfair rides run daily in the summer months. Parts of the playground stay open all year, so there is still somewhere to play on a winter visit.
Toilets, a gift shop and food options in summer, plus playground equipment. Check the website for accessibility and pram access.
Stay in central Reykjavík or one of the hotels in Laugardalur and the nearby districts. Everything in the city is short by bus or car.
Every day. 10:00–18:00 from 1 June to 31 August, and 10:00–17:00 from 1 September to 31 May.
Farm animals, reindeer, arctic foxes and seals, plus some birds and a few other species.
Two to three hours is enough for most families.
Yes. There are free electric grills for guests who bring their own meal.
At Múlavegur 1 in Laugardalur, about 10 minutes from the city centre by car.
Partly. It is mainly a farm zoo with Icelandic domestic animals, and children can get close to many of them and pet some.
Yes. The zoo is joined to Fjölskyldugarðurinn, the Family Park, with rides in summer and a playground that is partly open all year.
