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
Tjörnin is a shallow pond right in the centre of Reykjavík, next to City Hall, free to visit and open at all times. It takes only a few minutes to walk from downtown, and most people spend 20–30 minutes walking around it or feeding the birds.
Tjörnin sits at the heart of Reykjavík, bordered by City Hall, the National Gallery and rows of brightly painted old houses, and it is almost impossible to miss if you spend any time downtown. The name simply means "the pond". It is very shallow, averaging only about 57 cm deep and about 80 cm at its deepest, which is part of why it attracts so many birds and why it freezes over for skating in a cold snap.
Between 40 and 50 species of water birds use the pond, including whooper swans, eider ducks, greylag geese and Arctic terns in summer. It has long been a favourite local spot for feeding ducks, walking, and simply sitting by the water in the middle of the city.
Tjörnin is the largest of a chain of small ponds that run south into the Vatnsmýri wetland, a protected nesting area. The main pond covers about 8.7 hectares, with the city centre at its north end and the park Hljómskálagarður at its south end, so a walk around it takes you from the busiest streets in Iceland to open grass and trees in a few minutes.
Tjörnin started out as a lagoon behind a gravel bar on the shore, roughly where the street Hafnarstræti runs today. Before Reykjavík grew up around it, the pond was larger and reached further north. A small stream, Lækurinn ("the brook"), ran from it to the sea, and at high tide salt water flowed back up into the pond.
In 1911 the stream was put into a culvert. It still runs under Lækjargata, the street named after it, but the tide no longer reaches the pond. In 1920 the street Skothúsvegur was built across the water, cutting the pond in two.
The pond has been part of city life the whole time. Ice was once cut from it in winter and stored in ice houses to keep fish fresh; one of them, built in 1916, now houses the National Gallery of Iceland on the east bank. Shooting ducks and geese on the pond was banned in 1919, and the bird life has grown since.
The best thing to do here is the simplest: walk the whole way round.
In a cold winter the pond becomes a flat sheet of ice, and people in Reykjavík have skated on it for as long as there have been skates. The Reykjavík skating association was founded on the pond in 1892. There is no rink, no hire and no set season: when the ice is thick enough, people simply turn up, and schools and friends sometimes play football on the ice as well.
Because the water is so shallow, Tjörnin is a forgiving place for a beginner to try skating. Even so, only go out where others are already on the ice and it is clearly solid. Warm water is piped into the north-east corner to keep a patch open for the birds, so the ice there is thin; stay well away from it.
If you do not skate, the frozen pond is still worth a walk, with the swans and ducks crowded into their open corner by City Hall.
Winter weather in Reykjavík can turn quickly, with wind and snow storms. Check the forecast and any warnings on vedur.is, and dress for wind even on a short walk.
No facilities at the pond itself, but downtown Reykjavík's cafés, toilets and shops are all a short walk away.
Downtown Reykjavík, right around Tjörnin, has the widest choice of hotels and guesthouses within walking distance.
Yes, it is an open public pond with no entrance fee.
In a hard winter freeze, yes. It depends on the weather each year, there is no skate hire, and you should always check the ice is solid first.
About 57 cm on average and about 80 cm at its deepest point.
No. It began as a sea lagoon and was once larger. The stream that linked it to the sea, Lækurinn, has run in a culvert under Lækjargata since 1911.
About 20–30 minutes at an easy pace.
Whooper swans, eider ducks, greylag geese, Arctic terns and various gulls and ducks, among 40 to 50 recorded species.
Tours and trips that include Tjörnin, booked directly with a local travel agency in Iceland.
