Reykjavik with toddlers and preschoolers
Written October 2026
A small, calm city where local families spend the weekend at the pool, which makes it easier with a preschooler than the glaciers suggest.
Almost everything below is a short bus or taxi ride from downtown, so the Golden Circle is the only day that needs a car (or a tour).
Start at the pool
Every pool in the city has you shower without a swimsuit before you get in, which is worth explaining to a four-year-old before you arrive.
Laugardalslaug
Laugardalur
The biggest pool in the city: indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs, a kids' pool and a slide just for kids under 120 cm. It's worth a morning of its own. There's a private changing room if your family wants one.
Indoors
Perlan
Öskjuhlíð
A big piece of Iceland under one dome: a walk-through ice cave, glacier and volcano exhibits to touch, Áróra (the northern lights show) and a viewing deck with a café. You don't have to do all of it. The planetarium is dark and loud, which some small kids love and some don't. It sits at the top of a hill, with free parking outside.
Whales of Iceland
Grandi
Twenty-three life-size whale models in one big hall, with whale sounds playing around them. Kids can touch the models, which does more for a four-year-old than any panel. They're models, not live whales, so say so on the way there.
Animals in Laugardalur
Reykjavik Family Park and Zoo
Laugardalur
Horses, seals, reindeer and Arctic foxes, with a big play area between the pens. The animals and the playground are open all year; the rides are mostly a summer thing. Laugardalslaug is next door, and with a five-year-old you can do both around a long lunch (with a toddler, one is plenty).
A Golden Circle day
Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss make a long loop east of the city. Choose the one or two you care about and leave time to eat, because a famous path isn't always a stroller path.
Friðheimar
Reykholt
The lunch stop on the way to Geysir, in a working tomato greenhouse. Tomato soup and fresh bread are the thing to order, which is great unless your kid has strong feelings about tomatoes (some do). How to book is on the listing.
Where to stay
A central hotel makes the short hops easy. An apartment gets you a kitchen and a door between you and the sleeping kid, and with small children that's often worth more than the location.
Reykjavik Residence
Downtown
Real bedrooms in the middle of town: apartments go up to three bedrooms and the family suites sleep six. Some have a full kitchen and some a kitchenette, so check which one you're booking.
- Kitchenette
- Yes
Apartment Hotel Black Pearl
Old harbour
Serviced apartments a few streets from the old harbour, where the whale boats leave. The suites have a separate bedroom and a sofa bed for two kids, and the two-bedroom flats sleep six.
- Cribs
- Yes
- Suites
- Yes
- Kitchenette
- Yes
Grandi by Center Hotels
Grandi
Next door to Whales of Iceland. Besides the family rooms there are suites with a separate bedroom, which is the difference between an early bedtime for the kids and one for everybody.
- Cribs
- Yes
- Suites
- Yes
Fosshotel Reykjavik
Borgartún
A big hotel east of downtown, nearer the pool and the zoo than the harbour hotels are, with rooms for a family of four.
- Cribs
- Yes
Lagoons, rides and tours
Sky Lagoon is for ages 12 and up, and every lagoon sets its own age rules. FlyOver Iceland has a minimum height, and horse riding, glacier walks and other tours each set their own ages, so go by the rules for the exact tour you're booking, not the company's family page.
Leave room in the day
You don't have to plan the whole trip before you land. The Reykjavik map has the playgrounds, cafés and parks near wherever you end up when everyone is ready for the next thing.
Photo credits
Laugardalslaug: Meltwaterfalls (CC BY-SA 1.0) · Perlan: Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Whales of Iceland: Milan Nykodym from Kutna Hora, Czech Republic (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Reykjavik Family Park and Zoo: Lee Vilenski (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Fridheimar: Eric Kilby (CC BY-SA 2.0)