Einar Jónsson Museum

The building is museum and home at once. Einar Jónsson and his wife lived in an apartment inside it, above the galleries that hold his own sculpture. Each room is painted a single strong colour, a deliberate backdrop for the pale figures. The subjects are symbolist: Norse myth, Christian imagery, allegory laid on allegory. Signs in the rooms explain what is being shown, which matters with work this dense. The top floor gives a view over Hallgrímskirkja and the roofs of central Reykjavík. Behind the building, the sculpture garden holds bronze casts, free to walk through without a ticket.

• Garden without a ticket — the sculpture garden behind the building holds bronze casts and can be seen without going inside.
• Small inside — the exhibition rooms are small and the layout is tight, so the collection is seen at close range.
• A wet-weather option — apart from the garden, everything here is indoors.
• Toilets on site, and the museum suits children.

The museum stands beside Hallgrímskirkja in central Reykjavík, on the hill the church crowns. Its entrance faces the square in front of the church, so the last stretch is the same walk that brings people to Hallgrímskirkja. The sculpture garden lies directly behind the building and is entered from outside, with no ticket and no need to wait for opening hours.

Better: a day of rain or wind, when an indoor hour is worth more than a viewpoint.

Avoid: arriving shortly before the 17:00 close.

The hours are the same every day of the week, so no day gives more time than another. The garden is the exception: it is free and open at any time of day, which makes it the one part of the site worth an early or late detour.