FlyOver Iceland

The belt across your lap is the clue. This is closer to a fairground ride than to a cinema.

The visit comes in two parts. First a projection on Icelandic history, watched standing in a dark, crowded room. Then the ride: long rows of seats, a belt, a net underneath for a jacket or a small bag. The rows swing out in front of a 20-metre spherical screen and the film begins.

The effects are not subtle and are not meant to be. Wind hits you on the descents, mist comes at your face, and a scent runs with what is on screen. The seats move enough that some people feel it in the stomach. Legends of Iceland is the home film, an aerial run over the country's mountains and glaciers, and the films made for the other FlyOver sites — Canada, Chicago, Las Vegas — play here too.

• Motion: the rows swing hard through the film. One visitor's party felt travel sick — take precautions beforehand if you are prone to it.
• Standing first: the history projection at the start is watched standing up, in a dark and crowded room.
• Bags: each seat has a storage net underneath for a jacket or a small bag.
• On site: a café, toilets and a seating area for the wait before the flight.
• Second flight: a half-price second film is offered on the way out, and the films from the other FlyOver sites play alongside Legends of Iceland.

FlyOver Iceland sits in Grandi, the working harbour district of Reykjavík, in a plain industrial building among fish plants and harbour workshops. Cars come to the door: there is a car park on the site and kerbside parking on the streets around it. The entrance is at street level and step-free from the car park. There is no outdoor approach to speak of — you park and you go in.

Better: a wet or windy day, when the outdoor plan falls through.

Avoid: going in straight after a large meal.

The whole thing runs indoors and plays the same in any weather, which makes it the obvious fallback on a day Iceland decides not to cooperate. The seats move through the flight, and a full stomach makes that harder to enjoy.