Things to Do in Whales of Iceland Exhibition

Stand beneath the full-size blue whale

You'll tilt your neck until it aches, tracking the pleats along the throat of the 25-metre model while surround-speakers pump out a slow heartbeat that vibrates through the concrete. Spotlights pick out scratches the artists copied from ship-strike scars, a sobering detail you can almost feel with your eyes.

Virtual reality seabird dive

Strap on the headset and you're suddenly swooping between gannets above Faxaflói Bay, then plunging through bubbles as a humpback rolls underneath. The headset vents blow cool air across your face, timed to the underwater scenes so you smell salt and damp neoprene.

Touch the interactive baleen plankton bar

Rub your fingers across the rubbery replica baleen plates while a screen shows copepods lighting up in neon each time you swipe. The slight resistance feels weirdly like thick hair, and the tiny speakers hiss with every simulated gulp feed so you almost taste krill.

Listen to the hydrophone chair

Sink into the black lounger, slip on the headphones and you're eavesdropping on real Icelandic underwater recordings - sperm-whale clicks that sound like creaking floorboards, then the distant thrum of a passing ferry. The chair vibrates subtly, a low murmur you feel in your spine.

Color-your-whale wall for kids

Paper outlines of orcas and minkes lie on low tables alongside fat wax crayons that smell faintly of mint. Once colored, drawings are scanned and projected swimming across the wall within minutes - toddlers squeal when their pink dolphin glides past grandpa's beard.

Grandi harbour district - former fish-packing lofts turned into loft hotels, morning air thick with ocean diesel and waffle-cone vanilla from the ice-cream plant

Old harbour promenade - wood-fronted guesthouses above tattoo studios, sea-lions barking from the floating pier

Midborg centre - compact studios, 10 min walk north, street art and late-night hot-dog stands scenting the breeze with fried onion

Hlíðar - quiet residential lanes south of the pond, bakery aromas drifting out at 6 a.m.

Vesturbær - family homes turned B&B, ocean swish audible when wind turns west

Laugavegur hill - hostels above vintage shops, weekend beats leaking from basement bars