Garður village at Reykjanes Peninsula

The old lighthouse by the shore at Garður Reykjanes Peninsula

Garður village by on the tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula is a wonderful place to visit if you plan to travel to Iceland. Located right by the International airport access is easy. On the town's website, Garður makes the claim that the area and land where the village is today is mentioned in the Icelandic book of settlements. Aparently Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler in Iceland, gave his cousin, Steinunni gömlu, an area "south by the sea". Similar to its neighbors and other municipals in Reykjanes Peninsula, Garður developed from a cluster of fishing farms to a fishing village beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. The distance from Garður to generous fishing grounds was relatively short and gave people who settled in the area a good livelihood. Like its neighbor, Sandgerði, Garður had some impressive entrepreneurs that help developed the fishing industry. Garður, on the other hand never built an excellent harbor when the industry took off.

Garður is a nice community, a quiet option near the capital area

In Iceland, the first lighthouse was built in Garður in 1897 and served fishermen until a new one was built in 1944. Both lighthouses are still standing and are of great interest, both due to their role in Icelandic fishing history and also as buildings. As a community, Garður offers good service to its residents. The town has excellent schools, elementary and middle schools, a library, a music school, a sports club, a sports center and swimming pool, community center and most facilities necessary in modern day society. One former pupil in the music school is Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, vocalist and guitarist in the band Of Monsters and Man. A real testimony of how far you can take your talent, even though you grow up in a tiny little town.
The town consists mostly of single-family houses with large lots. Since land has never been a problem in Garður, the hoses are unusually scattered. Like most homes and businesses in Iceland, the houses are heated with geothermal heating from the Svartseingi geothermal heat and power plant located by the Blue Lagoon. For decades, most Icelandic municipals have participated in the environmentally responsible green energy revolution and switched from oil heat to geothermal heating.

Great lighthouses and a museum

In Garður, there is an interesting local museum, The municipal museum in Garðskagi. The museum has many items connected to the town's history as a fishing town. The museum location is by the lighthouses on the northern point of the Reykjanes peninsula. Nearby is a camping site. Garðskagi is a favorite spot for locals, from Reykjanesbær and nearby towns and villages, to visit and view the sunset, which can be spectacular at this point.

If you are going to visit the Reykjanes Peninsula Region in Iceland you might be looking for a places to stay. Here you can book from a selection of accommodationin the Garður region.