Walk Reykjavik and clear the fog off 101
FOG hides the world map and lifts it only along the streets you have actually walked. Reykjavik is one of the few capitals where finishing the central postcode is a weekend project rather than a fantasy.
A capital you can see the edges of
Central Reykjavik, the 101 postcode, is small. Low corrugated iron houses in strong colours, streets that run a few hundred metres and stop, and almost nothing above four storeys except Hallgrimskirkja on its rise. Laugavegur is the main shopping street, Skolavordustigur climbs from it straight at the church, and Austurvollur square sits beside parliament with Tjornin, the pond, just south of it.
The water is never far. Saebraut runs along the north shore past the Sun Voyager sculpture and the glass facade of Harpa, and the Old Harbour still has working boats among the whale watching tours. On a clear day Esja stands across the bay, close enough to make the city feel like a small settlement rather than a capital.
Beyond 101 the scale changes. Breidholt, Grafarvogur and the neighbouring towns of Kopavogur and Hafnarfjordur are spread out, car-oriented and separated by open ground.
The shoreline walk
Start at Harpa, follow the coastal path east along Saebraut past the Sun Voyager, and keep going toward Laugardalur, the green valley with the geothermal pool and the botanic garden. Come back through the residential streets of Tun and Hlidar rather than retracing the shore, and you close a loop of roughly eight kilometres that lights up a large slice of the eastern half of the city.
Going the other way, the path along Aegisida on the west side runs past the domestic airport and out onto the Seltjarnarnes peninsula to the Grotta lighthouse. Check the tide before you cross to it, because the causeway floods. That is about six kilometres each way from the centre, flat the whole distance, and in winter it is a reasonable place to stand and look for the aurora away from streetlights.
Oskjuhlid, the wooded hill under Perlan, adds a short climb and a view over everything you have just walked.
Wind, darkness, and a percentage that moves
The reason to walk here is that the numbers work. The central area is genuinely finishable, and city percent responds to a single afternoon in a way it never does in a large capital. Turn down every side street in 101 for two days and you will have most of it.
The weather is the real opponent, and it is wind rather than cold. Reykjavik winters are milder than people expect, hovering around freezing, but the gusts come off the Atlantic hard and the rain arrives sideways. There are days when the shoreline path is simply not worth it and the sheltered inland streets are.
Light is the other factor. December gives you roughly four or five hours of usable daylight, so winter walks are short and often done in the dark. June gives you the opposite, effectively no night at all, which means you can walk the whole city at two in the morning with the streets to yourself.
What the app does
The whole map starts under fog. You clear it by physically walking, running or riding, and cleared streets stay cleared for good.
No account, no sign-up, no cloud, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. The map lives on your phone and can be exported at any time. Background exploring keeps revealing with the app closed and the screen off, which matters when it is blowing a gale and the phone is buried in a jacket.
Exploring is free. One purchase of USD 5.99, never a subscription, unlocks unlimited ranks, every character and history import from Google Timeline exports and GPX files. Ranks climb with area covered: Wanderer, Scout, Pathfinder, Explorer, Voyager. The collection runs to 241 countries, 3,390 regions and 7,342 named places, and the only way to collect one is to stand in it. For any city you have walked, FOG shows the percentage you have lit up.
Questions people actually ask
Can you actually finish central Reykjavik?
The 101 postcode is small enough that a couple of days of turning down every street will light up most of it. The outer suburbs and neighbouring towns are a much bigger job.
Is winter walking practical?
Yes, though December gives only four or five hours of daylight and the wind off the Atlantic is harder to deal with than the temperature. Sheltered inland streets beat the shoreline on rough days.
What is the best long walk from the centre?
The shore path from Harpa east to Laugardalur, or west along Aegisida out to the Grotta lighthouse on Seltjarnarnes. Check the tide before crossing to the lighthouse.
Does the app track with the screen off?
Yes. Background exploring keeps revealing with the app closed and the screen off.
Is there any subscription?
No. Exploring is free and a single USD 5.99 purchase unlocks unlimited ranks, every character and history import.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
free to explore · one purchase unlocks everything · never a subscription