Reykjavík · With kids

The city's big outdoor geothermal pool, with slides, a shallow area and hot pots. Cheap, open early and late, and used by everyone.

Icelandic farm animals, seals and a small funfair beside the pool in Laugardalur. Suits two to ten, and manageable in an afternoon.

Three-hour boats leave the Old Harbour from spring to autumn for minke and humpback. Cold on deck — take the offered overalls and seasickness pills.

A planetarium, a real ice cave built indoors and a viewing deck under glass domes on the hill above town. From about age five.

You must shower naked before swimming and attendants check. Summer nights never darken — pack blackout covers, or bedtime becomes a negotiation.