“Perlan is a museum and viewing dome built on top of the city's geothermal hot-water tanks, complete with a man-made ice cave you can walk through indoors.”
About Perlan
The hot-water tanks were already a fixture on Oskjuhlid hill when, in 1991, a glass dome was added on top to create an observation deck and rotating restaurant. It was redeveloped into the Wonders of Iceland nature museum, which now explains the country's glaciers, volcanoes and geothermal power, including the indoor ice cave carved from compacted snow.
What Perlan actually is
Perlan, meaning 'the Pearl', is a glass dome built on top of six enormous hot-water storage tanks on a wooded hill above Reykjavik. The tanks hold the city's geothermal hot water, and the dome that crowns them houses a museum, a planetarium and a 360-degree observation deck looking out over the capital, the bay and the mountains.
Perlan, meaning 'the Pearl', is a glass dome built on top of six enormous hot-water storage tanks on a wooded hill above Reykjavik.
A Museum on the Water Supply
The building is a neat piece of Icelandic logic: the city already needed giant tanks to store geothermal water, so an architect put a viewing dome and visitor centre on top of them. Inside is the Wonders of Iceland exhibition, which includes a real ice cave dug into 350 tonnes of snow, kept frozen year-round, so you can walk through a glacier tunnel without leaving the city.
The Experience
You ride up to a wraparound deck for the best easy panorama of Reykjavik, then go inside for exhibits on the forces that shape the island. The ice cave is the surprise: a genuine sub-zero tunnel cut into hundreds of tonnes of snow, so you feel the cold and see the blue ice without a glacier hike. The planetarium runs a strong northern-lights show for cloudy days.
Why It Matters
Perlan is the clearest demonstration of how Reykjavik runs on geothermal heat, turning its own water infrastructure into a landmark and a science museum. For visitors short on time or travelling with children, it compresses the country's natural story into one accessible building.
Perlan is the clearest demonstration of how Reykjavik runs on geothermal heat, turning its own water infrastructure into a landmark and a science museum.
Why Visit
Perlan packs the country's whole natural story into one warm, indoor building, which makes it ideal for a wet day or a family. The deck gives the easy city panorama, the ice cave delivers a glacier without the hike, and the planetarium covers the aurora when the real sky will not.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Buy the combined ticket if you want the exhibition and planetarium, not just the deck.
- 2
The observation deck is the cheapest part and gives the city's best easy panorama.
- 3
Dress warm for the indoor ice cave; it is kept genuinely below freezing.
