Best Bars in Reykjavik:
Iceland's Extraordinary Bar Scene

Reykjavik has 130,000 people and more bars per capita than almost any city in Europe. This is partly explained by geography — when the winter brings 19 hours of darkness and temperatures that turn outdoor life impossible, the indoors become very important — and partly by a cultural tradition of concentrated, communal drinking that the Icelanders call the runtur. On Friday and Saturday nights, the entire city goes out at once, migrating between the same 40-odd bars in the compact centre until 5am or later.

The concentration is Reykjavik's great advantage as a bar destination. The city centre is small enough to walk end to end in 20 minutes, and all of the worthwhile bars are within that perimeter. You do not need a map after the first night; after the second, you have the circuit memorised. The craft beer scene, which has developed dramatically since the 2015 repeal of restrictions on beer sales in supermarkets, is now internationally competitive. The cocktail scene, always strong, has grown further in the past five years.

The beer context: Iceland was the last country in Europe to legalise beer — prohibition lasted until 1989, which means the craft beer culture here is building on an infrastructure that is still relatively young. The speed with which Icelandic brewers have caught up with their Scandinavian neighbours is remarkable. Our Oslo vs Stockholm vs Copenhagen comparison covers the broader Nordic bar scene that Reykjavik increasingly belongs to.

The Best Bars in Reykjavik Right Now

Slippbarinn

Reykjavik Harbour · $$$ · Cocktail Bar

The bar inside the Icelandair Marina Hotel is consistently Reykjavik's best cocktail experience. The programme focuses on Icelandic ingredients — crowberry, dulse seaweed, lava salt, skyr — used in cocktails that taste unmistakably of the island. The room is a former ship repair workshop; high ceilings, industrial fittings, and harbour views. The best place to start an evening in Reykjavik.

Mikkeller and Friends Reykjavik

Laugavegur · $$ · Craft Beer Bar

The Reykjavik outpost of the Danish craft beer institution carries 20 taps of rotating Mikkeller beers alongside the best Icelandic breweries — Borg, Segull 67, Kaldi. The room is small and always crowded on weekend evenings. The staff are evangelical about Icelandic craft beer in a way that converts skeptics. Come early; come back later when it's full and loud and correct.

The Runtur: How Reykjavik Drinks

The runtur (literally: "the round") is the Friday and Saturday ritual that defines Reykjavik's bar culture. Icelandic drinking tradition has historically concentrated all socialising into the weekend — weeknight bars are quieter here than in most European capitals — with the result that Friday and Saturday nights see the entire city's population converge on 10 square blocks of the city centre simultaneously.

This creates two distinct Reykjavik bar experiences: the weeknight city, which is intimate, unhurried, and excellent for conversation; and the weekend city, which is dense, loud, warm, and one of the most sociable environments in Europe. Both are worth experiencing. We recommend arriving on a Thursday, having a quiet evening in one of the bar-restaurants along Laugavegur, and saving the full runtur immersion for Friday.

Kaffibarinn

Laugavegur · $$ · Bar and Music Venue

The bar that has defined the runtur for 30 years. A small, low-ceilinged room with a legendary music programme — Damon Albarn is a co-owner and occasional visitor — that starts at volume and increases from there. The drinks are simple and reasonably priced. The atmosphere is the point. On Friday nights, the queue extends onto the street; the crowd inside makes it worth every minute of waiting.

Craft Beer in Iceland: A Scene in Acceleration

Iceland's craft beer scene has been one of the most interesting developments in European drinking over the past decade. The combination of exceptional water, a brewing tradition that had to restart from zero in 1989, and a small, quality-focused market has produced breweries that are punching well above their scale. Borg Brugghus is the largest and best-known; Segull 67 in Siglufjordur produces lagers of startling quality; Gull remains the dominant macro lager and remains, in its own way, excellent.

Borg Brugghus Bar

Grandi Harbour · $$ · Brewery Taproom

Iceland's largest craft brewery operates a taproom in the Grandi harbour district — the neighbourhood west of the centre where the fishing industry used to operate and the creative industries now do. The full Borg range on tap, plus seasonal and limited releases unavailable elsewhere. The harbour setting adds context to a beer culture born of isolation and cold water and long nights.

Cocktails and the New Reykjavik

A new generation of Reykjavik cocktail bars has emerged alongside the craft beer scene, drawing on Icelandic ingredients in ways that no other country's bar scene can replicate. Brennivín — the Icelandic aquavit — appears as a modifier in cocktails across the city; Bjork birch schnapps is gaining traction; and the volcanic mineral water that Icelanders drink from the tap is the base for house sodas in several of the better bars.

Skuli Craft Bar

Adalstraeti · $$$ · Craft Cocktail Bar

The most technically accomplished cocktail bar in Reykjavik uses a menu structured around Icelandic seasons — the long summer light, the dark winter, the brief spring thaw — with drinks that shift character accordingly. The team distils several of their own spirits in small batches, including a cloudberry aquavit that appears in the house Negroni riff. Book a seat at the bar; the counter is where the conversation happens.

The Grandi Harbour District: Where the Scene Is Moving

Reykjavik's bar scene has been extending westward along the harbour into the Grandi district for the past five years. What was a working fishing harbour is now a neighbourhood of creative businesses, restaurants, and bars that draws a slightly older crowd than the Laugavegur strip. The Borg brewery taproom is here; several smaller bars and restaurants have followed. In five years, Grandi will likely be Reykjavik's most interesting drinking neighbourhood. Right now it is just becoming one.

For context on how Reykjavik's bar scene compares to its Scandinavian neighbours, our Nordic capitals comparison covers Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen in depth. Reykjavik is smaller than all three but more concentrated and, on a good Friday night, more alive. Our most underrated bar cities guide has ranked Reykjavik in the global top 10 for the past three consecutive years.

Sofia Reeves

Senior Editor, Northern Europe

Sofia covers Northern European bar scenes for barsforKings, with particular expertise in Scandinavian and Nordic drinking cultures. She has visited Reykjavik four times, survived two runtur weekends, and considers the winter Reykjavik bar experience — when the city turns entirely inward and the bars become the entire social infrastructure — one of the most distinctive things in European travel.