Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Reykjavik for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Reykjavik for grown-ups.
Kaffibarinn on Bergstadastraeti has anchored Reykjavik nightlife since 1993, a cafe by day that turns into the city's most packed DJ bar by midnight.
Signature drink: Beer and DJ nights
Food: Snacks
Tip: Part-owned over the years by Damon Albarn. Queues form after 23:00 at weekends, so arrive early.
Slippbarinn on Myrargata was Reykjavik's first cocktail bar, a harbourside room at the Marina hotel mixing inventive drinks with a long daily happy hour.
Signature drink: Cocktail of the Month
Food: Bar food and burgers
Tip: The rotating Cocktail of the Month is the order. Happy hour runs 15:00-18:00 every day by the harbour.
Rontgen on Hverfisgata is a two-floor wine, beer and cocktail bar above Dill, a Reykjavik room of candles, art and compiled low-intervention wines that won.
Signature drink: Curated low-intervention wines and draft beer
Food: Bar menu from Hosilo
Tip: Bar menu from Hosilo runs Tuesday to Saturday until 21:00. Happy hour weekdays 16:00-20:00.
Pablo Discobar on Veltusund pours tropical, mezcal-forward cocktails over two loud floors, a 70s-and-80s disco Reykjavik party bar with a huge mirrored.
Signature drink: Tropical disco cocktails
Food: None
Tip: Open from 17:00 daily, until 03:00 Friday and Saturday. Happy hour 16:00-18:00; karaoke later.
Skuli Craft Bar on Adalstraeti pours fourteen mostly Icelandic taps plus bottles, a focused Reykjavik beer bar named for an 18th-century town father.
Signature drink: Icelandic craft taps
Food: Snacks
Tip: Most taps are local, so it is a fast way to taste the Icelandic scene. Happy hour early in the evening.
Microbar on Laugavegur pours ten rotating taps and dozens of bottles, a Reykjavik craft-beer bar run by the founder of Gaedingur, Iceland's first craft.
Signature drink: Icelandic and import taps
Food: None
Tip: Happy hour daily 15:00-18:00. Five-beer and ten-beer flights are the way to taste the Icelandic scene.
Kiki Queer Bar on Laugavegur is Reykjavik's main LGBTQ club, two colourful floors of pop and dance that fill up at weekends with a mixed, welcoming crowd.
Signature drink: Cocktails and dance floor
Food: None
Tip: The entrance is on the Klapparstigur side. Friday and Saturday are the big nights for the dance floor.
Lebowski Bar on Laugavegur runs a Big Lebowski theme with a wall of White Russians and burgers, a Reykjavik bar that turns into a dance floor late at night.
Signature drink: White Russians
Food: Burgers
Order: A White Russian, the bar's whole reason for being, with a burger.
Tip: Bowling memorabilia and film posters fill the room. Burgers by day, a louder dance scene after midnight.
Prikid on Bankastraeti is one of Reykjavik's oldest bars, a 1951 diner-cafe by day that becomes a hip-hop bar by night, famous for its hangover breakfast.
Signature drink: Beer and hip-hop nights
Food: Diner food and brunch
Order: The hangover breakfast by day, or a beer once the hip-hop starts.
Tip: Founded in 1951 and still central to the scene. The greasy breakfast is the morning-after institution.
The bar at Kex Hostel fills a former biscuit factory on Skulagata, a Reykjavik gastropub and live-music room with harbour views and a steady gig calendar.
Signature drink: Local beer
Food: Gastropub plates
Tip: Concerts and jam sessions run most weeks in the old factory hall. The kitchen does proper gastropub plates.
Dillon Whiskey Bar on Laugavegur stocks over a hundred whiskies in a historic Reykjavik house, a rock pub with a tiny gig stage up in the rafters.
Signature drink: Whiskey and bourbon
Food: None
Order: A pour from the hundred-plus whiskies, or a local beer for the rock nights.
Tip: The garden out back is a summer sun-trap. Live rock plays in the attic space above the main bar.
Petersen Svitan crowns the historic Gamla Bio cinema on Ingolfsstraeti, a Reykjavik rooftop bar with a two-level terrace and 360-degree views over the centre.
Signature drink: Cocktails with a city view
Food: Snacks
Tip: The upper terrace has the wide views over Vesturbaer. Best on a rare still, sunny Reykjavik evening.
Gaukurinn on Tryggvagata is a scrappy Reykjavik live venue and bar, hosting rock gigs, drag and DJ nights with some of the cheaper beer downtown.
Signature drink: Cheap beer
Food: None
Tip: A long-running grassroots venue for new bands and drag nights. The crowd mixes locals and visitors.
The fourth-floor bar at Loft Hostel on Bankastraeti is a see-and-be-seen Reykjavik balcony bar hosting up-and-coming bands and DJs above the main street.
Signature drink: Beer and live acts
Food: Light bites
Tip: The balcony catches afternoon sun over Bankastraeti. Free gigs and DJ sets run through the week.
The long bar at Apotek on Austurstraeti mixes well-made cocktails in the old first-pharmacy building, one of central Reykjavik's more grown-up drinking rooms.
Signature drink: Classic and house cocktails
Food: Small plates
Tip: The happy hour at the marble bar is among the best central deals. Quieter and more polished than the clubs.
Tail is the cocktail bar of the Le Kock complex on Tryggvagata, a moody Reykjavik room near the harbour mixing seasonal drinks beside the food counters.
Signature drink: Seasonal cocktails
Food: None
Tip: Shares its building with Le Kock and Deig, so you can eat next door. Cocktails change with the season.