Downtown 101 on foot
2.6 km · ~half day · Miðborg · 7 stops
- Hallgrímskirkja
- Rainbow Street
- Mokka Kaffi (1958)
- Austurvöllur
- Settlement Exhibition
- Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
- Harpa
147 places · Sources: Michelin Guide 2026, Reykjavík Grapevine (Best of Reykjavík 2026), Time Out, Lonely Planet and TikTok virals. Eater has no Iceland coverage. · 5 routes
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by Strætó bus or on foot. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Reykjavik (Iceland) brings together 147 hand-picked places: 45 attractions, 50 restaurants, 24 cafés and 28 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
2.6 km · ~half day · Miðborg · 7 stops
3.1 km · ~half day · Grandi · 7 stops
1.9 km · ~3-4 h · Laugavegur · 7 stops
4.4 km · ~full day · Laugardalur · 7 stops
5.8 km · ~evening · Vesturbær & Seltjarnarnes · 6 stops
Hallgrímskirkja · Downtown
The concrete cathedral shaped like basalt columns — ride the tower lift and all of Reykjavik opens up below.
Tip: Church is free; the tower lift is ~1,400 ISK. Go before 10am to skip the tour-bus queue.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/13/14 · 10 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Guide to Iceland · Grapevine
Show on mapHarpa · Downtown
A honeycomb glass facade co-designed with Ólafur Elíasson — mirrors the sea by day, pulses with colour by night.
Tip: Free to walk in, and you can go up to level 4. Best photo reflection is at sunset from the pier opposite.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12/13/14 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapSólfar (Sun Voyager) · Downtown
A steel dreamboat skeleton facing the fjord — the absolute postcard of the Sæbraut seafront walk.
Tip: Come 40 min before sunset: low Icelandic autumn light turns the sculpture gold with Mt. Esja behind.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 10 min seafront walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Lonely Planet
Show on mapPerlan · Öskjuhlíð
Glass dome on geothermal water tanks: a real ice cave inside, a 360° observation deck outside.
Tip: The outdoor deck is free even without a museum ticket. The northern-lights planetarium saves a cloudy night.
🚇 BSÍ — buses 1/3/6/15 · 15 min uphill walk through Öskjuhlíð
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapSky Lagoon · Kópavogur
Geothermal lagoon with an infinity edge over the Atlantic and the seven-step ritual. The capital area's hottest spa.
Tip: Book the 8pm slot in autumn: you're in hot water exactly when the aurora may show over the sea.
🚇 Hamraborg — buses 1/4 then a Hreyfill taxi · 10 min
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Condé Nast Traveler
Show on mapLaugardalslaug · Laugardalur
Iceland's biggest geothermal pool: a 50m outdoor lane pool, eight hot pots and a waterslide. The real local ritual.
Tip: Entry ~1,330 ISK. Shower naked with soap before entering — it's the law and locals will tell you.
🚇 Laugardalur — buses 14/15 · Sundlaugavegur stop
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapVesturbæjarlaug · Vesturbær
The neighbourhood pool where Reykjavíkers argue politics in the hot pots. Almost no tourists.
Tip: Come at 7am: 40°C water, steam, nobody around, and Kaffihús Vesturbæjar half a block away after.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Hofsvallagata stop · 20 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSundhöll Reykjavíkur · Downtown
The city's oldest pool — 1937 art-deco by Guðjón Samúelsson, with a rooftop hot-pot terrace and a view.
Tip: The only indoor pool downtown — perfect in the rain. The outdoor terrace looks straight at Hallgrímskirkja.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/13/14 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Grapevine
Show on mapÁrbæjarlaug · Árbær
Family pool with a glass dome, a lazy river and slides — where locals bring the kids.
Tip: The dome covers the kids' section, so you can swim with children even in horizontal rain.
🚇 Buses 5/12 — Fylkisvegur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapÞjóðminjasafn Íslands · Downtown
Eleven hundred years of Iceland in one route: Viking swords, the Valþjófsstaður door and the island's DNA.
Tip: ~3,000 ISK, free with the Reykjavík City Card. Start upstairs and work down — the chronology lands better.
🚇 Háskóli Íslands — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapListasafn Íslands · Downtown
The National Gallery on the Tjörnin lake: Kjarval, Erró and contemporary Nordic art in a former ice house.
Tip: The Kaktus Espressobar inside is one of downtown's best coffees — no museum ticket needed.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapHafnarhúsið · Downtown
A former harbour warehouse turned into the boldest wing of Reykjavík Art Museum: Erró and emerging art.
Tip: One ticket (~2,400 ISK) covers all THREE sites for 24h: Hafnarhúsið, Kjarvalsstaðir and Ásmundarsafn.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapKjarvalsstaðir · Hlíðar
A modernist pavilion in Klambratún park devoted to Jóhannes Kjarval, the painter who invented Icelandic landscape.
Tip: The café with the park-facing window is a secret: Eames chairs, north light, empty on a Tuesday morning.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 10 min walk
Featured in: Reykjavík Art Museum · Grapevine
Show on mapÁsmundarsafn · Laugardalur
The dome-house Ásmundur Sveinsson built for himself, Mediterranean-inspired, with an open sculpture garden.
Tip: The sculpture garden is free and open 24/7 — swing by on the way to Laugardalslaug.
🚇 Buses 2/5/14/15 — Sigtún stop
Featured in: Reykjavík Art Museum
Show on mapÁrbæjarsafn · Árbær
Open-air museum of 20 historic houses moved here stone by stone: how Reykjavik lived before concrete.
Tip: In winter it opens only for the 1pm guided tour. The café serves fresh kleinur in the turf house.
🚇 Buses 5/12/24 — Árbæjarsafn stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapHvalasýningin (Whales of Iceland) · Grandi
23 life-size whales hanging in a dark harbour warehouse — standing under a 25m blue whale rearranges you.
Tip: Ask for the audio guide (included): 40 min, and it explains why bowhead whales can live 200 years.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop · 20 min walk from Lækjartorg
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapFlyOver Iceland · Grandi
A hanging flight simulator over glaciers, volcanoes and waterfalls — the Iceland you won't have time to drive.
Tip: Book online — afternoon slots sell out. If heights bother you, ask for a back-row seat.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapLava Show · Grandi
They melt rock to 1,100°C and pour it in front of you — the only live real-lava show on earth. You feel the heat.
Tip: Winner of Best Immersive Experience at Best of Reykjavík 2026. ~55 min, book ahead — only 60 seats.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop · 22 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lava Show
Show on mapMarshallhúsið · Grandi
An old fishmeal factory turned harbour contemporary-art hub: Kling & Bang and Ólafur Elíasson's studio.
Tip: Galleries are free, open Wednesday to Sunday. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays — don't waste the walk.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapGrótta · Seltjarnarnes
A lighthouse at the tip of Seltjarnarnes with no city light — THE in-town spot to hunt the northern lights.
Tip: The causeway only opens at low tide — check the table. There's a free foot hot pot (Kvika) on the way.
🚇 Bus 11 — Lindarbraut stop · 15 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapHöfði · Laugardalur
The little white house where Reagan and Gorbachev began ending the Cold War, sea and Mt. Esja behind.
Tip: You can't go in (it's an official residence), but the outside is free and it's on the seafront route to Sun Voyager.
🚇 Buses 12/14 — Höfðatorg stop · Sæbraut seafront
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapAlþingishúsið · Downtown
The world's oldest working parliament (founded 930) sits in this 1881 basalt building on Austurvöllur.
Tip: Look at the facade: the four carved faces are Iceland's guardian spirits, the same four on the coat of arms.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12/13/14
Featured in: UNESCO · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapTjörnin · Downtown
The downtown lake with 40 bird species and coloured houses mirrored in it. Autumn mist turns it cinematic.
Tip: Don't feed the ducks bread — buy seed at the kiosk. In winter one corner is kept ice-free for the birds.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Lonely Planet
Show on mapAusturvöllur · Downtown
The square where Iceland protests, sunbathes and meets. Ringed by terrace bars and the old cathedral.
Tip: Friday night it's ground zero of the rúntur, the Icelandic bar crawl that only starts at 11pm.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12/13/14
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapArnarhóll · Downtown
The green knoll facing the harbour with the first settler's statue — best free view over Harpa and the bay.
Tip: Locals watch the New Year fireworks from here. In autumn come at night — little light blocks the northern sky.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapDómkirkjan í Reykjavík · Downtown
The original 1796 Lutheran cathedral — small and white beside parliament, where every Alþingi session opens.
Tip: Free entry. The baptismal font is by Bertel Thorvaldsen, the great 19th-century Danish-Icelandic sculptor.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapFríkirkjan í Reykjavík · Downtown
The mint-green church on Tjörnin, now a cult concert hall — Björk and Sigur Rós recorded here.
Tip: Check the Iceland Airwaves and winter concert calendar — the wooden acoustics here are among Iceland's best.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 7 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapLandakotskirkja · Vesturbær
The 1929 neo-Gothic Catholic cathedral, white and sharp on Landakot hill. Almost always empty and silent.
Tip: Free and open most of the day. The tower is square because they ran out of money for the Gothic spire.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Túngata stop · 12 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapRáðhús Reykjavíkur · Downtown
The concrete-and-moss city hall floating on Tjörnin, with the giant 3D relief map of Iceland inside.
Tip: Walk in free to see the relief map of all Iceland and plan your route right there. Toilets and wifi inside.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapHljómskálagarðurinn · Downtown
The park south of Tjörnin, dotted with sculptures by Icelandic women artists and the 1923 bandstand.
Tip: The poplars burn yellow in late September — the city's best urban autumn, and it lasts three weeks.
🚇 Háskóli Íslands — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapKlambratún · Hlíðar
The big eastern park, with beach volleyball, disc golf and Kjarvalsstaðir on one corner.
Tip: One of the few downtown spots with an open northern horizon — good for aurora watching without a drive.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 8 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapGrasagarður Reykjavíkur · Laugardalur
Botanic garden with 5,000 species that survive the subarctic, plus Café Flóran among the beds.
Tip: Free all year. In October the heather garden and the red rowan berries are the prettiest thing here.
🚇 Buses 2/5/14/15 — Laugardalur stop
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapFjölskyldu- og húsdýragarðurinn · Laugardalur
The city farm-zoo: seals, reindeer, arctic foxes and Icelandic horses, plus a huge playground.
Tip: Winner, Best Place to Take the Kids 2026. Seal feeding is at 11am and 4pm.
🚇 Buses 2/5/14/15 — Laugardalur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapReykjavík 871±2 · Downtown
A Viking longhouse from 871 excavated under Aðalstræti, staged with projections over the actual ruins.
Tip: The ±2 is the dating margin from the 871 volcanic ash layer. Takes about 45 min.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapSafnahúsið · Downtown
The 1909 former National Library: saga manuscripts and a thousand years of Icelandic art under one roof.
Tip: Your Þjóðminjasafn ticket includes this building — keep it, it covers both on the same day.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · National Museum of Iceland
Show on mapSaga Museum · Grandi
Hyper-real silicone figures staging the sagas' most brutal scenes. Kitsch, yes — unforgettable too.
Tip: At the end you can dress up as a Viking in real chainmail — free, and the photo that always lands on social.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop · 18 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapSjóminjasafnið Víkin · Grandi
Maritime museum in an old fish factory, with the Cod Wars coastguard ship Óðinn moored outside.
Tip: The Óðinn guided tour runs at 1, 2 and 3pm and is the best part — you go down into the engine room.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapHið Íslenzka Reðasafn · Downtown
The world's famous phallological museum: 300 specimens from 93 species, blue whale included. Absurd and scientific at once.
Tip: Winner, Best Unconventional Experience 2026. The in-house bistro does a themed cocktail and genuinely good soup.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapIcelandic Punk Museum · Downtown
Iceland's punk museum, crammed into a disused underground public toilet on Bankastræti. Björk started in this scene.
Tip: ~1,500 ISK, done in 25 min. Plug in the headphones and play the original Purrkur Pillnikk records.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Atlas Obscura
Show on mapSkólavörðustígur (Rainbow Street) · Downtown
The rainbow street running straight up to Hallgrímskirkja — painted permanently since Pride, and Iceland's most-shot photo.
Tip: For the crowd-free shot, 8am. Stand mid-street, crouch, and frame the church at the end.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: TikTok viral · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapYlströndin í Nauthólsvík · Nauthólsvík
A beach of imported golden sand with seawater geothermally heated to 18°C — in the North Atlantic.
Tip: In autumn the beach is free but the hot pot is ~950 ISK. Locals plunge in the icy sea, then hit the hot pot.
🚇 Buses 5/15 — Nauthólsvegur stop · 25 min walk from BSÍ
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Grapevine
Show on mapNorræna húsið · Downtown
Alvar Aalto's Reykjavik jewel: a Nordic library, a blue ceramic roof and the vegan café Plantan inside.
Tip: Library and exhibitions are free. Look at the reading table — Aalto designed even the door handles.
🚇 Háskóli Íslands — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapBíó Paradís · Downtown
Iceland's only arthouse cinema: Icelandic classics with English subtitles, a happy-hour bar and cult screenings.
Tip: The Icelandic Cinema strand shows subtitled local films daily — the best way to get Icelandic humour.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapGerðarsafn · Kópavogur
Kópavogur's art museum, devoted to Gerður Helgadóttir, pioneer of abstract stained glass. A building of pure light.
Tip: Free entry, with a Reykjavík Roasters branch inside. 12 min by bus from downtown and nobody goes.
🚇 Hamraborg — buses 1/2/4/28/35
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Grapevine
Show on mapÁsmundarsalur · Downtown
A 1933 artist's house, now an independent gallery and café: young Icelandic art in double-height rooms.
Tip: Free entry. Reykjavík Roasters runs the basement — specialty coffee among sculptures, at no cost.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 9 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapDill · Downtown
Reykjavik's only Michelin star: a New Nordic tasting menu of ferments, seaweed and highland lamb.
Tip: Book 6-8 weeks out. The 7-course menu runs about 19,900 ISK; the natural-wine pairing doubles it.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapÓX · Downtown
Eleven seats around one counter, a single seating a night, and 20 courses the chef hands you directly.
Tip: Reservations open online on the 1st of each month for the next month and vanish in minutes. Now at Laugavegur 55.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide 2026 · Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSumac · Downtown
Levant and North Africa over Icelandic fire: whole lamb, taboon bread and a serious natural-wine list.
Tip: Happy hour 4-6pm has half-price cocktails — the cheap way into this dining room.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Grapevine
Show on mapSnaps Bistro · Downtown
A French bistro in a glass conservatory with the city's best seafood plateau. Always full, always local.
Tip: The lunch menu (until 3pm) is downtown's best value: a main around 3,500 ISK.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Grapevine · Time Out
Show on mapGrillmarkaðurinn · Downtown
High-end Icelandic grill in a stone-and-glass room: minke, puffin, lamb and langoustine over coals.
Tip: Order the Icelandic Gourmet Feast: seven courses of the country's strange bites for about 14,000 ISK. Book days ahead.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapFiskfélagið · Downtown
Icelandic fish with global turns, in a 19th-century stone cellar of candles and driftwood.
Tip: The Around Iceland menu crosses four regions in four plates. Ask for a cellar table, not the terrace.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Lonely Planet
Show on mapFish Company · Downtown
Best Seafood 2026 per the Grapevine: well-travelled seafood cooking in the harbour's oldest stone shell.
Tip: The seafood tasting runs about 13,900 ISK. Weekday lunch does two courses for under half that.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapMatur og Drykkur · Grandi
1940s Icelandic recipes reworked: glazed cod head, house skyr, geothermal rye bread.
Tip: The signature is the cod head — sounds odd, and it's the best bite of fish you'll eat in Iceland.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop · 18 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Michelin Guide · Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapSægreifinn · Hafnarsvæði
The Sea Baron's shack: Reykjavik's definitive lobster soup and fish skewers on wooden benches.
Tip: Lobster soup ~2,600 ISK with bread. Closes at 10pm, and the whale skewers run out by 8.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 8 min harbour walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Time Out · TripAdvisor
Show on mapMessinn · Downtown
Cast-iron pans of the day's fish, potatoes and melted butter arriving at the table still sizzling.
Tip: Lunch (11:30am-2pm) serves the same pan for nearly half price. No midday bookings — arrive at 11:30.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet · TripAdvisor
Show on mapÍslenski Barinn · Downtown
The Icelandic bar par excellence: fermented shark, brennivín, lamb soup and live music most nights.
Tip: The Icelandic Platter brings hákarl, brennivín and smoked lamb — the whole dare for about 4,900 ISK.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapBæjarins Beztu Pylsur · Downtown
The world's most famous hot dog stand since 1937: lamb, sweet mustard and crispy onion. Bill Clinton ate here.
Tip: Say 'eina með öllu' (one with everything), about 750 ISK. Open till 4:30am at weekends — the post-club dinner.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: TikTok viral · Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapAustur Indíafélagið · Downtown
The Grapevine's Best Goddamn Restaurant 2026 — and it's Indian: Icelandic lamb in Kerala curry since 1994.
Tip: Won both Best Restaurant and Best Indian 2026. The tasting menu with tandoor Icelandic langoustine is the order.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSkál! · Downtown
Wild Icelandic small plates and natural wine — the place that defined Reykjavik's new casual cooking.
Tip: Order 4-5 plates between two. It moved to Njálsgata 1 from the Hlemmur food hall — don't go to the old spot.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 7 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapVitabar · Downtown
An unpretentious neighbourhood bar with the blue cheese and bacon burger Icelanders defend to the death.
Tip: Runner-up for Best Burger 2026. Order the blue cheese and bacon with fries: ~2,900 ISK, no reservations.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 7 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapLe Kock · Downtown
Chef-driven burgers and Best Vegan Burger 2026, in an industrial shed shared with the Deig bakery.
Tip: It shares the room with Deig: order the burger here and the doughnut for dessert at the next counter.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapDeig · Downtown
Iceland's best doughnuts and bagels, a neighbourhood counter with prices that don't feel like Reykjavik.
Tip: Winner, Best Value for Money 2026. Bagel + coffee breakfast under 1,800 ISK — unbeatable downtown.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapChickpea · Downtown
Falafel and vegan bowls in a tiny room that won Best Vegan Meal 2026. Lunchtime queue out the door.
Tip: The large bowl at ~2,400 ISK feeds two. Go before 11:45 or after 1:30 and skip the queue.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapHlöllabátar · Downtown
The hot subs that save Reykjavik at 3am. An institution since 1986.
Tip: Winner, Best Late Night Bite 2026. Ask for Bátur nr. 1 with cocktail sauce: ~2,100 ISK and it fills you up.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 2 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapFlatey Pizza · Grandi
Long-ferment Neapolitan pizza in an old-harbour shed. Joint winner, Best Pizza 2026.
Tip: Order the Flatey with Icelandic smoked lamb. No bookings — put your name down and have a beer while you wait.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop · 16 min walk from downtown
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapBakaBaka · Downtown
Bakery by morning, pizzeria by night: joint Best Pizza 2026, in an 1834 building on Bankastræti.
Tip: Cardamom croissant in the morning, wood-fired pizza at night. Two different businesses, one door.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapVínstúkan Tíu Sopar · Downtown
The wine bar that won Best Wine Bar and Best Date Night 2026: natural bottles and small plates in low light.
Tip: Double winner 2026: Best Wine Bar and Best Date Night. Let them pick your glass — the list rotates weekly.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKastrup · Downtown
Best Brunch 2026: eggs, sourdough and serious coffee in a bright Hverfisgata room.
Tip: Weekend brunch fills by 11. Book, or arrive at 9:30 and eat slowly with the paper.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapFjallkonan · Downtown
Modern Icelandic sharing plates in a historic building facing the square: lamb, langoustine and skyr.
Tip: Happy hour 3-6pm includes Icelandic oysters at bar prices. Ask for a window table onto Hafnarstræti.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 2 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapApotek Kitchen + Bar · Downtown
A 1917 Guðjón Samúelsson pharmacy turned brasserie: marble, cocktails and sharing plates.
Tip: Happy hour 3-6pm puts cocktails around 1,500 ISK — the best downtown price for a room this nice.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapSushi Social · Downtown
Sushi with a South American turn: Icelandic salmon, ají amarillo and pisco. Sounds odd, works beautifully.
Tip: The sushi happy hour (4-6pm) halves the rolls — one of downtown's few food happy hours.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · Michelin Guide
Show on mapTapas Barinn · Downtown
Spanish tapas with Icelandic product since 1999 — where to try whale, puffin and lamb in small portions.
Tip: The seven-tapa Icelandic Gourmet Feast runs about 11,900 ISK — the least intimidating way to try it all.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapBastard Brew & Food · Downtown
Fire cooking, Icelandic beers on tap and a hidden courtyard off Vegamótastígur.
Tip: Daily happy hour 3-7pm with Icelandic pints around 900 ISK. The courtyard has blankets and heaters.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Time Out
Show on mapJómfrúin · Downtown
Proper Danish smørrebrød since 1996: rye bread, herring, egg and shrimp. Sunny courtyard terrace.
Tip: Two smørrebrød plus a beer runs about 4,500 ISK — the cheapest sit-down lunch in this part of downtown.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapBan Thai · Hlíðar
Best Thai 2026: genuinely spicy, unadjusted for Nordic palates. No design, just regulars queuing.
Tip: Icelandic 'spicy' is mild — ask for Thai hot and brace. Takeaway is a fair bit cheaper.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 8 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKaffivagninn · Grandi
Iceland's oldest restaurant (1935), right on the dock: fishermen at breakfast and a genuinely priced daily special.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Seafood 2026. The daily fish plate with soup and coffee is about 2,900 ISK — unthinkable downtown.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapKemuri · Downtown
An Icelandic izakaya of smoke and sake: runner-up for Best Vegan Meal 2026 and one of downtown's most original menus.
Tip: Order the vegetable yakitori smoked over Icelandic birch — nobody else in the city does this.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapReykjavík Fish · Downtown
Fresh Icelandic cod fish & chips on the rainbow street: light batter, thick chips. Simple and perfect.
Tip: Ask for cod, not haddock — the Icelandic cod comes off the dock that morning. Small portion ~3,100 ISK.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · TripAdvisor
Show on mapOsteria Bari · Downtown
Best Newcomer 2026 in bars: Puglian cooking and Italian wine in the room Kaffi Ó-le left behind.
Tip: Opened 2025 at Hafnarstræti 9. Order the orecchiette with cime di rapa and a Puglian wine by the glass.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKaffibarinn · Downtown
Reykjavik's legendary bar, part-owned by Damon Albarn: a red timber house, DJ sets most nights, zero pretension.
Tip: Winner, Best Bar to End the Night 2026. Empty before 11pm, impossible to get in after 1am.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapRöntgen · Downtown
The Grapevine's Best Goddamn Bar 2026: odd beers, unposed cocktails and a floor that starts late.
Tip: Happy hour until 8pm puts a pint around 1,000 ISK. Same courtyard as Hosiló — eat next door first.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapPrikið · Downtown
The city's oldest café-bar (1951) that turns into Iceland's hip-hop club at night. Legendary hangover brunch.
Tip: The Sunday Hangover Killer (pancakes, bacon, eggs) is a local classic. By day it's just a quiet café.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapSkúli Craft Bar · Downtown
Best Craft Bar 2026: 14 rotating taps of Iceland's best microbreweries, facing Ingólfstorg.
Tip: Happy hour until 7pm. Ask for a Borg Brugghús or an Ölvisholt — the two Icelandic breweries to try.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapUppi · Downtown
Best Date Place 2026: a first-floor wine bar on Aðalstræti with big windows over the square.
Tip: Ask for the window table over Ingólfstorg at sunset. There's an Icelandic cheese list to go with it.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapPort 9 · Downtown
A cellar wine bar with 300+ labels and a charcuterie board, hidden down a Veghúsastígur passage.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Wine Bar 2026. You can buy a bottle at shop price and drink it there for a small corkage.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapVeður · Downtown
Best Happy Hour 2026: a small Klapparstígur bar where locals start the night without spending a fortune.
Tip: Happy hour 3-7:30pm, pints around 950 ISK. The name means 'weather' — very Icelandic to complain about it in a bar.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapAmma Don · Downtown
Best Cocktails 2026: ÓX's sister bar, signature drinks built on Icelandic botanicals. Very few tables.
Tip: Winner, Best Place for Cocktails 2026. Order the drink with Icelandic angelica — the herb the Vikings exported.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKíKí Queer Bar · Downtown
Reykjavik's queer bar and joint Best Bar to End the Night 2026: pop, drag and a floor going till 5am.
Tip: Open Thursday to Saturday only, from 8pm. The upstairs floor fills after 12:30am.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapDaisy Cocktail Bar · Downtown
A tiny author-cocktail bar on Ingólfsstræti, runner-up for Best Cocktails 2026. An eight-seat counter.
Tip: Eight seats, no bookings: arrive at 7pm or stand. Tell the bartender your spirit and let them build it.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKaldi Bar · Downtown
The Kaldi brewery's downtown room: Czech-style beer brewed in Árskógssandur, old armchairs and history.
Tip: Happy hour 4-7pm with the whole Kaldi range at ~950 ISK. Try Kaldi Dökk, the dark one.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Time Out
Show on mapIðnó · Downtown
An 1897 timber theatre on Tjörnin, now Best Live Music Venue 2026 and a restaurant over the water.
Tip: Check the calendar: Icelandic folk and jazz almost weekly, tickets from about 3,500 ISK.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSkúbb · Laugardalur
Best Ice Cream 2026: a Laugarás neighbourhood shop with odd Icelandic flavours and the local rule of eating ice cream in the rain.
Tip: Icelanders eat ice cream at 4°C in the wind — a real tradition. Order a bragðarefur, soft-serve blended with mix-ins.
🚇 Buses 14/15 — Laugarásvegur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapÍsbúð Vesturbæjar · Vesturbær
The neighbourhood ice cream shop with a car queue in midwinter. Soft serve with Icelandic mix-ins since the 80s.
Tip: Half a block from Vesturbæjarlaug — the local combo is geothermal pool then ice cream, rain included.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Hagamelur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapPósthús Food Hall · Downtown
Best Food Hall 2026: the old central post office turned into 12 stalls cooking half the world.
Tip: Perfect when a group can't agree. Indoors with toilets — a flawless rainy-day plan right downtown.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapHafnartorg Gallery · Downtown
A new harbourside arcade with a food hall, Nordic brands and the covered route between Harpa and downtown.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Food Hall 2026. It's the covered shortcut between Harpa and Bankastræti in horizontal rain.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapReykjavík Roasters · Downtown
The roaster that put Iceland on the specialty coffee map — the Kárastígur cottage is the original.
Tip: Ask for the V60 filter of the day, not espresso — they roast light and filter is where it shows. Closes 5pm.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 7 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapReykjavík Roasters Brautarholt · Holt
The flagship: the roaster sits in the room and green coffee toasting hits you at the door.
Tip: Winner, Best Coffeehouse 2026. They roast Tuesday mornings — come before 11 to see and smell it.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 8 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapReykjavík Roasters Ásmundarsalur · Downtown
Specialty coffee in the basement of a 1933 art gallery: high ceilings, sculptures and north light.
Tip: The gallery upstairs is free: have the coffee, then go up to the show at no cost. Closed Mondays.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 9 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapMokka Kaffi · Downtown
Reykjavik's oldest café (1958), the one that brought espresso to Iceland: untouched art deco and waffles with cream.
Tip: Order the waffle with cream and rhubarb jam plus a café au lait — THE order for 65 years.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide · Lonely Planet
Show on mapKaffibrennslan · Downtown
A Laugavegur classic in an 1884 building: window armchair, a kleina and hours watching the street.
Tip: Order a kleina — the twisted Icelandic doughnut — with your coffee. At night it turns into a late bar.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide · Time Out
Show on mapCafé Babalú · Downtown
A yellow timber cottage on Skólavörðustígur crammed with oddities, and downtown's best cheesecake.
Tip: Go upstairs: there's a tiny balcony over the rainbow street almost nobody finds. Cake ~1,400 ISK.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapTe & Kaffi Skólavörðustígur · Downtown
The family Icelandic chain since 1984, still roasting well — the Skólavörðustígur branch is the prettiest.
Tip: One of the few downtown cafés with good wifi and sockets — fine for a full morning of work.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapKaktus Espressobar · Downtown
Serious Italian coffee and a daily soup in a cactus-filled Vitastígur room. Runner-up, Best Coffeehouse 2026.
Tip: The daily soup with bread is ~1,900 ISK — the cheapest quality lunch in the east downtown.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapKaktús Espressobar Listasafn · Downtown
The branch inside the National Gallery: a window onto Tjörnin, Italian coffee, no ticket needed.
Tip: You get in without paying the museum. The corner table over the lake is downtown's best reading spot.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapTíminn Cafe Bar · Laugardalur
Café by day, wine bar by night in the Borgartún office district: runner-up, Best Coffeehouse 2026.
Tip: It's inside the BORG29 food hall: specialty coffee with cheap lunch beside it, switching to wine at 5pm.
🚇 Buses 12/14 — Borgartún stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSandholt · Downtown
Best Bakery 2026: four generations since 1920 doing sourdough, laminated croissants and serious breakfasts.
Tip: Winner, Best Bakery 2026. Croissants come out at 8:30am — that's when they actually crunch.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapBrauð & Co · Downtown
The cinnamon roll that went TikTok viral: sourdough, a mural facade and a queue on the pavement.
Tip: Cinnamon rolls come out every 40 min — ask when the next batch lands and wait. Warm changes everything.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: TikTok viral · Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapBrauð & Co Vesturbær · Vesturbær
The viral baker's neighbourhood branch: same sourdough, none of the Frakkastígur tourist queue.
Tip: Same product, zero wait. Pair it with Vesturbæjarlaug four blocks away: geothermal pool, then the roll.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Melhagi stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on map280 Bakerí · Downtown
An author bakery on Klapparstígur where everything bakes at 280°C: thin-layered croissants and intense cinnamon.
Tip: The name is the oven temperature. The cardamom croissant sells out before noon most days.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide · Wake Up Reykjavík
Show on mapPlantan Kaffihús · Downtown
A 100% vegan café on Njálsgata with the jalapeño 'cheese' buns the city adopted as its own.
Tip: Order the jalapeño 'cheese' bun — it's what made the place, about 850 ISK. Closes 5pm.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Wake Up Reykjavík
Show on mapHygge Kaffi og bakarí · Downtown
A micro-bakery with coffee in ceramic cups and same-day bakes — the Grapevine called it one of the city's best.
Tip: It's tiny and fills up — arrive before 10. Coffee comes in ceramic, no paper cups here.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide · Wake Up Reykjavík
Show on mapSweet Aurora · Downtown
French patisserie with Icelandic product: Parisian technique, rhubarb, skyr and mountain bilberries.
Tip: Order anything with rhubarb — the Icelandic fruit, and nobody handles it better here.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Wake Up Reykjavík · Grapevine
Show on mapCafé Loki · Downtown
Facing Hallgrímskirkja, the café for Iceland's most feared plate: fermented shark with brennivín.
Tip: Order the rye bread ice cream, rúgbrauðsís. Sounds strange, tastes sweet and toasty — Iceland's best dessert.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 9 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Time Out
Show on mapCoocoo's Nest · Grandi
A harbour café-bistro on Grandagarður with eggs benedict brunch and tacos the locals defend.
Tip: Brunch is Saturday and Sunday 11-3, no bookings: arrive at 11 or wait 40 minutes.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine · Time Out
Show on mapBrikk · Hlíðar
A Háteigsvegur bakery-café with a window onto the oven and three-day sourdough. Pure neighbourhood.
Tip: Three blocks from Kjarvalsstaðir and Klambratún — coffee, museum and park in one morning.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 9 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapKaffihús Vesturbæjar · Vesturbær
Vesturbær's neighbourhood café: locals wander in from the pool in flip-flops and stay three hours.
Tip: Right by Vesturbæjarlaug: the perfect Icelandic routine is pool at 8am, breakfast here at 9:30.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Hofsvallagata stop
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapReykjavík Roasters Gerðarsafn · Kópavogur
The branch inside Kópavogur's art museum: specialty coffee with Gerður's stained glass behind you.
Tip: Free museum + specialty coffee + 12 min by bus from downtown: the rainy-day plan no tourist makes.
🚇 Hamraborg — buses 1/2/4/28/35
Featured in: Grapevine Coffee Guide
Show on mapKEX Hostel — Sæmundur · Downtown
An old biscuit factory turned cult hostel: gastropub, sea view and gigs in the lounge.
Tip: You don't need to stay: the bar and yard are public. Thursdays usually bring a free Icelandic band.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapFlóran Garden Bistro · Laugardalur
A greenhouse café inside the Botanic Garden: breakfast among subarctic plants with rain on the glass.
Tip: Seasonal hours — in autumn it usually closes at 5pm. The garden outside is free all year.
🚇 Buses 2/5/14/15 — Laugardalur stop
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Grapevine
Show on mapHandprjónasamband Íslands · Downtown
The knitters' co-op: lopapeysa sweaters hand-knitted by 200 Icelandic women, each tagged with its maker.
Tip: Winner, Best Place to Buy a Wool Sweater 2026. A real lopapeysa runs about 32,000 ISK — a 12,000 one is factory-made.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapThorvaldsens Bazar · Downtown
Iceland's oldest craft shop (1901), founded by a women's society: wool, ceramics and embroidery.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Wool Sweater Shop 2026. All profit goes to charity — you buy and donate at once.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapFarmers & Friends · Grandi
Farmers Market's Grandi flagship: the brand that modernised Icelandic wool without turning it into a souvenir.
Tip: The outlet at the back has past seasons at 40-50% off — the only real wool discount in town.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapKiosk · Downtown
A co-op where eight Icelandic designers sell and take turns behind the counter — the maker serves you.
Tip: Ask who's working today — with luck she'll walk you through her own collection. Designer prices, not souvenir ones.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík · Time Out
Show on mapFischersund · Downtown
Best Goddamn Store 2026: the Sigur Rós family's perfume-installation, scents built from Icelandic moss and seaweed.
Tip: Winner, Best Goddamn Store 2026. It's in an unmarked alley — look for the black door. Walking in to smell is free.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on map12 Tónar · Downtown
Legendary record shop and label: they hand you a coffee, sit you on the sofa and let you listen to anything.
Tip: Double 2026 winner: Best Bar to Start the Night and runner-up Best Record Store. Ask for a new Icelandic recommendation.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Lonely Planet
Show on mapLucky Records · Hlíðar
Best Record Store 2026: 40,000 records, rare Icelandic jazz and an owner who knows where every one is.
Tip: Winner, Best Record Store 2026. Ask for the 70s Icelandic reissue section — the treasure that isn't online.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSmekkleysa (Bad Taste) · Downtown
The label that launched The Sugarcubes and Björk, with its own shop: punk, experimental and rare Icelandic pressings.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Record Store 2026. This is where you find the early Sugarcubes singles on original pressings.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Time Out
Show on mapSkálda Bókabúð · Downtown
Best Bookstore 2026: an independent Vesturgata shop curating Icelandic literature in translation.
Tip: Winner, Best Bookstore 2026. Ask the bookseller for an Icelandic novel in English — the best souvenir of the trip.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapPenninn Eymundsson · Downtown
Iceland's oldest bookshop chain (1872): a café inside, and in December the heart of the jólabókaflóð.
Tip: The Icelandic maps and nature section is the country's best — buy your map before hitting the road.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12/14 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapBókin · Downtown
A chaotic second-hand bookshop where Bobby Fischer spent his afternoons: 100,000 books, no system.
Tip: Ask for the Bobby Fischer corner — the chess champion lived around the block and read here almost daily.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Atlas Obscura · Grapevine
Show on mapMikado · Downtown
Best Design Store 2026: Japanese and Nordic objects chosen one by one, in Hafnartorg.
Tip: Winner, Best Design Store 2026. Small and pricey, but the Japanese stationery fits a carry-on and weighs nothing.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapRammagerðin · Downtown
Since 1940, the Icelandic design shop that separates souvenir from real object: ceramics, wool and jewellery.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Design Store 2026. Ask for the tax-free form: over 6,000 ISK you get about 14% back.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapOrrifinn Jewels · Downtown
Best Jewellery Store 2026: silver pieces drawn from the saga bestiary, made in the workshop out back.
Tip: Winner, Best Jewellery Store 2026. Ask to see the workshop — if they're working they'll let you watch the silver pour.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 8 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapAurum · Downtown
Guðbjörg Kristín's jewellery and interiors: Icelandic nature shapes in gold and silver since 1999.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Jewellery Store 2026. The silver birch-leaf collection is the most-bought and the lightest.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapKormákur & Skjöldur · Downtown
Best Men's Clothing 2026: British tailoring with Icelandic eccentricity, tweed, and their own gin in the back.
Tip: Winner, Best Men's Clothing 2026. The same owners make Himbrimi gin — you can buy it right there.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapHúrra Reykjavík · Downtown
Sharply curated streetwear and sneakers — the shop that brought sneaker culture to Iceland.
Tip: Runner-up in two 2026 categories. Icelandic brand collabs sell out in days — ask what just dropped.
🚇 Hlemmur — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapVerzlanahöllin · Downtown
Best Second-Hand Store 2026: a Laugavegur vintage arcade with stalls running from the 60s to the 2000s.
Tip: Winner, Best Second-Hand Store 2026. Hunt for used lopapeysas — half the price and already broken in.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapGóði hirðirinn · Sundahöfn
Reykjavik's second-hand giant: donated furniture, records and clothes, all profit to environmental projects.
Tip: Runner-up, Best Goddamn Store 2026. Tuesdays they restock — go early for the Nordic design lamps.
🚇 Buses 12/16 — Köllunarklettsvegur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapSpace Odyssey · Downtown
Best Niche Store 2026: sci-fi vintage, rare comics and cult merch on Skólavörðustígur.
Tip: Winner, Best Niche Store 2026. The only downtown shop where locals wander in to chat and buy nothing.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 6 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapswimslow · Downtown
Best Newcomer 2026: Icelandic-made swimwear and cold-water kit, built for the pool ritual.
Tip: Winner, Best Newcomer 2026. Forgot your swimsuit for the geothermal pools? This is where to buy a good one.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapHýalín · Downtown
Runner-up, Best Niche Store 2026: blown glass and contemporary Icelandic ceramics.
Tip: Ask them to wrap the ceramics properly — they give you a free box and the piece survives the flight.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on maphrím hönnunarhús · Downtown
A Nordic design house on Laugavegur: kitchen tools, wooden toys and objects you actually use later.
Tip: The Icelandic wooden toy section is the best kids' gift you'll find downtown.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 5 min walk
Featured in: Grapevine · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapKolaportið · Downtown
The weekend flea market in the old customs warehouse: used clothes, records and fermented shark.
Tip: Open ONLY Saturday and Sunday 11-5. The food corner hands out free hákarl samples — go on, try it.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 3 min walk
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Time Out · Visit Reykjavík
Show on map66°North · Downtown
The brand that has dressed Icelandic fishermen since 1926, now technical fashion: parkas that genuinely hold.
Tip: The Faxafen outlet has the same gear 40% cheaper. If you buy here, claim the tax-free — these are big tickets.
🚇 Lækjartorg — buses 1/3/6/11/12 · 4 min walk
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík · Time Out
Show on mapomNom Chocolate · Grandi
Iceland's bean-to-bar chocolate maker in a pink Grandi shed, with cult packaging and a factory tour.
Tip: The factory tour lasts an hour, books online and ends with a tasting. The Icelandic liquorice bar is the strangest.
🚇 Bus 14 — Grandi stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026 · Visit Reykjavík
Show on mapMelabúðin · Vesturbær
Vesturbær's corner grocery since 1956: the city's best butcher and Icelandic cheeses the chains don't carry.
Tip: Winner, Best Grocery Store 2026. Get artisan skyr, rye bread and smoked lamb: an Icelandic picnic for ~2,500 ISK.
🚇 Buses 11/13 — Hagamelur stop
Featured in: Grapevine Best of Reykjavík 2026
Show on mapKringlan · Kringlan
Reykjavik's main mall: 180 shops, a cinema, a supermarket and a Vínbúðin, all indoors.
Tip: There's a Vínbúðin inside — the state liquor store, the only legal place to buy spirits, closing at 6pm.
🚇 Buses 1/3/6/11/13/15/18 — Kringlan stop
Featured in: Visit Reykjavík
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