Reykjavík Region Nightlife

  The bar at Thorvaldsen bar.
by Regina1965
 
  • The bar at Thorvaldsen bar.
      The bar at Thorvaldsen bar.
    by Regina1965
  • The bar at Thorvaldsen bar.
      The bar at Thorvaldsen bar.
    by Regina1965
  • Entertainment on a Ladies' Night.
      Entertainment on a Ladies' Night.
    by Regina1965
  • Café Paris (Reykjavík, Iceland)
      Café Paris (Reykjavík, Iceland)
    by Redang
  • Café Paris (Reykjavík, Iceland)
      Café Paris (Reykjavík, Iceland)
    by Redang
 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Grand Rokk

by tvdm

One liked by my brother and me, as we found it the best place to get into conversation with some friendly locals here! Grand Rokk has live music, chess, literature and pub quizzes held weekly. If you want to chat and drink beer you should stay downstairs, but if you are looking for exciting and live music then you should go upstairs. No dress code, just come as you are.

Bars/ Nightclubs: Don´t be fooled by our small capital

by Inga78

Reykjavík may be a small capital but it´s BIG fun! We have Irish pubs, dancing, salsa, cafés and everything other capitals have. I have to mention my favorite spots; Pravda, Hverfisbarinn, Rex and Vegamót. You can check these pages out Hverfisbarinn.is, vegamot.is and pravda.is. They are all places with dj´s. Rex is a up scale place with trendy people, a small dance floor but enough tables and fun seating to have conversations. pravda has the same4 crowd but they have more dance floor less seating. Hverfisbarinn is a fun place where a lot of sports people go like Eiður Smári Guðjónsen Chelasea footballer and they play alot of fun music from the 80´s til now. Vegamót is a great restaurant/cafe during the day and a fun cool place in the evenings. They are all open til around 5-6 am on weekends so this is for the real party people. Dress codes are clean and nice these are the in places so...

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Rex: The highrollers

by Viking_Girl

Age: 25+, Rather upmarket place, opens around midnight (only on weekends) Nice interior, rococco sofas. Very hot place right now (april '05). Lots of bankers go there. Dress nicely. The men there are mostly wearing suits.

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Bars/ Nightclubs: Jón Forseti

by tvdm

Meaning "President Jón", this was the main gay venue in Iceland when we were there and a very happening place during weekends (i.e. Friday and Saturday). However, we found it devoid of any activity on a Sunday night. Best to stick to the Saturday extravaganza and all that it entails! Anything goes, but obviously the more colourful the better!

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Bars/ Nightclubs: Bars

by clouds111

Nightlife in Reykjavik doesn't kick off until late where the locals will party on through the night. As prices are so expensive many tend to buy drinks from local supermarkets and drink at home with friends before heading off out. We found a great bar/cafe on the square right next to Hotel Borg called Kaffi Brennslan I think, which has a great atmosphere. You can have yourself something to eat, a beer or a hot tea with honey and lemon to warm yourself up. Casual

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Q-bar

by tvdm

The newcomer, for me anyway, Q-bar I very much liked in the evening. It seemed to blend just the right amount of free-spirit and sleek with live folk/rock music and bright Sixties minimalism. It was not rowdy (one could actually here oneself talk!) and the people were very cool and stylish in a comfortable and not-too-posy kind of way. Do the slack and shirt thing and you will get far, my friend!

Barinn

by tvdm

This used to be called bar 22 and was a tad run-down but had a really cool vibe around it. It happily existed for almost two decades and a few reincarnations as gay bar, rock bar, rockabilly bar and plain old dive, but always seemed to attract cool arty locals who went there when other places closed. It has now been re-christened Barinn. The three floors feature pretty funky murals and food is served on the ground floor. The second floor has a small place for boogie-woogie. The clientele has yet to be formed so its cool status is as yet uncertain, but when I was there on a Saturday night it still looked very much a young urban hangout where the artists, gays and rockabillies never really left! Young urban gear: I saw both suits and trackies + runners in there!

Bars/ Nightclubs: Rent-a-guide!

by tvdm

I love this; and it's quite an original one: apparently some Reykjavíkurs are so smitten with their own nightlife, that they fear tourists from other cities will go loco, have no idea what to do with themselves and will barge into all the "out" places for a drink and a laugh! So they set up their own website (see below) where you can hire a professional guide for a night on the town and you'll be whizzed through lines and into the joints that are in vogue. Apparently the formula is so successful that they also started up their service in Copenhagen and Stockholm!With the risk of sounding blasé: as for someone who lived in Dublin and now Amsterdam (over 1000 drinking establishments in either city, respectively), I wouldn't be too hard-pressed. Just following the crowds usually does the trick. But I guess if you happen to be Bubba Yankeedoodle from West-Nebraska, you might be overwhelmed...

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...spend the night sightseeing!: During mid summer

by Saagar

We never had time for sampling Reykjavik's famous nightlife and "runtur" beyond select restaurants for good food. Instead we used the light nights to keep on visiting sites. It was a very special experience to see the sunrise over the lava fields southeast of Reykjavik, midnight at Gullfoss, and the darkest hours at Gunnhuver fumaroles. I only wished that the Blue lagoon could be open all night?!!?

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Lot of excellent spots. Have...

by smithsgen

Lot of excellent spots. Have named Glaumbar and Kafe Barinn on my Iceland page. They might be 'out' by now.What makes the nightlife are the beautiful and interesting ppl. They dress like stars. Look even better. And they are all very interesting to chat with. They are very friendly to foreigners (dunno if they might be even more friendly with Scandinavians) and u r sure to be invited to a few nachspiels every night. casual goes fine most places. It wont hurt to dress inthe latest/hottest style/fashion though. Some spots require more style, mind.

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Nightlife: Cities in Reykjavík Region
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Questions and Answers

Caperwannabe profile photo

Q:  We have 5 days in Iceland starting Jan. 25. What are the top 3 things we should see or do? Interests are nature, photography,... 

Fluffy_bunny profile photo

A: The obvious top couple are the Golden Ring, the Blue Lagoon and the Northern Lights. These can easily be booked by a number of tour companies in Reykjavik. I went with... 

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