A Foodie Tour of Iceland

Here are our top picks for making a foodie tour of Iceland, including restaurants, distilleries, breweries, and production tours!

Six glasses of beer of all different colors lined up on countertop for sampling on an Iceland foodie tour. — Beer at Session Craft Bar

On our two-week trip to Iceland, the landscape captured our hearts — specifically the stunning views on the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuhals trails, the bird cliffs at Látrabjarg, and many more places.

But we can't live on scenery alone! Trying out Icelandic food and drink was also a major part of the trip. Several experiences there were unique from anything else we'd ever done.

Here are the things we did on our foodie tour of Iceland (or a few things I want to do if we go back!).

Sampling Icelandic Dishes: Create Your Own Foodie Tour

You can book a guided food tour in Reykjavik, or you can sort of create your own. A couple of possibilities in or near the city include:

Cafe Loki for a sampling of traditional Icelandic foods
A Sky Platter at Sky Lagoon (a more pleasant version of an Icelandic sampling platter). Sky Lagoon is about 15 minutes from central Reykjavik, and it was our favorite spa from the entire trip.

Board with cheese, bread, and wine for sampling on an Iceland foodie tour. — Sky Platter

What types of food should you specifically be on the lookout for? We'll get to seafood later on, but here are other things Iceland is known for:

Skyr (yogurt). I recommend swinging by a Bonus grocery store and selecting a variety of skyr to taste.
Icelandic hot dogs. Really, it’s a thing. Supposedly the hot dogs are mostly lamb.

Hot dogs in buns served with onions. — Hot Dogs at Mountain Mall

We tried hot dogs at the classic Pylsuvagninn Laugardal stand, at a 10-11 convenience store, and at the Mountain Mall (at the start of the Laugavegur Trail), and I do think the ones from the stand were the best tasting.

Small food service building called Pylsuvagninn Laugardal with walk-up ordering. — Pylsuvagninn Laugardal (Hot Dog Stand)

Butter. I could not get over how delicious the butter here is. Don't miss it!
Ice cream. I tried the traditional rye ice cream at Cafe Loki, but enjoyed the ice cream a lot more at Skúbb, which is also in Reykjavik.

Two ice cream cones. — Ice Cream at Skúbb

Foodie Tours + Experiences in Iceland

I was incredibly excited to squeeze in a visit to Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Bakery to see and taste rye bread cooked in boiling sand. (It was amazing!) It's right off the Golden Circle route.

Slices of buttered rye bread and smoked trout at Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Bakery. — Rye Bread + Smoked Trout at the Geothermal Bakery

You might decide to tour the Saltverk factory in the Westfjords. There they produce sea salt using traditional methods. (Can’t make it to the Westfjords? Pick up their salt at a grocery store like Bonus — not at a souvenir shop!)

How about an interactive museum dedicated to the story of skyr (yogurt)? Skyrland is located in Selfoss. It's about an hour's drive if you're coming directly from Reykjavik, or it's also part of the Golden Circle route. Isey, a brand that bills itself as the original recipe, operates the Isey Skyr Bar on site.

Bakeries + Coffee Shops

Brauð & Co is a popular bakery with multiple locations around Reykjavik.

Sign for Braud and Co. atop photo of bread and baked goods for sale on shelves.

I slightly preferred the quiet atmosphere (and coffee!) at Brikk, which has four locations in and just outside of the city.

For coffee and a snack with some feline company, there's Reykjavik's Cat Café.

Spirits and Beer

Buying alcohol in Iceland is expensive. One budget option is to stop at the duty-free shop for arriving guests after you land at Keflavík Airport.

Another way to stay on budget (sort of) is to take advantage of happy hours, which usually end by 7 p.m.

Other spots to try:

Eimverk Distillery Tour. This is the only whiskey distillery in Iceland. Try their unique sheep-dung-smoked whiskey and their version of Brennivín.
Hovdenak Distillery Tour. This distillery specializes in gin and has won lots of awards. (Both this and Eimverk are located just south of Reykjavik.)
Visit an Einstök tasting room and try the beers on their “sampling axe” tray. If you like this beer, good news: it’s available in the USA! We particularly enjoyed their Scottish-style ale, and the toasted porter was quite good too. They have a bar in Reykjavik and a lounge in Akureyri.

Dark grey building with sign for Einstok Bar, a place to sample beers on an Iceland foodie tour.

If you’re looking for some non-pale beers, try visiting Session Craft Bar in Reykjavik. This micro-brewery bar has lots of dark Icelandic beers on tap, and when we visited they even had a couple sours.

Glass of dark beer at Session Craft Bar. — Session Craft Bar

Experience the Seafood

One word of caution about buying seafood in Iceland: I don’t think you need to be an environmental activist to be concerned about whaling.

Iceland is one of three countries that still allow commercial whaling of fin whale and minke whale, and in Iceland it’s primarily either exported or served to tourists.

If you don’t want to support that, one easy thing to do is check out restaurant menus before arriving and don’t support businesses that sell whale. (Or at the very least, don’t order it.)

Iceland's other famous yet controversial fish dish, Hákarl (fermented shark), seems to be a bit less problematic from a sustainability aspect, but it’s worth reading up on it before tasting it. Being an informed consumer is always a good thing.

In Reykjavik, our favorite seafood spot was Messinn. If you visit, order a fish pan.

Pan of cod tongue, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and spinach from Messinn, a restaurant to try on a foodie tour of Iceland. — Fish Pan at Messinn

If you can make it to the Westfjords, make sure to get a reservation at Tjöruhúsið for one of the most amazing seafood experiences out there. It was a buffet to remember, with a very social family atmosphere.

Want even more ideas for a foodie tour of Iceland? Explore all of our posts on restaurants in Reykjavik and beyond!