Iceland's capital is arguably the world's most expensive city to drink in, which means the pub crawl scene here is built around making the cost bearable. Laugavegur is the spine of the night: KEX Hostel Bar charges 900 ISK (about £5) a pint all night, while Kaffibarinn on Bergstaðastræti 1 adds a 2,000 ISK door fee after midnight that most organised crawls absorb into the ticket price. The real advantage of booking a crawl here is skip-the-line access to venues with strict door policies. Without it, a Friday queue at Kaffibarinn can cost you 45 minutes.
Laugavegur is Reykjavik's one functional nightlife street: a kilometre of bars, restaurants, and clubs that the entire city uses. Kaffibarinn at Bergstaðastræti 1 is the reference point. Hlemmur Mathöll at the eastern end of Laugavegur runs until 1 am on weekdays, later on weekends, and functions as the starting point for most evenings. The city is genuinely small: you will see the same people twice.
A pint of Gull at a standard bar on Laugavegur costs 1,200 to 1,600 ISK. Cocktails run 2,200 to 2,800 ISK. Club entry at Tónlistarhúsið or Húrra is 1,500 to 2,500 ISK. KEX Hostel Bar is the reliable outlier at 900 ISK a pint. A realistic evening including four drinks and one club entry runs 7,000 to 11,000 ISK. There is no cheap way to drink in Reykjavik. Prices verified April 2026.
Thursday and Saturday. Saturday tends to bring more locals into the bar circuit; Thursday skews backpacker and is more reliable for actually talking to people. The key Reykjavik variable is season: in June and July, daylight runs past midnight and the bars fill from 10 pm without anyone feeling like it is late. In January, the same street feels smaller and the crowd thins noticeably by 2 am.
A 4-hour crawl visiting four bars and clubs, including Kaffibarinn and Hlemmur Mathöll. The tour includes a welcome shot, a free drink at each stop, and skip-the-line entry to clubs. Guides are local or long-term travellers who know the scene.
Check availabilityReal pub crawls with a local guide. Live prices, ratings, and availability updated weekly.
The Reykjavik Bar Tour runs every Thursday and Saturday, departing at 9 PM from outside Loft HI Hostel on Bankastræti. The ticket is £35 and covers four venues including Kaffibarinn and Hlemmur Mathöll, with a welcome shot and one free drink at each stop. That is roughly four rounds you would otherwise pay full price for: 900 ISK to 2,000 ISK each. Hlemmur Mathöll entry alone is 1,500 ISK (£8.50) after midnight, so the maths tilts toward the crawl on weekend nights.
Thursday and Saturday. Thursday skews toward a younger backpacker crowd; Saturday brings more locals into the mix, which means longer queues but a better atmosphere at Kaffibarinn. Both nights run the same route.
Upcoming events worth timing your trip around.
Reykjavik at 1 AM in summer: still light outside, Kaffibarinn packed, and a queue that stretches back down Bergstaðastræti. The pub crawl gets you past it.
Loft HI Hostel (rated 9.4, from €42) is the crawl's meeting point. KEX Hostel (rated 9.2, from €29) has its own on-site bar with cheap pints and live sessions on Wednesdays. See our pick of the best party hostels in Reykjavik.
