Brewery and distillery tours in Iceland
Reykjavík has a two-brewery-and-a-distillery tour at €179, a gin tasting at €56, and Mývatn has a €43 family brewery. Which one is worth your evening.
The short version
- The Reykjavík Microbrewery & Distillery Tour is about €179 for four hours, by car, with a driver guide.
- The Himbrimi gin tasting is the cheap short option: about €56 for one hour, in a hotel in the centre.
- Mývatn Öl in the north is about €43 for an hour and a half and four beers, and it is the one with a family behind it.
- Private versions cost five times more. They only make sense for a group that wants the car.
If you want a proper look at how Icelandic drink is made, book the Reykjavik Microbrewery & Distillery Tour at €179. If you want an hour and a glass, book the Himbrimi gin tasting at €56. If you are at Mývatn, the Mývatn Öl brewery tour at €43 is better value than anything in the capital.
The Reykjavík one: two stops, by car
The €179 tour runs four hours with pick-up. A local driver guide takes you to Malbygg, a microbrewery, and then to the Eimverk distillery, which makes whisky and other spirits. The order can swap. At the brewery you hear about the history of beer in Iceland and taste what they pour. At the distillery you taste the whisky and a few other spirits.
Why mention the history? Beer above 2.25 per cent was banned in Iceland until 1 March 1989. Everything you taste is younger than that. That is the story the guides tell best.
The downside is the price and the pace. Four hours of tasting is a lot of strong drink, and the €179 is for the experience as much as the drink. Eat before you go.
The beer-only private version
The Private Reykjavik Brewery & Beer Tasting Tour is about €894. It visits Malbygg and RVK Brewing, with tastings in their taprooms. It is the same idea with the car to yourselves. The price is per group, not per head, so it is a fair deal for a party of six and a poor one for a couple. If you are two people, book the shared tour.
The one-hour option
The Himbrimi gin tasting is about €56. It runs an hour at Hotel Kvosin in the centre. You taste two gins side by side, a London Dry and an Old Tom, and hear how Brunnur Distillery uses wild botanicals and geothermal heat. It suits the hour before dinner. It does not suit anyone who wants to see a brewery floor, because you will not.
Beer with food
If drink is half the point and a walk is the other half, the Funky Food and Beer Walk is about €99. It is three hours on foot with no more than eight people. You get at least five food stops, nine traditional dishes and four craft beers, including the fermented shark that everyone talks about. The alternative is the pub crawl, covered in our Reykjavík bar crawl guide.
North Iceland: Mývatn Öl
The Mývatn Öl tour is about €43 and lasts an hour and a half. It is a family brewery, and the tour starts at the reception of Sel-Hótel Mývatn, with a short walk to the brewery. You taste four of their beers. Winter tours from January to April 2027 include pick-up from Mývatn-area accommodation only, so check the pick-up text when you book. It pairs well with a morning at the lake and an afternoon in the baths; see Mývatn Nature Baths, Forest Lagoon or GeoSea.
Practical points
- Drinking age is 20 in Iceland. Check with the operator for under-20s on the walking tours.
- Do not plan a drive after any of these. The Reykjavík tours include a driver; Mývatn does not.
- A tasting is not a night out. Prices are for the tasting, not for extra rounds at the bar.
Our honest take
For most visitors the €179 shared tour is the right one, if you will enjoy four hours of this. If you will not, the €56 gin hour is plenty. Skip the private versions unless you are six or more. In the north, the €43 Mývatn brewery is the best value of the lot, and it is the only one run by the people who make the beer.
