Reykjavík bar crawl or food and beer walk?

Book the food and beer walk. The Funky Food and Beer Walk is from €99, feeds you properly and pours four local craft beers along the way, in a group of eight at most. The guided bar crawl, from €230, is the better night out only if you are travelling alone and want company, or you want someone else to choose the bars. Reykjavík’s downtown is small enough that most people can crawl it on their own.

Why beer tours exist here at all

Beer stronger than 2.25% was illegal in Iceland until 1 March 1989. Icelanders still call it Beer Day. So the craft scene is recent, and most of it has grown since 2010. A guide who knows which brewery is doing what is useful, and drinking out is expensive enough that a tour with drinks included can be reasonable value. A pint downtown is often over €10 outside happy hour.

That is the case for going with someone. The case against is that everything is within fifteen minutes’ walk of everything else.

The food and beer walk — our pick

Funky Iceland’s walk runs in the late afternoon, with starts at 16:00, 16:30 and 17:00, for two and a half to three hours. You make at least five stops and taste nine traditional dishes, including the difficult ones: fermented shark, dried fish, lamb soup and the hot dog everyone queues for. Four craft beers come with it.

It is a real meal. You will not want dinner afterwards. And because the group tops out at eight, you can ask the guide anything, which is most of the value.

Two things to know. There is a child and a teenager rate, so it works as a family outing, with soft drinks for the young ones. And the cancellation terms are stricter than most: 50% is charged within 48 hours.

If you want something a little longer, Nordic Nonsense’s All In One Food Tour is from €175 for four hours, with beer tastings and a cocktail, and a 13:00 or 16:30 start. It adds more sightseeing between stops. It is adults only, 18 and over.

The bar crawl — for a night out

Reykjavik Wayfinder’s Icelandic Bar Crawl is from €230 and meets at 20:00 for about three and a half hours. It starts in a craft beer bar, moves through cocktail bars using Icelandic spirits and finishes somewhere late and loud. Past routes have taken in Lemmy, Ægir Brugghús and Ölstofa Kormáks & Skjaldar, all within a few streets of each other. Drinks are included; the listing does not say how many.

It is a good evening if you are on your own and want a table of people to talk to. It is expensive if you are a couple who could walk the same three streets and buy your own rounds. Cancellation is free until 24 hours before.

Friday and Saturday are the nights Reykjavík actually goes out, and it goes out late. Bars fill after eleven. A crawl that starts at eight gets you the warm-up rather than the peak, which suits most visitors fine.

Going private

Both operators sell a private version. The private bar crawl is from €306 a person and is built around what you like to drink, strictly 20 and over. The private food and beer tour is from €399 a person, four hours, with coffee and water as well; guests under 20 are served non-alcoholic drinks, and the minimum age is 12. Both are priced per person, so they add up quickly. Worth it for a celebration. Not otherwise.

Beer outside Reykjavík

If you are heading north, the small Mývatn Öl brewery at the lake runs a brewery visit and tasting from €43, about 90 minutes. It is the cheapest beer tour we sell and a good end to a day at the craters.

Our honest take

Book the €99 food and beer walk on your first or second evening. You learn what to order for the rest of the trip, you eat the shark once so you never have to again, and you get four beers into the bargain.

Book the bar crawl only if you are travelling solo, or it is the one night you want someone else to plan. Otherwise, go to happy hour, ask the barman what is on tap from Iceland, and spend the difference on a day tour.