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Jammin in a Reykjavik bar in the early hours. There is absolutely no need for a special guide to visit the best bars and places in the capital of Iceland. PIC doctor_who

C onsider this. Some bright but lazy guy had the idea of offering foreign tourists, mostly young, and not so young, male tourists, a special escort around the best bars and clubs in Reykjavik city Iceland. Fabulous idea right?

This turned out to be so successful this guy is now swimming in cash and laughing all the way to the bank. Among bank employees he is known as the happiest guy alive. He now has stiff competition since four or five companies now offer nightlife guiding in Reykjavik.

This means you pay for someone to wander you and your group around Reykjavik bars and you even get VIP access in the most popular ones as advertised. Team Total Iceland contends using this service is a total waste of your hard earned cash. Here is why:

  • The “famous” Reykjavik nightlife really consists of a two or three thousand people getting drunk on weekends. Try going out on a Wednesday night and you will pretty much only meet other foreigners. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the only times when the fun downtown goes above barely-existent.
  • Reykjavik is tiny. Tinier still is the bar-hopping area which roughly runs from Ingolfstorg, Ingolfs square, close to the official tourist office in Reykjavik up to Laugaveg shopping street inlcuding one or two sidestreets. THAT IS IT ladies and gentlemen. You can cover this area drunk as a skunk in ten minutes on foot on your own.
  • There is pretty much only ONE club in this area. This club is fine if you like Icelandic people who think they are more important than most others. It is also very fine if you like waiting in line. Otherwise stay away. As for the rest these are just basic, or mostly basic, bars with little to offer apart from what you find in bars in your own hometown back in middle of nowhere.
  • Some of these companies do offer more juice for the buck. They will throw in some shots or beers and perhaps even promise a local party with girls. Fair enough if you have no confidence on your own, but the likelihood of getting “lucky” in a party arranged by a tour operator are far-fetched to say the least.
  • Consider this: would you pay for nightlife guiding in towns of Hastings in England or Gainsville, Florida? Those are similar sized places to Reykjavik.