Coat (SheIn) | Jeans (Madewell) | Boots (L.L. Bean) | Socks (Vineyard Vines)
Headband (Amazon) | Scarf (ThePreppyMAG Boutique)
A week back in the states and I’m still dreaming of our days spent wandering around Reykavik. 😍🤗🤩
ICYMI: Tom and I checked our third country of the year last week with an amazing trip to Iceland. We traveled all around the country, but we used Reykavik as our home base for the majority of the trip, which means almost every night for a week we landed back in Reykavik to taste new restaurants, try out new bars and explore new things.
Overall, Reykavik is a pretty small city. You can absolutely explore the entire city on foot in a day and still get back to your hotel pretty early. That said, we had a ton of time to roam and really nail down some of our favorite places. You should also know that Reykavik is a pretty expensive city (I think more expensive than NYC), so if you are going to splurge on some amazing meals, you’re going to want to make sure it is WORTH IT.
Below are a few of our favorite spots that we came across (in no particular order!).
1| Grillmarkadurinn. This was hands-down one of the best meals we had the entire trip. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ First of all, the ambiance is top-notch. It’s not overly fancy, but it feels sophisticated, lively and local to the Icelandic culture. Their menu is similar. A lot of reviews say to try the tasting menu, but we loved ordering our own dishes since there were things on the menu we knew we wanted and didn’t want the Chef’s surprise. If you are looking for somewhere where you can try the local Icelandic fare, THIS is your place. Tom ate reindeer, whale, puffin and much, much more to celebrate his birthday. I had the Duck Salad (which is one of their most famous dishes) and a steak, which was DELICIOUS.
2| Lebowski Bar. This was definitely one of the liveliest bars on Laugarvegur (the main strip in Reykavik) during the week as well as the weekend. We stumbled into Lebowski Bar more than once to spin their infamous wheel that sits above their main bar. For 25 U.S. dollars, you can spin the wheel for a chance to win various alcohol-related prizes. We won various beers, White Russians, shots and more. What I loved the most about this was the gamified approach of the bar made meeting new people super easy and the Icelandic natives were SO fun. if you are in a dancing mood, they had a casual dance floor in the back of the bar which was also pretty fun!
3| Messin. Iceland is well known for its delicious and fresh seafood and this restaurant was definitely where we had our favorite seafood. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, making it a perfect option if you spent the day out adventuring as we did. The dishes are served in huge frying pans making them shareable for 2 people and are actually reasonably priced. With wine, two appetizers and our shareable entree, this was the only meal we were able to spend less than 100 U.S. dollars our entire trip. 😭
4| Baejarins Bezu Pylsur. This is the hot dog stand everyone tells you about. I know hot dogs aren’t the most glamorous vacation dining experience but they are actually amazing 😂. We may have had lunch at this stand more than once…
5| Dill. This restaurant is previously known as Iceland’s first Michelin-starred restaurant and just recently re-opened its doors. This is a once in a lifetime dining experience. The tasting menu is your only option and it was incredible. The menu included 25 courses and we splurged on the wine pairing menu as well (honestly, not worth the extra $$$). The amazing part of the menu was it really forced you to try new things (i.e. goose hearts 😱), but I will say there wasn’t anything SUPER amazing about the meal. The experience was the best part of the meal, not necessarily the food.
6| Braud & Co. Get the cinnamon bun. You will NOT be disappointed. And don’t make the mistake I did by going on your last day, you’ll want an opportunity for seconds!
7| Reykavik Chips. One of my favorite lunches of the trip. They are simply delicious french fries with a ton of different dipping sauce options. We hit up Reykavik Chips for lunch the day we when to Grillmarkadurinn, so we wanted something small and this was the perfect option. They also had a pretty good beer selection, making it an even better place to warm up.
8| Reykavik Roasters. With a few hours of sunlight, I needed ANYTHING to keep me awake. I tried various coffee shops throughout the city and Reykavik Coffee was our favorite. Whatever you do, don’t go to Te & Kaffi.
If you have read any of ThePreppyMAG’s travel guides, you know that food is of the UTMOST importance. I hope this dedicated food post proves to you just how amazing the food in Iceland was. Get ready to try some things you’ve never imagined you’d ever try. I promise it’s worth it!
