Iceland has incredible coffee. I am a coffee lover by nature, and maybe you are too? When in Iceland, I of course had to try some of their amazing coffee. The cups of hot coffee in Iceland definitely warmed me up after getting soaking wet at a waterfall or blown by the wind beside a glacier. I think that trying local coffee can teach you a lot about a place. Read along further to see where to find the best coffee in Iceland.
About Coffee in Iceland
Coffee is super popular in Iceland. Since is very dark for half the year and also cold most of the year, I guess you have to have something to keep you awake and warm. Coffee arrived in Iceland for the first time over 300 years ago and since then it has been a hit. Since its arrival, coffee has thrived in Iceland, to the point where today it is reported that the average person in Iceland consumes 18 pounds of coffee per year. Icelandic people truly take pride in their coffee.
How much does coffee in Iceland cost?
Before going to Iceland, I was told that everything would be super expensive, even the coffee. However, I was happily surprised that the coffee in Iceland wasn’t that expensive at all and was even cheaper most places than it is where we live in the United States. The most expensive places I tried coffee in Iceland were in the capital city of Reykjavik. Most coffee shops in smaller towns were relatively affordable.
Favorite Coffee Shops in Iceland
Café Babalú, Reykjavik
Café Babalu is a cool and unique coffee shop located on one of the main streets in Reykjavik. It is only steps away from the famous Hallgrimskirkja Church. The café is bright orange and blue on the outside and eclectic and interesting on the inside. In the café, there are things pinned all over the walls, random knickknacks and antiques sitting on everything, and money hanging from the ceiling. They have coffee, cakes, and teas. Everything we tried was delicious. While the coffee is great, the experience itself is the best part.
Kokulist Bakery, Keflavik
We stumbled upon this bakery and coffee shop when we first arrived to Iceland and went back multiple times because it was truly that delicious. There are pastries and cakes of all kinds to indulge in. There are different types of coffee, but even the drip coffee is phenomenal. They even provide brown sugar rock candy to sweeten your coffee. Additionally, they are only a few kilometers from the Keflavik airport where most people arrive to Iceland from, so you could easily stop here on your way to or from the airport.
Skool Beans, Vik
Skool Beans is one of the coolest coffee shops that I have ever been to. It is located in the town of Vik, near black sand beaches and the summer of home of thousands of puffins. The coffee shop is all inside a yellow school bus. From the outside, it looks like a plain yellow school bus, but the inside has been converted to a coffee shop, with seating areas, a wood stove, coffee bar, and loads of local artwork to purchase.
There is even a resident three-legged cat that you can see sleeping inside or hopping around outside. They have delicious coffee (with the works if you want) and gourmet hot chocolates in multiple flavors (Luca loved the orange hot chocolate).
Cafe Vatnajökull
I did not know that this café existed until we were starving looking for somewhere to eat and stumbled upon here. And I am sure glad that we stumbled upon here. Café Vatnajokull is a delicious café with coffee, pastries, and sandwiches. The aesthetic inside is super cute and cozy. It is located on the road in between Vik and Diamond Beach, so it is a perfect place to stop on your way to or from Diamond Beach.
Café Valeria, Grundarfjordur
Cafe Valeria is located in the town of Grundarfjordur on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. It is close to the famous Kirkjufellsfoss and Kirkjufell Mountain that many people visit. The café is in the middle of the town. They focus on specialty coffee and they roast their own beans in house. It is small shop, but they take great care to the drinks the create. I had a really good cold brew (which is hard to find in Iceland). They sell their beans too, so you can take some of their specialty coffee home with you.
Kaffihaus at Rjukandi
This Kaffihaus is actually in a hotel, but is one of the only in the area and definitely worth the stop. We stopped here for coffee and snacks and loved every bit of it. They have a great area for hanging out with coffee table books and comfy couches. The chocolate chip cookies were absolutely fantastic.
Right down the road from here, there is a less visited waterfall called the Selvallafoss or Sheep’s Waterfall. It’s a cool waterfall that you can walk behind and doesn’t have the crowds like many other waterfalls in Iceland.
Rosakaffi, Hveragerdi
Rosakaffi was another cool coffee shop that we happened to stumble upon while passing through. It is a coffee shop and restaurant in an greenhouse. Half of the greenhouse holds the coffee shop while the other half holds many plants and a gift shop. We tried the coffee, cakes, and sandwiches here. Everything was great, but the stand out item was their caramel cake which is one of the best cakes I have ever had in my life. It was a lovely place to try and I recommend it.
Gas station coffee
I think that in no other country I would list “gas station coffee” as some of the best coffee around to try, but in Iceland, the gas station coffee is actually good. Since Icelandic people like their coffee, they also take pride in their gas station coffee. Most coffee at the gas stations is drip coffee, but it is good. Don’t be afraid to try the gas station coffee.
Overall, these are the coffee shops throughout Iceland that I loved! Do you have any questions or comments? Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments below!
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Thanks for reading!
-Liz
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