This may come as a surprise to many visitors, but Easter is a big deal in Iceland. The holiday—a five day holiday which spans from Skírdagur, or Maundy Thursday (April 17 this year) until Annar í páskum or “Second Easter,” (Easter Monday) which falls on April 21. It just so happens that Easter week is also when many Icelandic airlines and tourist services offer particularly good deals, thereby bringing you all here to enjoy your vacay just as a lot of things close or have reduced hours.
But never fear, good travelers! While some businesses and services will be closed on Friday, April 18 (Good Friday) and Sunday, April 20 (Easter Sunday), a great deal of restaurants, bars, and good-time spots will be open around Reykjavík on Friday, at least. And business hours are by and large normal on Saturday.
The good people at Visit Reykjavík have compiled a very comprehensive list of service hours (for the city bus, museums, pools, grocery stores, etc.) over the Easter weekend. Additionally, we’ve collected the hours of some restaurants, cafés, and bars as well. (We called a number of places around town, but certainly not everywhere—sorry for anywhere we’ve missed!)
Two good rules of thumb when planning any of your activities this weekend: buy your groceries (read: Easter Eggs and booze) in volume, and call ahead before you go somewhere. (Because these are the hours now, but things change, guys.) This should help avoid any disappointments or excessive/unwanted wandering about.
Restaurant, bar, and café hours (Open all weekend, except where indicated*):
Bast (*Closed on Friday and Sunday; Regular hours on Saturday)
CooCoo’s Nest (*Closed Friday 18 – Monday 20; will reopen Tuesday, April 21)
Kaffitár (*The location downtown at Bankastræti 8 will be open all weekend. Follow the link above to see the hours at other locations.)
KEX Hostel (Bar and Restaurant)
Sea Baron (*Closed on Sunday, April 20)
Te og Kaffi (Reduced hours will be posted on website shortly.)
Valdís Ice Cream Shop (*Closed Friday, Sunday; Open on Saturday)
Vesturbæjar Ice Cream Shop (*Closed Friday, Sunday; Open on Saturday)
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