Best of South Iceland 2018: Best Bar

Southern Iceland is home to most of the most popular tourist routes in Iceland—with good reason. The coastal Ring Road road from Reykjavík to Höfn is a trail of picturesque towns, black sand beaches, dramatic mountains, powerful waterfalls, basalt cliffs, towering glaciers and sprawling lava fields. It’s a completely immersive and visceral experience of Iceland’s natural environment that you could easily spend weeks exploring. These are just a few of our favourite sites along the way.

Best Bar

Ölverk

Breiðamörk 2, Hveragerði

This local brewery and pizzeria is an unexpected craft beer mecca. With a rotating selection of six microbrews, head brewer Elvar is constantly changing up his concoctions. The family-style restaurant also has a nice list of pizzas and bar snacks that incorporate elements of beer, like the Bavarian style pretzel made with beer yeast and served with warm beer and cheese dip. It’s not exactly a bar, but it’s got damn good beer.

Runner-Up:

The Brothers Brewery

Vestmannaeyjabær

Started by a couple of friends and their brothers in 2012, this small brewery has started pumping out a selection of great small-batch beers and recently expanded into bottling. It’s a friendly, genial experience and they offer a tour-and-tasting for a great price.

Runner-Up:

Pakkhús

Höfn

Overlooking the beautiful harbour of this small langoustine-trapping town, this bar and restaurant is housed in a former warehouse made out of scrap wood giving it ample charm to enjoy a few drinks in. Huddle indoors and enjoy a nice hot meal in the cold weather, or hit the patio if you catch a gloriously sunny day.

More Best Of Iceland Awards

South Iceland

West Iceland

The Westfjords

North Iceland

East Iceland

You can buy a copy of the full Best Of Iceland 2018 magazine—an essential guide to having fun in Iceland—here, posted worldwide. We also have a Special Offer double-pack that also includes our Best Of Reykjavík magazine, about places to eat, see, swim, visit, and shop in the country’s capital city, here.