What's all the fuss about.

   By reading articles on Reykjavik, the capital's nightlife usually gets a good portion of the coverage and often suggested to readers that the nightlife is truly something worth while taking a closer look at. However some tourists who experience it first hand and leave for the hotel at midnight, don't really get what all the fuss is about, not knowing of course that city center rush hour in Reykjavik begins later than expected. Suburban pubs are not popular on weekends, so the vast majority of Reykjavik's population and the surrounding capital area gathers for partying in Reykjavik 101, 101 being the postal code of the city center. The most busy area stretches from Ingolfstorg and Austurvollur(house of parliament), and half way up the main shopping street, Laugavegur. There is a tradition of bar strolling in Iceland, so the streets are lively as people stroll up and down the area.

    Underground concerts, dance clubs and bars are widespread in Reykjavik 101. Reykjavik has many hundred bars, clubs and discos and most of them are in the city center, in fact it is not unlikely that Icelanders have the most bars per capita in the world. All festivals in Reykjavik also take place in this little area of 101. Including Airwaves, Menningarnott, Winter festival, national holiday 17th of June, gay pride etc. When there is occasion for a parade, it usually marches from Laugavegur down town to Laekjartorg. Open public concerts on the other hand take place in Austurvollur or Ingolfstorg, although the plaza in front of the upcoming National concert and conference center which is rising downtown will most likely steal the honours of hosting such events.

    Distinctions between pubs, bars, discos and clubs is not easily made in Reykjavik, most places are somewhat all those things. Nowhere are there any dress codes, stock brokers attend the same places as construction workers do, even at the few places where entrance fee is demanded are there not every class to be found inside. Icelanders are one big, or better yet, one small middle class. Good example would be Grandrokk. A gathering place for so called "day drinkers" on week days, seeming even a little dodgy at first, but still members of parliament or corporate chairmen drop in and get their pockets ripped off by betting on game of chess with some of Iceland's many Grandmasters, where the Grandmasters give opponents in advance a rook or several extra minutes edge on the clock. On the upper floor there are lively concerts on weekends, usually rock, where people from all corners of the society sit at the same table. Furthermore there are no specific gay bars, even though there have been attempts to establish them on a number of times. There just doesn't seem to be a gay bar market for some reasons.

    It would seem to tourists that Icelanders start partying just before midnight, when the city center finally is filling up with jolly people. When in fact they begin a couple of hours before arrriving downtown. They usually start drinking at home with friends, often called "warming up." It is a custom that has grown roots on the island mainly because alcohol is very expensive at bars and clubs, so Icelanders try to cut the budget by not wasting extra money on the first drinks. When arriving a several drinks later to the city center, Icelanders tend to feel that the party has morally or "officially" just started. So the nightlife goes on several hours after midnight and the city center is lively up till six or seven o'clock in the morning. For the younger generations it is not unusual to gather up some people and head for an after party at this time, some not giving in until noon the day after. Tourists don't seem to have problems with mingling in with locals, and young tourists often even tag along to the suburbs of the city to such parties.

    Picking up girls, and guys obviously, is said to be as easy as a walk in the park. But the issue has become sensitive after Icelandic travel agencies were found to be advertising the country as top destination for meeting girls, with Icelandic women complaining of their image abroad as some kind of sex machines. These kind of marketing strategies have been dropped, but widespread rumours of Icelandic girls being beautiful, and unfortunate remarks by celebrities like Quentin Tarantino on Conan O'brien show(the interview at grapevine.is) referring to Icelandic girls as highly promiscuous and claiming that super models are even to be found serving burgers at Mcdonalds, is bringing in male travellers looking for easy catch. This new breed of tourists have not gone un-checked in Iceland's women literature, for example in the novel,"Dís" where they are described as a rather silly and confused characters thinking they will be earning points on Icelandic score boards by bragging of success in business or important corporate ranks. Such pick-up tactics are useless, even thought to be pathetic. Icelandic women are very independent and probably no where in Western countries do women care less of males salaries or success in business.

   When mingling in with locals, European travellers, sometimes buy the first round of drinks for table companions, in accordance with their own traditions of good will gesture, this will usually be heartily welcomed and praised from all angles by the Icelanders as they empty the "free drink," but as said before drinks are expensive, so don't expect the favour to be returned by any one of them. Don't get suckered by giving tips to bartenders or waitresses, Icelanders are extremely generous on tips when travelling abroad but never tip one cent at home, there has never been a culture of "tipping" in Iceland and tips are not expected, in fact businesses sometimes use "tips are included" arguments to defend high prices.

   In the two links above we have published a handful of bars/pubs and disco/clubs that we think should be mentioned especially. As said before though, distinctions between bars, pubs, discos and clubs in Iceland are not easily made.