Vegan Voyage Iceland
As you know, we, Seyka and Brian, are on a 21 country vegan voyage over 5 months to enjoy vegan food from all parts of the planet, connect the vegan community, spread the vegan mission, report plant based news, create ethical consumer guides, and have an absolute blast while doing it.
I know I’m kind of living the dream.
19 was Spain.
20 is Iceland!
21 is the US.
Vegan Voyage Iceland Overview
We’ve come to country number twenty – Iceland!
In our Vegan Voyage of Iceland, we will tour Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, Snæfellsnes, and the Westman Islands!
Iceland is magnificent. The abundant natural beauty left me breathless every time I turned my head. You’ll see what I mean when you see all of my pictures!
Reykjavik is a small city but definitely still a happening place. You could tour the island for a year and still not come close to seeing everything. So don’t stress about fitting everything in. That’s just impossible.
Instead, pick a couple of the highly recommended spots and then spend the rest of the time just exploring. It’s great to take other people’s word for it, but you have to let yourself discover things too.
I definitely recommend at least two weeks to take advantage of being there. (Or you’ll just have to plan your trip back!)
I’ve linked a lot of my Instagram posts here! Hopefully you follow me, but if not, you can do that easily now. If you check out my captions, you’ll find more details about each moment. And be sure to scroll through to see everything!
Money
You can use a credit card for almost all transactions. Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world. Be sure to budget before your trip.
Getting around Iceland
A car is kind of the only way to get around. There are public buses but outside of the city they don’t run regularly and they only go to limited places. And the buses still aren’t cheap.
In general, you’re going to want to either rent a car and stay at hotels or you could rent an RV and have your lodging and transportation wrapped up in one!
We rented a car for the Golden Circle and Snæfellsnes then used buses, ferries, taxis, and our feet to get around Reykjavik and the Westman Islands.
What to Wear in Iceland
The dress is casual and fashionable. Wear what you feel best in. There are no concerns about modesty or amount of skin being shown.
Bring layers! Iceland is often cold even in the summer. But when you do a big hike, you’ll want to be able to peel down to cool off.
Check out our vegan packing list of cruelty free clothes!
Vegan Voyage Iceland Food
There’s a an app that’s a great resource to have when traveling the country and looking for food. It’s called VEGAN ICELAND.
Here are the spots we stopped at and enjoyed lovely plant-based food!
The Golden Circle
Fridheimar
Located inside of a greenhouse where they grow all of their own tomatoes, this restaurant has one core dish that it serves: tomato soup! The soup is vegan and you can add basil, veggies, and dip bread on the side.
Tomato-themed drinks.
Tomato-themed desserts.
This is a whole tomato experience!
Sitting next to plants is one thing, but sitting next to the plants that they are using for my food is on another level.
Fridheimar video coming soon!
Farmer’s Bistro
Located at the only mushroom farm in Iceland, Farmer’s Bistro is a true farm-to-table experience. They grow more than mushrooms though so you’ll find some of the freshest ingredients possible on your plate. They have a variety of vegan options, all of which we thoroughly enjoyed!
Video of Farmer’s Bistro coming soon!
Reykjavik
Íslenska Flatbakan
This is a pizza spot just south of the city. We stopped here on our way into the city from the airport and were so impressed with their vegan pizza! With many options, including vegan breadsticks, it’s hard to not find something you love and something that really hits the spot!
Video of Íslenska Flatbakan coming soon!
Black Box Pizza
Here’s another pizza spot! At Black Box, you make your own pizza! With vegan cheese and many toppings to choose from, you can create a masterpiece to enjoy after just a few minutes of cooking. They have multiple locations with sports on TVs and generally just a really fun vibe.
Video of Black Box Pizza coming soon!
Kattakaffihúsid
This mostly vegan café is home to adoptable cats!!! They serve delicious sandwiches and desserts that you can eat while you lounge in their comfy space with their cute cats.
Here you can make yourself at home, eat some great vegan food, and play with some cats! What more can you ask for?!
Video of Kattakaffihúsid coming soon!
Íslenska Hamborgarafabrikkan
The name is quite a handful but this hamburger factory, or Fabrikkan for short, has delicious vegan options at their three locations around the country.
It’s easy to veganize their menu, especially with Oumph! in place of meat and Violife cheese in place of cow cheese.
Video of Fabrikkan coming soon!
Gló
With three locations and their downtown Reykjavik location being completely vegan, this fast casual restaurant has many delicious and colorful options to choose from! They have bowls, burgers, wraps, and so much more, all of which are scrumptious.
Video of Gló coming soon!
Jömm
This is an award-winning and completely vegan restaurant. They serve delicious street food. Their burgers and wraps are killer and don’t get me started about their cheesy potatoes.
Jömm has the same owners as the vegan mini-mart, Vegan Budin, and they even distribute vegan products across all of Iceland! Really cool restaurant, store, and distribution business with great owners!
Video of Jömm coming soon!
Tokyo
Tokyo has a massive menu with many vegan options (but not fully vegan), including sushi, bowls, and gyoza. It’s delicious and reasonably priced.
They have seven locations so there’s no reason to miss this sushi stop when you’re in Iceland!
Video of Tokyo coming soon!
Reykjavik Chips
Who doesn’t love a quick pit stop for some fries while travelling? This small shop only serves fries so stop in to get your snack fill with regular and sweet potato fries along with several vegan dipping sauces (not all are vegan so be careful).
Video of Reykjavik Chips coming soon!
Burro
What a lively place to get dinner with a Mexican flare! We were served a vegan meal made just for us and the flavors were to die for.
Their menu is well marked with vegan options plus their staff was exceptionally helpful. We came for their meat-free Monday. When you go in, don’t forget to check our their bar/club, Pablo Discobar!
Video of Burro coming soon!
Westman Islands
Gott
Meaning “good” in Icelandic, Gott is a family owned restaurant with a focus on high-quality, healthy ingredients. While this doesn’t mean it’s fully vegan, their vegan options are excellent.
This was one of our best meals in Iceland! The service was great as well. They even serve Iceland’s best beer from the brewery located next door.
Video of Gott coming soon!
Pítsugerðin
This pizza shop uses a wood burning stove for optimal flavor. Pick from their menu, design your own, or ask for recommendations to find your perfect pizza.
You can have a soda or beer from their fridge and dine in or take it to go. Regardless, this is an awesome vegan-friendly spot on the Westman Islands!
Video of Pítsugerðin coming soon!
Vegan Voyage Iceland Lodging
There are lots of lovely B&B’s, hotels, and hostels.
Or, as discussed above, you could get an RV to save money in the lodging department.
All of these options are nice, but still not inexpensive.
Buubble: The 5 Million Star Hotel – The Golden Circle
This is the most unique accommodations we’ve ever experienced in our lives.
At this bubble hotel, you sleep in a polyurethane, clear bubble in the forest with nothing but a bed inside.
This bubble is heated and allows you to be immersed in the woods with a view of the sky while cozied up in bed. Very romantic.
During the long winter nights, you may be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights! We visited in the summer so it was too bright to see anything in the sky but the experience didn’t leave anything to be desired. It was so fun and soothing to sleep under the sky for a couple nights.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You just have to stay here. You won’t regret it.
If you’re worried about a bathroom: have no fear! There’s a small lodge a short walk from your bubble with two clean bathrooms and even a kitchen with dining table. I know it’s a walk from the bubble, but seriously it’s so cool.
Reykjavik Residence – Reykjavik
Located in the heart of Reykjavik, you can stay in a wide variety of room types from a studio to large 3 bedroom suites. They have many properties within a couple blocks of each other and we had the opportunity to sample three different rooms in two different buildings.
All of the rooms were immaculate – very cozy with the warm comforts of home. We enjoyed breakfast two mornings and they were able to accommodate our vegan needs, though we definitely recommend making sure the restaurant knows you’re vegan when you make your breakfast reservation the night before.
Our last night we had to leave early and they provided us with a vegan breakfast box to go!
Overall, we had such a lovely stay at Reykjavik Residence.
Guesthouse Hóll – Westman Islands
We were fortunate to spend three nights in the junior suite at Guesthouse Hóll. Its location was perfect: only a stone’s throw to everything in town. The bed was super comfortable and we enjoyed how thoughtfully designed the space was.
The guesthouse is pretty new so don’t let the lack of reviews scare you away. It’s a wonderful place to stay on this magical island.
The owners are friendly. They provided us with a wonderful benefit: a free WiFi hot-spot from Trawire that we picked up in Reykjavik when we landed and that we dropped off at the airport on our way out. This allowed us to have a reliable internet source for the entire duration of our time in Iceland which was so cool and showed how much they value their guests.
Vegan Voyage Iceland To-Do
Golden Circle
This is Iceland’s most famous tour loop due to its proximity to Reykjavik and how much cool stuff is in one place.
There are three big stops that are talked about on every blog. They are worth seeing, but there’s so much more to see that gets you away from the crowds.
We did the loop counter-clockwise and stopped at the Reykjadalur Thermal River, the Kerid Crater, the Faxi waterfall, and the Bruarfoss waterfall in addition to the most popular stops.
Diving Island – Silfra snorkeling:
Snorkeling at Silfra is a can’t-miss-opportunity.
Iceland is split between two tectonic plates. The eastern two-thirds of the island are on the European plate and move to the east with a fixed distance to London. The western third of Iceland is on the American plate and moves to the west with a fixed distance to New York.
Combine that with glaciers and incredible geo-thermal activity and you’re left with crystal clear fresh water and fissures in the ground where the plates split.
Here you can snorkel or scuba dive (if you’re dry suit certified) between these two tectonic plates with sheer rock cliffs that you can see hundreds of feet away.
Diving Island is a boutique company created by locals with a passion for diving. We were impressed with their energy, professionalism, and the high quality dry suit gear that they provided.
This is such a unique and extraordinary activity – don’t miss it when you’re in Iceland!
Reykjavik Day Spa
Reykjavik Day Spa is a lovely place to get a manicure, pedicure, or a massage. Brian and I went for a massage and had the most lovely time.
This was a great addition to our Iceland trip because we needed to work through our stiff muscles from traveling and hiking. We loved our massage and will be back next time! Don’t skip out on self care!
Snæfellsnes
This peninsula is only a couple hours north of Reykjavik and not nearly as touristy as the Golden Circle. It has a plethora of beautiful stops along the way.
If you’re looking for a route where you can beat the crowds but not have to venture too far from Reykjavik, this is the place.
For our day trip, we used this blog as a guide for where to stop. We especially loved it because of the Google map at the end that you can use to visualize where all the stops are located.
Reykjavik
The capital city is still small considering it’s the largest city in the country. Over one third of the country’s 340,000 people live here, making it about the size of Waco, TX.
The downtown is on the water and is very charming with many options for food and drink. There’s a lot of energy for such a small city which makes it a fun place to be.
We happened to be there during their annual vegan festival and even during a Cube of Truth by Anonymous for the Voiceless. You should connect with their vegan community on Facebook before going so you can meet the really kind locals while you’re there – they’re a blast!
Westman Islands
These islands are insanely beautiful. Locals flock here once a year in August for a music festival but outside of that weekend, it’s relatively quiet and has some of the most epic cliffs and views you can imagine.
The hikes here are not for the faint of heart and frankly, seem very dangerous with sheer cliffs immediately touching the two foot wide gravel path. If you aren’t that brave, there’s plenty to see from below the cliffs and from the volcano on the main island.
The island is a fishing hub so the harbor smells horribly of fish but if you can look past that, you can enjoy the largest Puffin population in the world and two newly rescued Beluga whales in the harbor.
In short, you have to go here because its beauty is indescribable and it’s managed to stay just out of the sights of most tourists. We did three nights on the island which was enough time, though more time is always better!
After Iceland we went on to country twenty one: Vegan Voyage USA
Stay in Touch with the Vegan Voyage
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For the sake of goodness,
Seyka & Brian
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