How to Book the Magic Ice Bar in Reykjavik

By the time I had finished my second drink in a glass made of solid ice, I had stopped trying to understand the Magic Ice Bar and just started enjoying it. The first 15 minutes I spent doing the tourist thing — taking photos of every chiselled wall, asking the bartender how the ice glasses do not melt the cocktail, lifting the thermal cape on and off to find the right comfort temperature. By minute 20 the cape stays on, the camera goes away, and you are just having a drink in a sub-zero room. That is when the bar becomes worth the $34.

Liquor bottles on ice bar in blue light
The bar itself — backlit ice shelves with the bottles propped into recessed cuts. The blue light comes from LEDs installed into the ice; the colour shifts every few minutes through the night.

This guide covers how to book a Magic Ice Bar ticket in Reykjavík: what the 45-minute experience actually contains, who it works best for, when to skip it, and what to pair it with for a complete evening in the city.

Interior of frozen ice bar architectural marvel
The interior space. The walls, the bar, the seats, the glasses — everything frozen. The structure gets rebuilt every October from blocks of refrozen glacier water.

The Magic Ice Bar sits on Laugavegur — Reykjavík’s main shopping street — in a basement that has been converted into a permanently sub-zero space. Inside is a small bar, ice sculptures, ice seats, and a series of carved Viking-themed installations along the walls. The whole thing is about 200 square metres. You go in, get handed a thermal cape, get a drink in an ice glass, and stay as long as you can stand the cold. Most people last about 45 minutes. Some last 20.

In a Hurry? The Three Tickets to Choose Between

Contents

Which Ticket to Get

For the Magic Ice Bar itself, there is essentially one ticket — the standard $34 entrance with welcome drink. The other two recommendations below are different experiences entirely (Lava Show, FlyOver Iceland) that pair with the ice bar to make a full evening rather than a quick stop.

1. Magic Ice Bar Entrance and Welcome Drink — from $34

Reykjavik Magic Ice Bar Entrance and Welcome Drink
The standard ticket. Thermal cape on entry, one drink in an ice glass at the bar, stay as long as you like (most last 45 minutes).

The standard ticket and the only one most people need. Includes entrance, thermal cape (mandatory loaner), and one welcome drink at the bar. You can buy additional drinks inside ($12-15 each — about double normal Reykjavík bar prices). Open from 5pm to midnight most nights. Our full review covers the actual drink options and how the cape system works.

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2. Lava Show Reykjavík Entry Ticket — from $54

Reykjavik Lava Show Immersive Experience
The fire half of a fire-and-ice evening. Real molten lava poured in front of you in a small theatre — the perfect natural opposite of the Magic Ice Bar.

The Lava Show is a 50-minute live performance where they melt and pour real basaltic lava in front of an audience. It sits 200 metres from the Magic Ice Bar on the same street. Pairing them in one evening — Magic Ice Bar at 5pm, Lava Show at 7pm, dinner after — is the cleanest “fire and ice” itinerary in Reykjavík and the one I would book if I had one Reykjavík evening to fill. Our full review covers what the lava show actually involves and the heat you feel from your seat.

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3. FlyOver Iceland Entry Ticket — from $45

Reykjavik FlyOver Iceland Experience
The third leg of a perfect rainy-day Reykjavík combo. Indoor flight simulator over Iceland’s biggest landscapes — pairs naturally with the ice bar and the Lava Show for a complete day off the weather.

The 35-minute flight simulator at the Old Harbour. Pair with the ice bar and Lava Show for an indoor day if Reykjavík weather has collapsed. Total cost across all three is around $130, total time is about 4 hours including walking between venues. Our full review covers the FlyOver experience and how it slots into a multi-stop indoor day.

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What the 45 Minutes Actually Looks Like

Inside an ice bar with sculptures
The walking route through the bar — past the carved sculptures, around the central bar, into the seating area. The whole space takes about 5 minutes to walk through if you do not stop.

You arrive at street level on Laugavegur and check in at a small reception desk. They take your ticket, hand you a thermal cape (it goes over your normal jacket — bring one), give you a pair of insulated gloves if you want them, and direct you to a heavy curtained door. Through the curtain is a short corridor that drops the temperature in stages. Then a second curtain, and you are inside.

Ice cave with igloo and penguin sculptures
The themed sculpture sections include Viking longships, a small ice throne for photos, and a series of ice-carved animal figures along one wall.

The bar is in the middle of the room with two bartenders behind it. You hand over your ticket, they pour your welcome drink into an ice glass (a tumbler-shaped block of clear ice with a hollow in the top), and you find a spot. Most people circle the room first taking photos, then settle at one of the ice-block seats around the perimeter. The seats are cold but the cape covers your bottom. They are surprisingly comfortable for short bursts.

Ice igloo sculpture with penguin figurines
The smaller carved details — penguins, polar bears, fish — are scattered through the room. Each one took a sculptor about an hour to chisel from a block of clear ice.

The drink in an ice glass is the genuinely strange part. The glass does not melt enough to dilute your drink in the time you would normally finish it. The condensation freezes on the outside, so the glass becomes increasingly white and frosted as you sip. When you finish, you can either leave the glass at the bar or smash it into the disposal bin (which is what most people do — the ice glasses do not get reused).

Drink poured into bar glass with ice
The pouring moment — bartender in their winter jackets, drink in a fresh ice glass. They go through hundreds of ice glasses a night.

The Drinks

Whiskey bottles on ice bar in warm light
The standard menu is small — vodka cocktails, gin and tonic, a few whiskey-based drinks, plus non-alcoholic options. Quality is fine, not exceptional.

Your welcome drink choice is from a short menu — usually 4-5 cocktails plus a non-alcoholic option. Standard options include vodka cranberry, Reyka vodka on the rocks (the local Icelandic vodka, made from glacial water and barley), gin and tonic, and a passionfruit cocktail. Non-drinkers get a fresh-pressed apple-and-elderflower mocktail that is genuinely good.

Mojito cocktail with mint on ice
Cocktails are well-made but limited in range — they are working with what they can fit behind a sub-zero bar. Stick to spirit-forward drinks; muddled cocktails like mojitos do not work as well.

Additional drinks from the bar are $12-15 each, paid with card. The Reyka vodka and Brennivín (the local caraway-flavoured spirit, often called “Black Death”) are worth ordering for the experience even if neither is your usual drink. Most people stop at one or two — the cold makes you drink slower than you normally would, which is part of the appeal of the place.

Cold red cocktail with ice and mint
The cold air slows you down. A cocktail that would take 8 minutes at a normal bar takes you 20 here, partly because you are wearing thermal mittens and partly because nobody is in a rush.

The Bar Gets Rebuilt Every Year

Artist carving ice sculpture at festival
The annual rebuild is done by a small team of professional ice sculptors. They work for about three weeks in October, then leave the bar to operate through the winter and spring.

Every September the staff strip the bar down to the bare insulated room, then a small team of professional ice sculptors arrives with chainsaws, chisels, and a few thousand kilograms of clear ice trucked in from outside Reykjavík. They spend about three weeks rebuilding the bar from scratch — new walls, new sculptures, new seating, new ice glasses. The themes change year to year. Last winter was Viking-heavy; previous years have leaned more polar wildlife.

Chainsaw carving ice sculpture detail
The chainsaw is the rough-cut tool. The fine detail comes from chisels and small picks — the same kind ice sculptors use at competition events.

If you are visiting in October you may catch the rebuild — the bar stays closed for the three weeks but they sometimes let you peek through a window at the work in progress. The reopening is usually mid-October and is one of the better excuses to be in Reykjavík at that time of year.

Ice carver working with precision at night
The detail work is done at night because the rebuild team works in shifts to keep the bar at its sub-zero operating temperature throughout — opening doors during daytime would melt their progress.

Who the Magic Ice Bar Is Genuinely Good For

Ice sculpture in snowy winter park
The novelty is real but specific — once you have done one ice bar, the diminishing returns set in fast. Best as a one-time experience, not a repeat venue.

The bar works for specific use cases. First-time Reykjavík visitors with a free evening get the genuine novelty value. Couples on a short stay get a built-in date activity that takes 45 minutes and feels different from a regular bar. Travel groups looking for shared experiences get the kind of “we all did this together” memory that does not come from a regular dinner.

The bar is not great for: solo travellers looking for normal bar conversation (the ambient cold makes that less natural), connoisseurs looking for exceptional cocktails (the bar serves serviceable drinks, not great ones), or anyone planning to drink for hours (the cold caps your visit at about an hour).

Snowhotel ice bar with sculptures Kirkenes Norway
For comparison, a larger ice bar at the Snowhotel in Kirkenes, Norway — the Magic Ice Bar is smaller but the basic concept is the same.

One specific genuine recommendation: if you are doing a short Iceland trip with limited evening time, prioritise the Magic Ice Bar over a regular cocktail bar. The price difference is small, the experience is more memorable, and you still get to drink. If you are doing a longer trip with multiple evenings free, hit the Magic Ice Bar once and use the other nights for proper Reykjavík bars (KEX, Loftið, Kaldi).

The Fire-and-Ice Evening Plan

Reykjavik street with Hallgrimskirkja in winter
The walk between Magic Ice Bar and the Lava Show passes through central Reykjavík — about 5 minutes on foot, all on Laugavegur.

If you have an evening to fill, the cleanest pairing is Magic Ice Bar plus the Lava Show. They sit 200 metres apart on Laugavegur. The contrast is the obvious draw — sub-zero ice room, then a small theatre where they pour molten basalt in front of you. Total cost around $90 per person, total time about 2.5 hours including the walk between, the cape on/off, and the Lava Show pre-talk.

Hallgrimskirkja church under clouds Reykjavik
Hallgrímskirkja sits at the top of Skólavörðustígur, a 10-minute walk from the Magic Ice Bar. The street between has Reykjavík’s best small restaurants and bars for the post-bar dinner.

For dinner after, walk five minutes up Skólavörðustígur (the street that climbs up to Hallgrímskirkja). The street has Reykjavík’s best concentration of small restaurants — Messinn for fish, Rok for tapas, Sandholt for a bakery counter dinner. None of them book out as quickly as Laugavegur restaurants.

The Triple-Indoor Day for Bad Weather

Aerial view of snowy Reykjavik skyline
When Reykjavík weather collapses, the indoor attractions stack into a useful day. The Magic Ice Bar is the easy late-afternoon stop in this kind of plan.

If your weather has collapsed and you need a full day of indoor activities, here is the route. Start with FlyOver Iceland at 11am for the simulator (35 minutes). Walk back into the city centre and have lunch. Lava Show at 3pm for real molten lava (50 minutes). Magic Ice Bar at 5pm for the cold counterpoint (45 minutes). Then dinner. Total cost around $130 across all three, total time about 7 hours including walking and meals. The flow is intentional: simulator first when you are most alert, real lava in the late afternoon, ice bar as the cool-down.

Aerial Reykjavik cityscape vista
The walking distances between Reykjavík’s indoor attractions are small — the city is compact enough that an indoor day works without taxis.

Logistics and Practical Stuff

Reykjavik panorama from Perlan deck
The Magic Ice Bar sits on Laugavegur, in the heart of central Reykjavík. From most central hotels you can walk in 5-10 minutes.

Address: Magic Ice Bar, Laugavegur 26 (the main shopping street, easy walk from any central Reykjavík hotel). Open daily 5pm to midnight in peak season; reduced hours October-November during the rebuild. Last entry is 11pm.

Bookings: book online a few hours before you go to lock in your time slot. They take walk-ins but on busy summer evenings they sometimes hit capacity. The ticket includes the cape, the welcome drink, and unlimited time inside (until last orders).

Reykjavik Tjornin Lake winter skyline
Winter Reykjavík at sunset is the best time to walk to the Magic Ice Bar — it is dark by 4pm in December, and the bar’s interior LEDs read more dramatic against a dark exterior.

What to wear: your normal winter outerwear under the cape. Skip shorts. Wear closed shoes. Bring gloves if you have them (the loaner gloves are basic). The temperature inside stays at -6 to -10°C — cold but bearable for the typical 45-minute visit.

Colorful Reykjavik rooftops neighborhood
The walk to the Magic Ice Bar passes through Reykjavík’s most photographed residential streets — colourful rooftops, narrow alleys, the kind of central Reykjavík that justifies a slow walk between bookings.

What to Do After

Harpa Concert Hall glass facade Reykjavik
Harpa is 10 minutes from the Magic Ice Bar — the easy after-dinner option for a Reykjavík evening if you want a free landmark to wander.

The Magic Ice Bar finishes most visits with everyone needing a warm drink. The natural next stop is one of the Skólavörðustígur cafés (Reykjavík Roasters is half a block away) or one of the proper bars on Laugavegur (Kaldi Bar is 100 metres up the same street and serves the local craft beers).

If you are still on a sightseeing kick, the walking tour of Reykjavík sometimes does an evening run that starts near the Magic Ice Bar at 8pm. If you came on a winter night with northern lights potential, the northern lights bus picks up around 9pm and takes you outside the city for a chance at the lights.

Perlan glass dome side view Reykjavik
If you have done the Magic Ice Bar early evening, the Perlan Museum deck is open until 9pm in summer — pair them for a complete cold-and-views Reykjavík evening.

For other day-tour pairings around the Magic Ice Bar: do the Jökulsárlón day trip on a brutal 14-hour Tuesday and use the Magic Ice Bar as your light Wednesday evening before flying home. Or do the Magic Ice Bar early in your trip as your first orientation to “Iceland indoor culture” before you head out for the bigger excursions like the Snæfellsnes Peninsula or the Katla ice cave.

Perlan glass dome drone view
Most travellers slot the Magic Ice Bar into a single Reykjavík evening — it is too short to anchor a day but perfect as part of a longer indoor evening plan.

And if you came to the Magic Ice Bar after a day of Reykjavík whale watching or a big south coast tour, the bar is the perfect “I do not want to do anything strenuous” cap — sit, drink, photograph, leave. You earn the warm bath that follows.

The Departure-Day Move

One specific use case where the Magic Ice Bar earns its $34 every time: the evening before an early-morning departure. You have spent the day on a final big excursion, you are slightly emptied out, you do not want a heavy dinner or a late drinking night, and you have a 6am flight from Keflavík hanging over you. The Magic Ice Bar’s 45-minute format is exactly what fits in here — a quick novelty experience, one drink, a few photographs to look back on, then back to the hotel by 9pm to pack and sleep. I have done this twice on departure evenings and recommend it to anyone in the same spot.

One Last Thing

The Magic Ice Bar is one of those Reykjavík experiences where the actual product is shorter than the build-up. You go in with expectations of “wow, this will be amazing.” You leave saying “yeah, that was good,” with about ten photographs and a slight chill. That is fine — that is exactly the experience you booked. It is not the highlight of an Iceland trip, but it is one of the easier 45 minutes you will spend in Reykjavík, and if you have a free evening before an early flight or after a big day, the Magic Ice Bar is a low-friction way to make sure you do not just sit in the hotel bar drinking a $14 beer that someone else made.

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