Nightlife

Most nights in summer, nighttime activities are not limited to loud bars and nightclubs; the Listasumar brochure delineates everything from Thursday night jazz sets to choral concerts and evening "history sailing" in the fjord. Akureyri's bars and nightclubs are within 10 minutes' walk of each other, so do as Icelanders do and roam until you find a scene to your liking. Only live music commands a cover charge, and you'll never be pressured to buy drinks. As elsewhere in Iceland, Akureyri's young people work hard, and work even harder at partying. On Friday and Saturday nights teenagers drive around town at a crawl, dressed as if they're in a Miami convertible, honking and gabbing at each other out the car windows.

The main nightspots are Café Amour, Ráðhústorg 9 (tel. 461-3030), which has a wine bar downstairs and small DJ room upstairs with holographic bordello wallpaper; Capone/1929 (aka Oddvitinn), Strandgata 53 (tel. 462-6020), two clubs in one historic harborside building, with occasional live music; Græni Hatturinn, Hafnarstræti 96 (tel. 461-4646), a pub inside one of Akureyri's oldest houses, sometimes with live music; Kaffi Akureyri, Strandgata 7 (tel. 461-3999), whose back room is turned over to DJs on weekends; Karolína, Kaupvangsstræti 23 (tel. 461-2755), a bar for the knowingly cool and sophisticated; and Sjallinn, Geislagata 14 (tel. 462-2770), loud, raucous, and packed.