How to Get from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik
In June 2024, Australian tourist Macy Jane became the star of a viral TikTok video. In the middle of winter, at five in the morning, with a suitcase, she walked for three hours to Keflavik Airport because a taxi would have cost 250 euros.
Silly girl, she just doesn’t read my blog. There are plenty of ways to get to and from Keflavik Airport. I’ll go through all the options. Pick any, and you won’t go broke.
Important clarification
Reykjavik has two airports:
- Keflavik (KEF) – the international airport where all flights from Europe, America, and the rest of the big world arrive. It’s located 50 km from Reykjavik, practically in the middle of nowhere. This is definitely where you’re landing.
- Reykjavik (RKV) – a small domestic airport, just 2 km from the city center. Flights from here go around Iceland (for example, to Akureyri), and occasionally there are flights to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Just to be safe, check your ticket and see which letters are listed – KEF or RKV. But I’m pretty sure it’s Keflavik.
How to get there: all the options
There are five ways: bus, express bus (also called a shuttle bus), taxi, transfer, and car rental. Iceland has no railways, no airport express trains, and no metro to Reykjavik either.
Car rental
About car rental, the details, driving nuances, addresses, passwords, and tips are all in a separate article – Car Rental in Iceland: Everything You Need to Know.
Taxi
Uber and Bolt don’t exist in Iceland. In Reykjavik, there’s a similar service called Hopp, with an app available on Google Play and the App Store. There aren’t many cars in the city center; we waited twenty minutes, and on the way the driver said – we should have called, we would have arrived faster. Okay, I can find the number, but how do you even pronounce these street names? You’d have to ask in the nearby shops. Bottom line, there’s definitely no Hopp in Keflavik. And even less so in the rest of Iceland. By the way, Hopp also offers scooters, which are everywhere in Reykjavik.
So it’s just the regular taxis – official cabs waiting at the airport. Payment is by meter (taxi-meter). The ride costs roughly 150–200 euros (here and below, prices are in euros, as it’s a more familiar currency). They accept cards, but it’s better to check in advance. If there’s no terminal, it’s cash only – Icelandic krona.
Transfer
It’s easier, and sometimes cheaper, to book a transfer in advance. The best options I found:
If you’re not renting a car, arrive in the morning, and check-in is in the afternoon, you can head to the Blue Lagoon. It’s in that part of Iceland. A taxi there would cost around 100€.
If you are going to cruise terminal (lucky!) private transfer will cost about 150€ for car.
Prices depend on the season, moon phases, and yes, inflation is still a thing. I don’t plan to constantly update prices, so check them yourself for your dates. The links are current.
Bus
The most budget-friendly option (haha, we’re in Iceland, baby, what budget?), but not the easiest.
Bus No. 55 (Strætó route 55) – public transport. Nine trips a day from 6:30 to 23:00. The journey takes about 70 minutes, with stops at several towns along the way. Fare is 15€, payable to the driver by card or in krona cash.
This bus doesn’t stop right at the terminal. You need to exit the airport building, cross the P1 parking lot, and find the stop just beyond it. On the plus side, it goes through the entire center of Reykjavik.
Schedule and route are here.
Macy only knew about this option, which is why she walked.
Express Bus
The most popular way to get to or from the airport.
There are several operators: Flybus, Airport Direct, Gray Line. There’s no real difference between them. Don’t mind the name Airport Direct – the owners either have no imagination (or maybe too much).
It’s best to buy tickets in advance. All bus operators are on Viator, so you can compare prices right away – they’re the same: around 26€ per person. In summer, buses run from 03:00 to 00:00. Travel time is 50 minutes.
Buses arrive at the Reykjavik bus terminal, which is not really the city center.
That’s why bus operators offer an extra pick-up/drop-off service near your hotel. Then the total cost (airport–city–hotel) is 35€ per person. For a group of four, it’s already more cost-effective to book a private transfer.
But there’s a catch with pick-up/drop-off…
Buses are big, there are lots of pedestrian zones in the center, and not all hotels are accessible. If you’re heading to the airport, you need to arrive at one of the designated stops half an hour before the scheduled time. A mini-bus picks up passengers there and takes them to the bus terminal. Similarly, when arriving in Iceland – first, you’re taken to the bus terminal, and then mini-buses distribute passengers around the city. You’ll get a map showing the nearest stop or which hotels are in the direct pick-up/drop-off zone after booking.
In Reykjavik, we stayed at Hotel Fron. I recommend it – a good hotel in the center, on a pedestrian street, with all bars and shops nearby. A day before departure we received an email: Pickup Fron Hotel – Bus Stop 6 Safnahúsið (hope I didn’t summon a demon with these hieroglyphs) Culture Center. Bus Stop 6 is easy to find on Google Maps. Ten minutes’ walk from the hotel. There are many such special “airport” bus stops.
And most importantly: don’t try to walk from KEF to Reykjavik. It’s not worth it.
