While there are not many ´tourist traps´ in Iceland, there are certainly things worth avoiding or at least knowing what you are getting into so you can make an informed decision. The five tourist traps in Iceland that I‘m sharing in this episode are the most common ones you will enocunter.
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5 Tourist Traps to Avoid in Iceland
1. Fake Icelandic sweaters


One of the worst tourist traps, in my mind, are fake Icelandic sweaters. Some shops have been selling sweaters with similar patterns to a lopapeysa (the official name of an Icelandic sweater) but they are made in China and are not made with Icelandic wool. In 2020, the term „lopapeysa“ was protected by Parliament because so many shops were selling fake ones.
Criteria that a sweater needs to meet to be considered an Icelandic lopapeysa

The wool used to make handcrafted Icelandic sweaters shall be cut from Icelandic sheep.
Only virgin wool shall be used as material for the sweater (wool that has not been recycled).
The sweater shall be knitted from unspun wool, such as unspun plötulopi wool, thinner léttlopi wool, Álafosslopi wool, etc..
The sweater shall have a circular knitted yoke with pattern shapes and/or pattern benches from the shoulder area to the neck.
The sweater shall be handknitted in Iceland.
The sweater shall be knitted in a circle without stitches.
The sweater shall have an open front or be whole.

My advice is to always look at the label of the Icelandic sweater in question to see where it is made. If it doesn’t say, then ask the shop assistant. Stores, like the Icelandic Handknitting association, have knitters around the country that they employ to make their sweaters.  Their sweaters have the name of the knitter on them, which I think is pretty cool. They have two brick-and-mortar stores in Reykjavik where you can go and try on a variety of sweaters.

A great place to buy Icelandic sweaters online is The Iceland Store.

I will have links to both shops in the show notes of this episode at allthingsiceland.com/Iceland-tourist-traps.

Another thing to know is that a fake Icelandic sweater will likely be much less expensive than a real one. It’s normal for an Icelandic lopapeysa to cost $200 or more. The high-quality material, craftsmanship, and the fact that they can last many years, even decades, makes it worth it to me.


2. Puffin Shops
A potential culprit of selling fake Icelandic are a type of store nicknamed „Puffin shops“. These shops sell a lot of knick knacks that are massed produced in China. Sometimes they are little statues, t-shirts with random sayings on them, plastic Viking helmets and so on. There are a decent number of these shops on Laugavegur, Iceland‘s famous shopping street.

Of course, it is totally up to you to buy these things but if you are looking for unique souvenirs made in Iceland, you can buy a lopapeysa or visit kirsuberjatréð. It‘s a shop that sells handcrafted jewelry, apparel, and home décor made my local designers. That is just one of many other stores that are available for buying locally designed/made items. I am a collecting a longer list for a future episode. Make sure you are subscribed to the podcast on whatever platform you listen to this on, so you don’t miss out when that episode is published.
3. Near beer


If you‘re fairly new to the podcast, you might not know that alcohol and beer in the country are sold almost exclusively by the icelandic government in stores called Vínbúðins.