Alcohol — Iceland
What travelers need to know about alcohol in Iceland. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Alcohol in Iceland: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
The alcohol age in Iceland is 20, not 18: it is illegal to sell, serve or hand alcohol to anyone under 20, and whenever a buyer might be under age the seller must see photo ID. Alcohol found in the possession of anyone under 20 is confiscated. Being drunk and causing disorder, danger or public offence in a public place, at a public gathering or in a vehicle is itself an offence under the Alcohol Act.
Breaches of the Alcohol Act (Áfengislög nr. 75/1998) are punishable by fines or imprisonment of up to six years (art. 27) - that ceiling covers every offence in the Act; the Act sets no separate figure for drinking under age.
§ Althingi (Parliament of Iceland) - Áfengislög nr. 75/1998, current law collection (Lagasafn, útgáfa 157c): arts. 18, 21, 27 and the confiscation provisionVerified Sep 20, 2026