Friðheimar

Warm, humid air hits you as the door closes behind you. Outside, it's six degrees and sideways rain. Inside, there are tomato vines two metres tall, a bumblebee cruising past your table, and a bowl of soup made from what's growing right next to you.

Friðheimar (Fridheimar) is a family-run tomato farm in Reykholt, in the Golden Circle area of South Iceland, that grows tomatoes all year in greenhouses heated with geothermal water and lit by grow lights through the dark months. At some point they put tables between the vines, and that restaurant is now one of the best-known lunch stops in Iceland.

Tours that visit Friðheimar

top pick

Golden Circle and Waterfalls, with Friðheimar Farm and Kerið in small group

9 hours · From Reykjavík

5(1,184)

From 18.990 ISK

popular

Golden Circle Small Group Tour with Friðheimar Farm Visit

9 hours · From Reykjavík

4.9(569)

From 15.490 ISK

Golden Circle, Friðheimar Tomato Farm & Laugarás Lagoon

10 hours · From Flúðir

4.9(23)

From 25.900 ISK

Golden Circle and Lunch at Fridheimar Tomato Farm - with photos

7 hours · From Reykjavík

From 28.990 ISK

Golden Circle, Fridheimar & Sky Lagoon Small-Group Saman Pass Tour

11 hours · From Reykjavík

4.9(258)

From 29.990 ISK

popular

Golden Circle & Friðheimar Visit From Reykjavik - Small Group Tour

9 hours · From Reykjavík

4.9(911)

From 15.500 ISK

What to eat at Friðheimar

The signature dish is tomato soup served buffet-style with freshly baked bread, sour cream and cucumber salsa, and you top it up as much as you like. There are other dishes on the menu, and tomato-based desserts and drinks if you want to go all in, including a Bloody Mary that is very much on theme. Basil grows in pots on the tables, and you snip your own.

The bumblebees are real and they're working. They pollinate the plants and generally ignore diners. You'll stop noticing them after a couple of minutes.

The main restaurant serves lunch only, from about 11:30 to 16:00, every day. Friðheimar also has a wine bar, Vínstofa Friðheima, which opens later into the evening, useful if you're staying in the area.

Pro tip: book a table in advance, even in winter. Tour groups fill the room around midday, and walk-ins can wait a long time or get turned away. If you can, aim for 11:30 or after 14:00, when it's calmer and you can actually hear the bees.

Greenhouse visits at Friðheimar

If you want to know how a tomato farm works at 64 degrees north, Friðheimar runs pre-booked greenhouse tours year-round, mainly for groups. You learn why the lights stay on through the winter, how the heat comes from geothermal water and where the bees come in. For everyone else, the restaurant is the tour: you're sitting inside a working greenhouse, and the staff are used to questions. There's a small shop by the entrance selling their own tomato products, useful for gifts that aren't puffin-shaped.

Horses at Friðheimar

The family also breeds Icelandic horses. Between 1 May and 30 September there's a horse show with a short talk and a rider demonstrating the five gaits, and stable visits are available year-round. Both need booking in advance, and it's mainly for groups, so check before you turn up expecting to pet a horse.

How to get to Friðheimar from Reykjavík

Reykholt is about 1.5 hours from Reykjavík, and it's convenient for the Golden Circle: about 20 minutes from Geysir and a similar distance from the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir and from Kerið. Allow an hour for lunch. If you're driving the loop yourself, Friðheimar fits neatly between Þingvellir and Geysir or on the way back towards Selfoss.

Several small-group Golden Circle tours build lunch at Friðheimar into the day, some with Kerið, a lagoon or a Spanish-speaking guide. Tours that include a stop at Friðheimar are below.