Blaa Kannan Cafe

Every town worth its salt has a cafe that defines it. In Akureyri, the capital of northern Iceland, that cafe is Blaa Kannan -- housed in a century-old blue building on the main street, serving coffee and cake to locals and travellers with equal warmth, and doing so with the kind of quiet confidence that comes from being an institution.

What to Expect

You will see Blaa Kannan before you read its name. The building -- known locally as the Paris Building, or Parishusid -- was built in 1913 and painted a vivid blue that makes it impossible to overlook on Akureyri's main shopping street, Hafnarstraeti. The colour has become synonymous with the cafe itself, and the blue facade has been photographed by virtually every visitor who has ever walked down the street.

Inside, the atmosphere is everything you hope it will be. The ground floor is intimate and slightly cluttered in the best sense: mismatched furniture, bookshelves lined with well-thumbed novels, local artwork on the walls, and the permanent aroma of freshly brewed coffee and warm pastry. It feels less like a commercial cafe and more like a particularly well-stocked sitting room that happens to serve excellent drinks.

The upper floors provide additional seating, and on summer evenings the space hosts occasional live music and cultural events that draw locals and visitors alike.

The Menu

Blaa Kannan is a cafe, not a restaurant, and the menu reflects that. Coffee is the anchor: properly brewed, served in generous portions, and available in the full range from espresso to latte to the kind of filter coffee that Icelanders drink in industrial quantities. Hot chocolate is rich and warming -- ideal after a day exploring northern Iceland's landscapes.

The food offering centres on cakes, pastries, and light meals. The cakes are homemade and excellent, particularly the traditional Icelandic varieties that rotate with the seasons. Soups, sandwiches, and toasted paninis provide more substantial options for those looking for lunch rather than a snack.

This is not the place for a three-course dinner. It is the place for a long, slow coffee on a rainy afternoon, a slice of cake after a morning of sightseeing, or a warming bowl of soup between whale-watching and church-visiting.

Practical Tips

Hafnarstraeti 96 is in the absolute centre of Akureyri, on the pedestrianised section of the main street. If you are arriving by cruise ship, the walk from the harbour leads directly past the door. If you are driving, park anywhere in the town centre and walk -- it is a small town and everything is close.

The cafe is open daily with generous hours, making it a reliable option at almost any time of day. Morning is quieter and ideal for settling in with a book and a coffee. Afternoons can get busier, especially when cruise ships are in port and passengers flood the town centre.

Blaa Kannan is the kind of place that makes you want to live in Akureyri. The building is beautiful, the coffee is good, the atmosphere is perfect, and the welcome is warm. In a town full of excellent cafes, this one has earned its status as the institution.