Most stops on the Golden Circle are about Iceland's geology. Friðheimar is different. It's a working tomato farm in Reykholt, South Iceland, where you eat lunch inside the greenhouse with tomato vines growing all around you and bumblebees doing their thing overhead. There's also an Icelandic horse program and a shop with tomato-based products to take home.
This guide covers what Friðheimar is, what you'll eat, how the farm works, and how to fit it into a Golden Circle day.
What Friðheimar Actually Is
Friðheimar is a real, working greenhouse farm with a restaurant inside, not a restaurant with plants for decoration. It grows tomatoes year-round in Reykholt on the Golden Circle and supplies a large share of Iceland's domestic tomato market. The restaurant, shop, horse program, and tours all exist on top of that core farming operation.
The Family Behind It
Friðheimar has been run since 1995 by Knútur Rafn Ármann and Helena Hermundardóttir, combining agronomy and horticulture. They bought the property and merged their two careers into one business. Their five children are involved in day-to-day operations, making it feel personal rather than like a generic tourist stop.
Where Friðheimar Is & How to Get There
Friðheimar is in Reykholt, about 1 hour and 25 minutes from Reykjavík on Route 35 along the Golden Circle. It fits between Geysir and Gullfoss or as a last stop on the way back. Parking is free, most tours include it, and there is no public transport so you need a rental car or a tour.
The Greenhouse Experience
The greenhouse is warm, humid, and filled with tomato plants growing several meters tall with grow lights and bumblebees. Tables sit directly underneath the plants, and the tomatoes are picked the same day. This makes it different from other farm-to-table places.
What You Eat at Friðheimar
The menu is built around what the greenhouse produces and is entirely tomato-based. The freshness comes from tomatoes picked the same day. The experience centers on simple food that highlights that quality.
How Friðheimar Grows Tomatoes in Iceland
Tomatoes grow year-round using geothermal energy from water at around 95°C drawn from a borehole. This keeps the greenhouse at a steady temperature even in winter. Iceland’s volcanic activity makes this possible.
The Icelandic Horses Experience
Friðheimar is also a horse-breeding farm with around 40 Icelandic horses. The focus is on temperament, willingness to work, and gait quality. Horses have been part of the farm since 1995.
How to Visit Friðheimar
Reservations are required for the main restaurant, especially in summer. The Winebar & Bistro does not require booking and is a backup option. Tours and horse experiences must be booked in advance.
Opening Hours
Restaurant kitchen: 11:30–16:00 daily. Shop and bar: 09:00–17:00. Winebar & Bistro: 12:00–22:00 with kitchen closing at 20:00. Greenhouse visits: 09:00–17:00.
Best Time to Visit
Summer offers more daylight, access to the horse show, and the busiest crowds. Winter provides a warm greenhouse contrast to cold weather and highlights geothermal growing. Both seasons offer different experiences.
How Long You Need
Plan 1.5 to 2 hours for eating and visiting the shop. Add about 1 hour for a greenhouse tour or stable visit.
Prices & What to Expect
Friðheimar is not a cheap lunch stop, with the tomato soup as the most affordable main. The cost reflects the full experience, not just the food. The Winebar & Bistro is a lower-cost way to visit.
Is Friðheimar Worth It
It adds warmth, a good meal, and a practical example of how Iceland uses natural resources to produce food. It contrasts with the usual geology and landscape stops on the Golden Circle. The experience is more interesting in person than it sounds.
Visiting Friðheimar as part of the Golden Circle
Friðheimar fits naturally into a Golden Circle day as a lunch stop between Geysir and Gullfoss. It does not add extra driving and breaks up quick outdoor stops with a longer indoor visit. Distances are about 20 minutes from Geysir, 25 minutes to Gullfoss, and 1 hour 25 minutes from Reykjavík.
Conclusion
Friðheimar is a working farm that grows tomatoes through an Icelandic winter and built a visitor experience around that. It stands out from other Golden Circle stops. Book in advance, try the soup, and leave room for tomato desserts.
Key Takeaways
Friðheimar is a working greenhouse tomato farm and restaurant in Reykholt, South Iceland.
You eat inside the greenhouse, next to the actual tomato plants.
The signature dish is unlimited tomato soup with freshly baked bread.
The farm runs on geothermal energy and renewable electricity, with no chemical pesticides.
Icelandic horse experiences, including a tölt demonstration, require advance booking.
Book the restaurant ahead of time, especially in summer.
It's about an hour east of Reykjavík, close to Geysir and Gullfoss on the Golden Circle.
What Friðheimar Actually Is
Friðheimar isn't a restaurant with some plants around for decoration. It's a real, working greenhouse farm with a restaurant inside. That's not a small distinction. It changes everything about the visit.
The farm is in Reykholt, on the Golden Circle route in South Iceland. It grows tomatoes year-round and accounts for a large share of Iceland's domestic tomato supply. The restaurant, shop, horse program, and greenhouse tours all exist on top of that core farming operation.
The Family Behind It
Friðheimar has been run since 1995 by Knútur Rafn Ármann, an agronomist who studied at Hólar University College, and Helena Hermundardóttir, a horticulturist from Reykir Horticultural College. They bought the property and merged their two careers into one business. Their five children are all involved in day-to-day operations, which probably explains why the place feels personal rather than like a generic tourist stop.
Where Friðheimar Is & How to Get There
Friðheimar is in Reykholt, Bláskógabyggð, about 1 hour and 25 minutes east of Reykjavík on Route 35. It sits right on the Golden Circle, so it's a natural lunch stop on any day trip through the area.
The standard Golden Circle order is Þingvellir National Park, then the Geysir geothermal area where Strokkur erupts every few minutes, then Gullfoss waterfall. Friðheimar fits well between Geysir and Gullfoss, or as a last stop on the way back to Reykjavík. Most organized Golden Circle tours include it as a lunch option.
If you're driving, parking is free, and the lot handles tour buses, too. There's no public transport directly to Friðheimar, so you need a rental car or a tour.
Friðheimar is about 20 minutes from Geysir and 25 minutes from Gullfoss, so it fits into a Golden Circle day without adding much extra driving.
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When you walk into the Friðheimar greenhouse from Iceland's cold outside air, the change is immediate. It's warm, humid, and smells like tomato plants. The tables are right underneath rows of plants growing several meters tall, with grow lights overhead and bumblebees moving between flowers.
This isn't a restaurant with plants staged around the room to set a mood. The tomatoes you eat were growing a few feet away from you until that morning. That's what actually makes it different from any other farm-to-table place you've been to.
What You Eat at Friðheimar
The menu is built around what the greenhouse produces. Everything is tomato-based, and since the tomatoes are picked the same day, the freshness comes through in the food.
The Famous Tomato Soup
The signature dish is an all-you-can-eat tomato soup with unlimited freshly baked bread, sour cream, butter, and cucumber salsa. It's the main reason most people come, and it lives up to the reputation. The soup is rich and naturally sweet in a way that makes sense once you know the tomatoes were on the vine a few hours earlier.
The price of the soup is 3,740 ISK (around $30), which might seem high, but like we said, includes all the refills you want and a bread buffet.
Full Menu Highlights
The menu has a lot more than soup. A few other things worth knowing about:
Heirloom tomatoes with handmade Icelandic burrata, basil oil, and sea salt. Good as a starter to share ($31).
Fresh pasta (ravioli or tagliatelle) with homemade tomato sauce and greenhouse vegetables ($37).
Stone-baked tortilla with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, or a vegan pesto version ($26).
Mussels in tomato seafood sauce, if you want something more filling ($55).
Greenhouse salad with optional add-ons like chicken, seafood, or cheese ($25).
Tomato Desserts & Drinks
This is where Friðheimar goes further than you'd expect. The desserts and drinks lean fully into the tomato theme, and it works better than it sounds.
Desserts include tomato ice cream with two sauce options, a cheesecake with green-tomato and cinnamon-lime jam, a three-scoop sorbet with flavors like red tomato-basil and green tomato-rosemary, and a Silky French chocolate mousse with red tomato jam and chocolate flakes. All four options have the same price: $18.
The drinks menu features a "Mary" series: Virgin Mary, Bloody Mary, Healthy Mary (made with green tomatoes, lime, ginger, and honey), plus a few others. There's also a tomato beer on draught.
It could easily feel like a gimmick. It doesn't, because the food is genuinely good.
How Friðheimar Grows Tomatoes in Iceland
The reason Friðheimar can grow tomatoes all year in Iceland comes down to one thing: geothermal energy. Iceland sits on a very active volcanic zone, and that means a lot of naturally hot water underground. The greenhouse is heated by water drawn from a borehole about 200 meters from the property. That water arrives at around 95°C and keeps the greenhouse at a steady growing temperature year-round.
The Greenhouse System
A few other things make it work:
Artificial lighting fills in for sunlight during Iceland's long, dark winters. The LED systems connect to a rooftop weather station and adjust automatically based on natural light outside.
CO2 from natural geothermal steam is fed into the greenhouse to help the plants photosynthesize better.
Clean spring water from Fljótsbotnar is used for irrigation. It's the same water served to guests at the table.
Around 1,200 bumblebees handle all the pollination, each visiting up to 2,000 flowers per day.
No chemical pesticides, only biological pest control methods.
Tomato varieties include Piccolo cherry tomatoes (their main specialty), plum, Flavorino cocktail, and heirloom. About 5% of the harvest doesn't meet retail size or appearance standards, so the kitchen uses it rather than throwing it away.
Friðheimar produces up to 2 tons of tomatoes per day, employs over 100 people full-time, and supplies a significant share of Iceland's domestic tomato market.
The Icelandic Horses Experience
Friðheimar is also a horse-breeding farm. Knútur has kept Icelandic horses since the farm started in 1995, focused on temperament, willingness to work, and gait quality. There are around 40 horses on the property.
What Makes Icelandic Horses Special
Icelandic horses are one of the purest breeds anywhere. They've been in Iceland for over 1,000 years with no outside bloodlines brought in. The main thing that sets them apart is that they have five gaits instead of the usual three. Walk, trot, and canter, plus the tölt and the skeið (flying pace).
The tölt is the one that gets people's attention. It's a four-beat lateral gait that's almost completely smooth, even at speed. When you see it demonstrated, the rider barely moves. That's the point.
Horse Experiences at Friðheimar
All of these need to be booked in advance:
Private stable visit with one-horse show: A guided talk about Icelandic horses and a live demonstration of all five gaits. Coffee and tea included.
Combined greenhouse tour and stable visit: Both experiences together. The price for this tour is 35,000 ISK for a group up to 9 people.
Summer horse show "A Meeting with the Icelandic Horse": Runs May to October for groups of 25 or more. Available in 14 languages with live music and an outdoor arena that seats 120.
Learn all about the unique Icelandic's horses and where to ride them
You need to plan ahead here. Friðheimar is busy enough that showing up without a reservation in summer is a real risk.
Do You Need a Reservation?
For the main restaurant, yes. Book in advance through dineout.is. The Winebar & Bistro (open 12:00–22:00 daily) doesn't need a reservation and is a good backup if the main restaurant is full. Greenhouse tours and horse experiences both require advance booking with minimum group sizes.
Opening Hours
Restaurant kitchen: daily 11:30–16:00
Little Tomato Shop & bar: 09:00–17:00
Winebar & Bistro: 12:00–22:00 (kitchen closes at 20:00)
Greenhouse visits: 09:00–17:00
Best Time to Visit
Friðheimar is open year-round, and each season is worth it for different reasons.
Summer (May to October) gives you more daylight, access to the horse show, and the busiest Golden Circle crowds. Book your table well ahead and try to avoid the 12:30–14:00 window if you prefer a quieter lunch.
Winter is worth considering, too. Walking into a warm, green, plant-filled greenhouse when it's cold and dark outside is a genuinely different experience. The farm's whole story about grow lights and geothermal heating also makes a lot more sense when you can feel what Icelandic winters are actually like.
How Long You Need
About 1.5 to 2 hours if you're eating and looking around the shop. Add an hour if you're doing the greenhouse tour or stable visit.
Prices & What to Expect
Friðheimar is not a cheap lunch stop. The tomato soup is the most affordable main, and the horse and greenhouse programs add up for groups. You're paying for the full experience, not just the food.
If you want the atmosphere without spending as much, the Winebar & Bistro is a lower-cost way in.
You can see the menu and the prices on their website.
Is Friðheimar Worth It?
For most Golden Circle visitors, the answer is yes. It adds something the rest of the route doesn't have: warmth, a good meal, and a real look at how Iceland uses its natural resources to produce food locally.
The Golden Circle is mostly geology and landscape. Friðheimar shows you what Icelanders do with that geology in practice. It's more interesting in person than it sounds in a description. Plus, the food is spectacular, especially the bread (probably the best I’ve ever eaten in my entire life).
Visiting Friðheimar as part of the Golden Circle
Friðheimar fits really naturally into a Golden Circle day and works best as a lunch stop between the main sights. Most of the route is quick outdoor stops, so sitting down inside the greenhouse for an hour or so gives the day a nice reset.
Kerið Crater – one of the easiest stops to add at the end
In terms of distance, Friðheimar is right where you want it:
Geysir → Friðheimar: ~20 minutes
Friðheimar → Gullfoss: ~25 minutes
Reykjavík → Friðheimar: ~1 hour 25 minutes
Because of where it sits, Friðheimar doesn’t feel like a detour. It just drops into the middle of the day, between Geysir and Gullfoss, and gives you something completely different from the usual waterfalls and viewpoints.
Conclusion
Friðheimar isn't like other Golden Circle stops. It's not a waterfall or a geyser. It's a working farm that figured out how to grow tomatoes through an Icelandic winter and built a whole visitor experience around that.
If you're doing the Golden Circle, it's worth a stop. Book your table before you go, try the soup, and leave room for the tomato desserts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Friðheimar
Yes, you can visit the shop and Winebar & Bistro without a restaurant reservation, but access to the main greenhouse dining area is typically tied to a booking.
Not automatically—guided greenhouse tours must be booked separately if you want a detailed look at the growing process.
Yes, it’s very family-friendly, with a casual setting, simple food options like soup and bread, and the novelty of dining in a greenhouse.
Yes, the on-site shop sells tomato-based products like sauces, jams, and souvenirs made from the farm’s produce.
About the author
Aron Freyr
Born and raised in Iceland, Aron Freyr has spent all 28 years of his life exploring the country and getting to know its landscapes, regions, and ever changing conditions. From long summer road trips to winter journeys through remote areas, he has traveled across Iceland more times than he can count. As part of the Go Car Rental Iceland team, Aron turns this firsthand experience into trustworthy, practical guidance that helps visitors navigate Iceland with confidence. His deep local insight makes him one of the most reliable voices on Icelandic travel today. He claims this expertise also includes knowing exactly which gas stations make the best hot dogs.
