Earlier this month, Best Served Scandinavia specialist Ian Reddington travelled from Manchester to Akureyri to experience the natural wonders and cultural delights of North Iceland – a spectacular, lesser-visited alternative to Reykjavik that’s becoming increasingly popular thanks to direct flight connections with the UK. Below, he shares the highlights of his trip to give you a taste of what to expect.
Day one: Akureyri food tour & Forest Lagoon
Forest Lagoon
After only a two-hour flight from Manchester to Akureyri, a short five-minute transfer brought us to the Berjaya Hotel Akureyri, our base for the coming days’ adventures. We started with a guided walk and food tour of downtown Akureyri – a compact town, but one with plenty to offer in the way of innovative local restaurants and a flourishing cultural scene. We tasted local delicacies such as smoked lamb, hardfiskur (dried cod) and fish soup. Other highlights included Akureyri Botanical Garden (the world’s northernmost garden, second only to Tromsø), the HOF Cultural Centre and the traffic lights with heart shapes (which were introduced to provide some joy during the financial crisis in 2008).
Following the culinary tour it was time for a quick change and to head to the Forest Lagoon – the perfect place to rest and recharge. Located only a few minutes from the centre of town on the opposite side of the fjord, it’s replete with two infinity-edge hot pools (one at 37°C, another at 40°C) a sauna, a cold plunge pool and even a couple of swim-up bars. Afterwards, dinner was served back at the hotel – an excellent offering of lamb tartare, smoked cod and beetroot salad.
Top five reasons to visit North Iceland this winter
Day two: Lake Myvatn & Husavik
Ian at Godafoss waterfall
Today, we headed east to Lake Myvatn, making a few stops along the way, first at the beautiful Godafoss waterfall. We then continued to the Dimmuborgir lava field and Grjótagjá (a hot spring cave where the tectonic plates meet) before lunch at Vogafjos Farm Resort – a farm-to-table restaurant where you can watch the cows eating just a few steps away.
Next was a short stop to visit another geothermal pool, the Myvatn Nature Baths, which are currently undergoing a major refurbishment, set to be completed in 2025. The water here is the same kind of milky blue, silica-rich water you get at the Blue Lagoon. We were meant to go snowmobiling after this, but as you can see from the pictures, there was a lack of snow – quite unusual for this time of year. As with a lot of the Icelanders I met, our snowmobile guide was unfazed by the conditions and simply adapted our plans to go on a Superjeep tour of the surrounding old volcano cone, Hverfjall.
Superjeep tour in the Lake Myvatn region
Following this fantastic off-road adventure, we headed up north to Husavik, the town where the now famous Eurovision film with Will Ferrell was filmed in 2019. Before dinner, there was just enough time for another soak at a geothermal spa, GeoSea, which in the winter has stunning views of the snow-capped mountains across the bay (and if you’re lucky, the possibility of spotting whales in the water below). Finally, we stopped by the Eurovision exhibition and then it was off to dinner at a local restaurant called Gamli Baukur, again offering fresh fish, cured meats and delicious fish stew.
Day three: Siglufjordur & Beer Spa
The Herring Era Museum, Siglufjordur
In Iceland you really can get all four seasons in one day, and today was a perfect example of this. In the morning, it was remarkably mild, around 16°C, and later on a snowstorm was forecast. A slight change of plans and we were off again, this time to one of the most northerly points of Iceland, the town of Siglufjordur. The drive here is truly stunning, along the fjord and passing through various tunnels, each valley offering different weather conditions to the last.
In Siglufjordur, my first stop was the Herring Era Museum, which offers fascinating insights into how this tiny town benefitted from the fishing boom in the 1940s and 1950s. As the weather closing in, it was time to head back south, stopping off in Dalvik for another version of a traditional Icelandic fish soup, the best on the trip by far. After lunch it was time to visit another spa, this time one with a twist. The Beer Spa mixes hot water, beer and other minerals for you to soak in, while of course enjoying the local brew.
Ian enjoying a local Icelandic brew at the Beer Spa
The final stop of the day was to a family of fishermen that have lived in the same town for five generations. After a quick history lesson on cod fishing, it was time to try some rotten shark – an acquired taste (with a rather potent stench), but a memorable experience nonetheless. We then headed back to Akureyri for dinner at Mulaberg Bistro & Bar.
Day four: Whale watching & Christmas shopping
Braving the elements on a whale watching trip
The temperatures had really dipped overnight and it was great to wake up to a light dusting of snow this morning, with plenty more of it on the way. We were due to go whale watching, which North Iceland is particularly renowned for, but unfortunately by this time the weather had well and truly closed in on us, so we had to head back early due to the intensity of the conditions and poor visibility – but at least the snow had finally arrived in earnest.
When the weather turns so dramatically, which isn’t uncommon in Iceland, there isn’t too much you can do to combat it other than just sit back, relax and watch the snow blanket the landscapes and the streets outside. The rest of the day involved some Christmas shopping in Akureyri, board games and reflecting back on a truly memorable trip to North Iceland.
Day five: Returning home
We caught our flight home from Akureyri this morning, bringing our North Iceland adventure to an end. It’s a fantastic destination that has so much to offer, not just in terms of the huge variety of excursions that can be done, but the people who truly bring it to life with all their stories, expertise and genuine enthusiasm for the country they live in. With direct flights from both Manchester and London throughout the winter season, Akureyri is perfect for those who want a short, relaxing city break, but also for those who want to explore a region that’s still fairly off the beaten track. Whether you’ve been to Reykjavik before or you’re considering visiting Iceland for the first time, I can heartily recommend a trip to Akureyri.
