Those, happily, are readily available to rent at Akureyri airport (along with somewhat beefier vehicles). Over the next five days, mine will carry me west to the whaling town of Siglufjordur and the horse-strewn dales of Skagafjordur, then east to the volcanic highlands and god-scale waterfalls around Lake Myvatn. You won’t need wheels for the first day or two, though, as you’ll want to investigate Akureyri itself: a couple of sweet two-room museums and galleries; a good long weekend’s worth of excellent bars and restaurants; and a neat botanical garden that’s apparently home to a thriving community of elves. “Nordic seer” Bryndis Fjola, one of the 54 per cent of Icelanders who believe in “the hidden people”, can introduce you on one of her daily tours (£34; huldustigur.is).
Prepare to join that 54 per cent once you head out of Akureyri because everything up here looks mythic. I visited in November, when snow lay dusted across the coastal lowlands like icing sugar on something from Bake Off. Sheep-speckled valleys glittered with frost in a low, slanting, milky sunshine that seemed to make early morning last all day (you’re mere miles from the Arctic Circle here), and the rivers that shimmer across the dales foamed fast and free and boisterous, like they were laughing out loud in their melt-water pomp, sheening bright moon-silver when the sun rose high enough to hit them. If I were an elf, this is where I would live too.
Some roads in Iceland are built to bypass those spots thought to be home to the hidden folk, so as to not disturb them and invite their mischievous ire. But Route 1 skims without a detour through the serene landscape out of Akureyri. In fact it circles the whole country, the spine of Iceland’s road network, so it’s kept open in all but the most brutal midwinter conditions. That makes this road trip feasible for nine months of the year. Although direct flights operate only from autumn to spring, the rest of the year Akureyri is a mere 45-minute, 60-quid hop from Reykjavik.
Akureyri has galleries and museums to explore alongside restaurants serving excellent food
Once there, the driving is effortless — all empty roads, well signposted and well maintained (even in the middle of nowhere and beyond). But the views are even better without a windscreen so I soon head out west to the Skagafjordur valley, Iceland’s cowboy country, for a joyride of a different kind.
Iceland’s horses are known for their sturdiness, small size and unique extra gait, the tolt, which turns out to be basically a trot but without the sore bottom you normally get from all that bumping. They are also, says Gracina from Hestasport stables, uniformly good-natured (rides from £51; riding.is)
“How do you ensure that?” I ask.
“Icelanders are extremely strict and put horses in trouble at the first sign of a nip or kick.”
“What does ‘in trouble’ mean?”
She lowers her voice, as if our horses might otherwise hear, and says, “The slaughterhouse.” (I avoid horse meat for the rest of the trip but Gracina, gloriously unsentimental, says that in common with most Icelanders she’s pretty partial to it herself.)
Ed Grenby exploring Iceland on horseback
My steak-to-be carries me effortlessly up some treacherously stony riverside slopes, like nature’s own 4×4, until we reach a cheerful many-braided waterfall, where the spray mingles with steam from the thermal springs behind. I gaze from horizon to horizon and see not a single thing in the whole vast, unchanged sagascape to interfere with my fantasy that I’m a bloodied Norseman surveying the lands I’ve conquered.
My fancy is further fuelled up the road in Saudarkrokur at a “virtual and augmented reality museum” called 1238: The Battle of Iceland (1238.is, £19). Here I prove beyond doubt that I’ve got what it takes to be a Viking by donning a sort of high-tech jerkin that replicates the blood and iron of war … in vibrating lightly when an AR enemy impales me with a spear. Thor might not be happy but then he probably wouldn’t be crazy about the natty bright yellow fish-skin bow ties that are inexplicably on sale in the gift shop, either.
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I overnight next door at the cosy Hotel Tindastoll (B&B doubles from £100; arctichotels.is), which like everywhere I stay or eat at on this four-night trip has an unshowy Icelandic emphasis on no-nonsense looks and excellent food (this time exquisitely smoky-salty dried lamb to start, melty lamb stew for main). But before bed there’s the small matter of the aurora borealis.
I’ve been to southern Iceland six or eight times and not seen so much as a 12-watt bulb’s worth. Here, though, just pottering about by the side of the road, I happen to glance up and catch a river of spectral grey-green light sidling casually across the sky like it’s no big deal, yet rippling and fluttering its way indelibly into the favourites folder of my photos app (not to mention my mind’s).
Akureyri has picture-postcard good looks
I wasn’t so lucky on subsequent nights (damn clouds) but Iceland’s waterfalls never disappoint. Godafoss, half an hour east of Akureyri, is as pretty as a postcard, all white and frothy as if Odin’s pouring out a massive piña colada. Then at Dettifoss, an hour further east, I’m quietly enjoying the lovely squeak-crunch of virgin snow under Vibram sole on wooden walkway when, suddenly, the entire world drops away and in the resulting chasm is a biblically powerful 100m wall of water, thundering like the beginning of the end of the world.
By now I’ve come off Route 1 and onto the Diamond Circle, a 160-mile route of pure car-advert visuals — long, sinuous curves of narrow asphalt arcing up the sides of mountains, snow-duvet glens on one side, metallic blue sea on the other. Eventually it delivers me to serene Lake Myvatn, where a guide from Geo Travel hauls me up into the icy highlands by Superjeep and snowmobile, past a pair of pale ptarmigan corpses hanging from the eaves of a house, ready to eat for Christmas but looking a little Blair Witch-y to me (tour £157; geotravel.is). Up in the mountains, meanwhile, there’s a midwinter-in-Mordor vibe: bare black volcanic rock poking through the snow; smoky fissures belching forth sulphur; basalt spew-shapes from the last eruption, like twisted, tortured mockeries of men.
Husakiv’s new geothermal bath complex, GeoSea, is a sleek alternative to the Blue Lagoon with knockout views
Frodo and Sam would have loved the snowmobiles, mind: ring destroyed and, like me, back in Dalvik in time for a matinee performance from Aretha. From our 25-knot Rib boat, going fast enough to make your cheeks wobble, we watch Ms/Mr Franklin and pals breach, spume, breathe and wave tail-flukes winsomely, each dive like a diva’s curtain call.
One fjord further up the coast is sleepy Husavik, where I get even closer — too close, arguably — to the whales. At the fishing town’s Whale Museum I learn that cetaceans “show emotions such as parental love, joy and grief” — so I wonder which emotion they’d feel seeing a porpoise’s goolies in a display jar here. (Me, I feel … intimidated. Well they are, claims the sign proudly, the largest genitals of all mammals.)
My own get an airing just up the hill at the town’s new geothermal baths complex, as it’s the actual law to shower naked before entering any kind of public pool. These are ubiquitous in Iceland — even the smallest towns have one, functioning as a social focal point, like a watery village pub — but GeoSea is one of my favourites (£37; geosea.is). It’s a sleek Scandi-modern blend of wood and stone cut into the hillside like a Bond villain’s lair, if the Bond villain really valued the effect of mineral-rich seawater on his skincare regime.
Steaming under the sky like a dry-ice machine in the 1980s Top of the Pops studio, the baths look across the blue-green fjord to white-topped mountains, their darker lower slopes prettied with waterfalls. As I wallow, late afternoon sun gives the whole scene an empyrean golden glow like Valhalla itself, and now I know why they call it an infinity pool: I want to stay for ever.
Ed Grenby was a guest of Regent Holidays, which has four nights’ half-board from £1,195pp, including flights, car hire and tours (regent-holidays.co.uk); and Visit North Iceland (northiceland.is)
A guide to northern Iceland
By Oliver Berry
Things to do
Myvatn Nature Baths near Lake Myvatn
GETTY IMAGES
If you’re looking to avoid the crowds at the perennially busy Blue Lagoon, northern Iceland is one of the best places to do so: Myvatn Nature Baths (£39pp; myvatnnaturebaths.is) is smaller, quieter and way more relaxing. There are many other geothermal pools to discover including the spectacular one at Hofsos (£6pp; facebook.com/sundlauginhofsosi), which overlooks the Skagafjordur fjord.
A hike around the volcanic craters at Viti, Krafla and Hverir gives you an insight into Iceland’s geological activity, while the area around Dimmuborgir shows what happens once the lava cools: the weird basalt towers here are straight out of Mordor.
Northern Iceland is also great for road trips: the Trollaskagi peninsula, Skagafjordur and Eyjafjordur are packed with scenic drama and dotted with little fishing villages. For a wild adventure, book a boat trip to the islands of Drangey or Flatey to see huge seabird colonies including everyone’s favourite, the playful puffins (£95; drangey.net). Akureyri itself has some interesting museums and galleries, and there are even more to be found out in the countryside, such as the oddball Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum (£10pp; safnasafnid.is), the surprisingly fascinating Herring Era Museum on Siglufjordur (£14; sild.is) and Sigurgeir’s Bird Museum, with a spooky collection of stuffed seabirds located out in the middle of nowhere (£14pp; fuglasafn.is). A visit to Glaumbaer (£11pp; glaumbaer.is) is worthwhile too: it’s the best place in Iceland to see traditional Icelandic turf houses which were in use right up until the 20th century and surely must have provided some inspiration for Bilbo Baggins’ house at Bag End (fittingly, for hobbit fans, there’s also a super tearoom here).
Places to eat
You’re way out in rural Iceland here but that doesn’t mean you won’t be eating well. The charming café at Vogafjos is a must visit. It’s based on a working dairy farm where you can watch the cows being milked and taste homemade skyr, ice cream and fresh bread baked underground using geothermal heat (mains from £22; vogafjosfarmresort.is). Equally cosy is Gisli, Eirikur, Helgi in Dalvik, a perfect small-town café with mix-and-match decor and hearty home-cooked grub (mains from £10; facebook.com/bakkabraedurkaffi). For something more sophisticated, Husavik is renowned for its seafood: try the fish soup and langoustines at the seasonal Naustid restaurant, which reopens in March 2025 (mains from £16; facebook.com/naustid). Alternatively, head to Fjallakaffi in Modrudalur for farm-to-table dining and homemade cakes (mains from £13pp; fjalladyrd.is)
Where to stay
Luxurious Deplar Farm riffs on traditional Icelandic turf houses
ELEVEN EXPERIENCE
Like many Icelandic towns and cities, Akureyri’s hotel choice is a little underwhelming, so you’ll find more character by heading out into the country. Deplar Farm is the standout, a super-luxurious spin on Icelandic turf houses located in the lovely Fljot Valley (minimum three nights’ full-board doubles from £3,195; elevenexperience.com). Fosshotel Myvatn is another stylish, minimalist choice (B&B doubles from £120; islandshotel.is), while Kaldbaks-Kot goes in the other direction, with sweet log cabins that look like something from an Icelandic fairytale (minimum two nights’ self-catering for two from £251; kaldbakskot.com). For heritage try Arbol, which offers B&B rooms in a lovely, timber-clad Husavik house dating from 1903 (room-only doubles from £97; arbol.is).
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Publish date : 2024-10-11 23:01:00
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