Where to Stay in Akureyri, Norðurland Eystra

What is Akureyri known for?

Akureyri stands as the unofficial capital of the region, the largest town in Iceland outside the southwest, and a working harbour at the inner end of Eyjafjörður where the mountains close in around the water. Its skyline has one anchor. Akureyrarkirkja rises in steps above the centre, and below it the town gathers galleries, schools and the trade that keeps the whole north of the country supplied and connected.

What are the main landmarks in Akureyri?

One church marks the town. Akureyrarkirkja climbs the slope above the centre in two stepped towers and sets the whole skyline, while Glerárkirkja serves the northern districts and Péturskirkju holds the Catholic congregation nearby. The arts have their own corners.

Listasafnið á Akureyri shows the region's work, Minjasafnið á Akureyri keeps its past, the writer's home of Davíðshús stands among the old streets, and Akureyrarvöllur draws the crowds for football on match days.

What is the history of Akureyri?

Commerce built Akureyri. Akureyri was established in 1786, and the sheltered inner reach of Eyjafjörður gave it the safe anchorage that the open northern coast of Iceland mostly lacked. The fjord did the rest.

Goods came in by sea and farm produce came down from the surrounding valleys, and the cluster of warehouses at the head of the water slowly grew into the trading hub for the whole north of the country. The town climbed the slope from there. Akureyrarkirkja was raised above the centre in the twentieth century to crown the growing place, the schools and museums followed, and the harbour kept its role as the link between the north and the wider world.

The islands stayed in its orbit. Hrísey and Grímsey out toward the mouth of Eyjafjörður remained tied to Akureyri, leaving the town the steady anchor of Norðurland Eystra and the unofficial capital of the north.

Where is Akureyri?

Mountains pen the town in. Akureyri sits at the head of Eyjafjörður, the longest fjord cutting south into northern Iceland, on a narrow shelf of flat ground where steep slopes drop almost to the water and a river runs down through the northern districts. The fjord opens northward to the sea.

Out toward its mouth lie the islands of Hrísey and Grímsey, the latter touching the Arctic Circle, and from the town's shelf the land rises fast on both sides into the high country that walls Norðurland Eystra off from the rest of the island.

What is the climate of Akureyri?

The fjord softens the cold. Held deep at the head of Eyjafjörður and shielded by the mountains around it, Akureyri runs drier and calmer than the exposed coast of northern Iceland, with cool short summers, long dark winters and snow that lingers on the slopes well into spring. The light swings hard with the seasons.

Close under the Arctic Circle, the town moves between near-endless summer daylight and deep midwinter gloom, and the sheltered inner water keeps the worst of the Atlantic storms from reaching the shore.

How do you get to Akureyri?

Most arrive by road or short flight. Akureyri sits on the ring road that circles Iceland, a long drive north from Reykjavík through the interior valleys, and its airport at the head of Eyjafjörður takes domestic flights that cut the journey from the capital to under an hour. The sea still counts here.

Ferries run from the town's shore out to the fjord-mouth islands of Hrísey and Grímsey, and the harbour takes the cruise ships that work the northern coast of Norðurland Eystra in summer.