Cab, bus, flight, bus, bus, flight and finally a cab, we arrived into Akureyri in the north of Iceland. As we arrived late evening there was just enough time to drop the bags and head out to grab a bite to eat and a drink or two. It’s delightfully mild and nowhere near as cold as we had expected, it’s hovering around 1C. We went to a place called Akureyri Backpackers, yes the local hostel for dinner, they do local and international cuisine and the place has a good vibe and as you’d expect, it’s busy, as it is Friday evening.
Akureyri is small with a population of less than 18,000 but it offers a great base for tours and sightseeing. However our main reason for making the journey here is skiing and Akureyri is the best place in Iceland to ski.
While it pales in comparison to the Austrian Alps it still has a few good runs with rental gear available and lessons if you like. While we did get to do a little skiing, the resort had to close due to really bad weather and we were informed it would not improve anytime today.
Tonight, we’re on a tour to “hopefully” see the northern lights. It can be hit or miss and it’s all dependent on the weather, which is still very stormy. With the tour we’re going on if you do not get a viewing tonight, they give you a voucher to go again, which we will tomorrow evening if need be.
Akureyri is indeed very small, there’s about 3 hotels, a few guest houses and the hostel. There are however a few nice coffee shops, restaurants and a few shops and gift stores. The scenery however is very spectacular surrounded by amazing snow capped mountains and it has Iceland’s biggest fjord.
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