Iceland Day 7 — Myvatn and Akureyri

Day 7 was our last day near Myvatn and it was the day when we finally went to see the lake. It was also the day when we traveled to Akureyri, the north capital of Iceland and Iceland’s second largest city.

It was our last morning at Helluhraun 13 guesthouse. We ate lava bread with smoked salmon, exchanged travel tips with the two couples from France and England who also stayed at the guesthouse that night, bid farewell to our hostess and left for our next adventure.

We started with the Grjótagjá cave that we couldn’t fully explore the previous evening because it was too dark. In the morning we could see that the water in the cave was deep blue. No one bathed, and the poster at the entrance warned that the water was too hot for bathing and rocks may fall from the cave’s ceiling. We didn’t risk it, but later I read that people who don’t mind swimming in the water of 42 degrees Celsius (108 F) bathe in the cave.

After the cave we went to Höfði Nature Park on the east side of Myvatn. It is a very pretty park with terrific views on the lake but we did not enjoy the walk a whole lot. In fact, I was eager to leave as soon as possible. Well, it was hard to enjoy the picturesque views when huge, thick swarms of midges try to fly into your hair, nose, mouth, eyes — you name it. The only plus is that midges, unlike mosquitoes, don’t bite. It helped a lot that we came prepared with mosquito nets (in fact, it was the only place near Myvatn where we really needed to wear them), but that only made the walk bearable rather than enjoyable. The best thing about our Höfði walk were the views of the lake itself. Swarms of midges notwithstanding, Myvatn (Midge Lake) is very pretty, with lava islands scattered around the lake.

Right next to Höfði, on the opposite side of the road, lies another famous Myvatn tourist destination, Dimmuborgir. It is a lava field with some unusually shaped formations that are reminiscent of castles, churches and anything else one can imagine. The only negative side to all these formations is that they are all blackish, so it was nice to walk there but photographing them well was difficult. We took an easy, 2 km round trip hike to see the main attraction, the Church rock formation. To be honest, after seeing Hljóðanklettar the day before, we didn’t find Dimmuborgir very unusual, but it is moderately interesting, close to Myvatn and next to a paved road.

After the hike we felt like we need a break for lunch. The Dimmuborgir cafe was too busy so we decided to go to Daddi’s pizza again, just like the day before. We enjoyed our smoked trout and pine nuts pizza and even added a review of the cafe on Tripadvisor.

Our last destination near Myvatn was Skútustaðagígar pseudo craters on the south side of the lake. The hills look like small volcano craters but apparently they were formed by gas explosions in lava flow. They never erupted.

I felt a little sad leaving Myvatn area that day. We haven’t seen everything it had to offer. It would be nice to return there once again. Anyway, we needed to drive west to Akureyri.

On our way we made a stop at Goðafoss waterfall. The waterfall is very beautiful and easily accessible. To access it from the east bank we parked at a nearby gas station and hiked about 1 km to the waterfall. The West bank has better access because the road goes directly to the waterfall, but the view is not as good (the same deal as with Dettifoss). Goðafoss translates as the “waterfall of the gods” but not because they were involved in its creation. Rather, someone threw their former gods down from this waterfall to make way for new gods.

Finally, we made it to Akureyri to our rented apartment with a view onto the bay. The apartment was located in the city center and was equipped with a washer and a dryer. Hooray, we were finally able to wash our clothes!

While the machines were doing our laundry we went to explore the city. Akureyri is a small town by the American standards but by Icelandic standards it is by no means small. There were traffic lights and a two lane road near the harbor. Under the shock of returning to the civilization we decided to do something civilized and went to dine at a restaurant. We chose one of the top places recommended on the Tripadvisor, Kaffi Ilmur, which was basically an old house transformed into a coffee shop (first floor) and a restaurant (second floor). It retained its home atmosphere and even makes you feel at home. For example, we needed to go to a kitchen counter to cut bread for our soup and go downstairs to get the desserts. For the main course we had pan seared fish of the day (cod) and cake with cappuccino for dessert. Fish was cooked perfectly with a very nice creamy sauce. The main course was accompanied with soup, salad buffet and homemade bread which you get to cut yourself. Considering Icelandic prices, it was very affordable (3350 kr, about $30, per person). For dessert we had Skyr cake, and I liked it so much that I said I would love to get the recipe — and the owner kindly gave it to me!

After dinner, we strolled around Akureyri’s bay and went back to the apartment to sleep.

Here is the map of the places we visited on Day 7.