Question on Akureyri

[CCJack]

We are on a cruise stopping at Akureyri for 2 days.   I would like to book an excursion (Lake Myvatn) for one day.     Is there much to do in the town on your own for our 2nd (short) day?   Or is this a stop that mostly is just to catch excursions to see the countryside?

 

thank you.

 

 

[tring]

On 2/4/2022 at 9:09 PM, CCJack said:

We are on a cruise stopping at Akureyri for 2 days.   I would like to book an excursion (Lake Myvatn) for one day.     Is there much to do in the town on your own for our 2nd (short) day?   Or is this a stop that mostly is just to catch excursions to see the countryside?

 

thank you.

 

 

 

We did the Jewels of the north tour from there a number of years back, which includes bubbling mud pools, I think a waterfall, and if I remember correctly Lake Myvatin.  I would definitely recommend that, we were especially taken with the bubbling mud pools and the wide array of coloured soils in that area.  Our tours were included so we were on the ship's tour and could well be the best in such deserted surroundings.  We did walk into the town late the previous day and I cannot remember anything in particular that was a not to be missed venue (it is a fairly small place), but it is a very pleasant place for a stroll and the docking location is very scenic as well, so good to just relax and enjoy that.  I suggest you use Google Earth to see the town and street view will give you a good idea of the surrounding views - we use that a lot.

 

Our ship stayed overnight with daytime sailings up and down the Fjord to Akureyri, so we enjoyed that couple of hours each way out on deck and there was a wildlife expert on board.  We saw a blue whale on the way out, which is a rare sighting and provoked much excitment.  Hence one of those places it is well worth staying out on deck at the sail out.  Enjoy, whatever you decide to do

[trosebery]

Yes, most people will use Akureyri as a base for excursions elsewhere, either on land (e.g. to the Myvatn area, white water rafting, or horseback riding) or on sea (usually whale/puffin watching), but if you don't want to adventure elsewhere or really don't have much time, Akureyri has a cute little botanic gardens and a geothermally heated swimming pool if you want to stroll around and enjoy what the locals do.

[CCJack]

thank you for the replies.....

 

[Nitemare]

As said, it's a small town with not much to do.  We pretty much walked the length and breadth of it in 2-3 hours and wished we had gone exploring instead.

[flamingos]

Thank you - we will be there from 8-5 on our cruise, just the one day.  I haven't had a chance to look at excursions yet.

[kccrzr]

The second day we were in Akureyri we went on a morning whale watching tour with Ambassador. https://ambassador.is/tours-akureyri/
 

It was a good tour.  The RIB boats are, of course, faster and get closer to the whales. We then had plenty of time for lunch and walk in town. 

[Turtles06]

Several years ago, our ship spent far more time in Akureyri than was intended -- a one-day port call.  And for that day, a bunch of us on our Roll Call had booked what turned out to be an excellent private tour well outside the city -- one of the classic Lake Myvatn tours (Godafoss Waterfall, bubbling mud pots, Lake Myvatn Nature Baths, and more).  I highly recommend doing something like that in Akureyri.

 

However, because of weather that kept us out of another port, we docked in Akureyri early, on the prior afternoon.  This was fine, as it gave us a chance to walk around Akureyri that we wouldn't otherwise have had.  It's a small town, as others have said, and you definitely don't want to spend much time there or let it take away from getting outside the town.  So it was okay for that afternoon.  However, because of a new storm blowing across Iceland, we learned at the end of the next day (the day we'd been scheduled to be there), as our tour was ending, that the ship could not leave Akureyri,  and would have to remain in port.  So we had yet another chunk of the next day there.  Had folks known about this in advance, perhaps some sort of tour could have been planned.  But there wasn't enough notice, so there we were, with more time than anyone needed or wanted in Akureyri.  By the time we finally sailed away, the Captain announced that our ship had set the record for the most time spent in Akureyri, and that we'd been made "honorary citizens."   🤣 

 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[amypintx]

On 2/10/2022 at 7:58 PM, Turtles06 said:

And for that day, a bunch of us on our Roll Call had booked what turned out to be an excellent private tour well outside the city -- one of the classic Lake Myvatn tours (Godafoss Waterfall, bubbling mud pots, Lake Myvatn Nature Baths, and more).  I highly recommend doing something like that in Akureyri.

 

Do you remember what company you used for the private tour?