Akureyri — ONWARD TO 40

Akureyri

To be honest, the prospect of visiting Akureyri didn’t speak to me very much at first. While it’s Iceland’s northernmost and 2nd largest city, it doesn’t appear to have much going on at first glance. Sure, there’s a fair amount of outdoor activities accessible via Akureyri, but many of these can be also accessed via Reykjavik. However, I always try to look beyond the first impression. I’m glad I took another look at Akureyri.

Going online to search for more info, I saw that at the very least Akureyri had an adorable downtown area and a culturally rich small-town vibe. I was intrigued. And the more learned, I confirmed that while yes, Reykjavik and Akureyri offer many of the same touring opportunities, certain things (i.e. Northern Lights tours) would probably be better done from an Akureyri starting point (do note that aside from the added cost of getting to Akureyri, tours are generally a bit more expensive there). After a coworker gave a glowing recommendation on Akureyri, it was settled.

Given that there are few airports outside of Iceland that service Akureyri’s airport, most tourists fly into Reykjavik and travel via rental car, tour bus, or plane to Akureyri. While renting a car and driving through the country is something I want to do in the future, I had to take an airplane this time given my lack of time and the fact that the New Year is when the Icelandic winter peaks. The airport that one uses to fly to domestic airports in Iceland is not the Keflavik International Airport, but rather is a small domestic airport in Reykjavik. This airport is small (about six gates), efficient, and really feels more like a bus or train station. (Side note: the coffee and pastries in the café there are excellent).

Most intra-country flights in Iceland are served through Air Iceland Connect, which I understand to be a subsidiary of Icelandair. Flight prices are reasonable, and service is quite good. Akureyri’s airport is even smaller. I think it had two gates, maybe one. Nonetheless, I had no trouble getting a taxi to my hotel.

My only major plans in Akureyri were to explore downtown and go on a Northern Lights tour, both of which I accomplished. There were a couple of snags though. My coworker had recommended Kristjans Bakari to me for pastries and sandwiches, and I was pumped to know that it was in walking distance from my hotel. However, what I didn’t know was that there are two locations, both were equidistant from my hotel and I for some reason used Apple Maps for navigation and it pointed me to the one opposite of downtown. The other location was fine. I did want lunch and it didn’t have a lunch menu, but I subsisted on a donut covered with caramel and crispy rice and coffee.

Afterwards, I started walking to what I thought was downtown, but it became clear soon enough that I was walking away from the city and needed to turn around. (Hey- I found a serene little walking bridge and park area).

Realizing I was heading to the actual downtown, I wanted to get real lunch at a highly rated café. Standing in my way was the iciness and hilliness of the sidewalks and roads. Unlike Reykjavik, January is not a busy time in Akureyri. It makes sense. Akureyri gets very cold and the winter of 2019-20 in Iceland has dealt some more intense weather than usual. This isn’t the only way in which Akureyri is unlike the larger city to its south. Whereas, Iceland efficiently leverages the nation’s geothermal heating system to keep the sidewalks always clear, this was not the case in my Akureyri experience. Akureyri seemed to be more car-oriented, even downtown. Navigating sidewalks and side streets was not going in my favor and the café was on a side street, so I found that I had to abandon my original plans and head to one of the restaurants in the main square of downtown.

Downtown Akureyri is delightful, featuring a handful of local restaurants and shops. There is an art museum that was very inviting from the outside, but unfortunately I did not plan well enough to get to it before it closed. My main stops were Akureyri Fish & Chips for a late lunch, a few gift shops, and dinner at the Hotel Kea. Like Reykjavik, Akureyri is also home to a big downtown church, Akureyrarkirkja. I climbed up the steps to Akureyrarkirkja to admire the vastness of the building and the very clean but distinguished Nordic architecture, and it was really a nice site against the backdrop of the dark, snowy sky. Unfortunately, after a day of navigating deftly around icy and slippery hazards, I succumbed to the wet steps going down, and fell a few steps, but luckily caught the railing before things got too bad. I did not intend to start out 2020 alone and unconscious miles from the Arctic Circle!

The Main Event

Luckily, I only sustained minor soreness at the church and was able to move onto the main event for me in Akureyri, which was a roadtrip to see the Northern Lights. Besides wanting to see what life was like in North Iceland, one of the main reasons for my trip was to get a better shot at seeing the Aurora Borealis. I arranged a tour through Saga Travel, which picked up from the Hotel Kea and went several miles outside of town to some prime viewing spots.

I piled into a van with tourists from all over and we were shuttled a few miles outside of Akureyri. While riding, we learned that Akureyri is basically the world capital of bearnaise sauce and boasts its own style of pizza, topped with meat, bearnaise sauce and French fries (only a few thousand calories if you’re counting). I like to try the local cuisine wherever I go, but I’m getting chest pains just thinking about this one.

Anyhow, our guide (who was wonderful and whose name escapes me at the moment) is intermittently on the phone with his network of Northern Lights watchers searching for a good spot. We drove in about three different directions before he decided that a spot outside of an old fish processing plant would be the place to watch. The guide wasn’t promising us much in terms of what we might see that night- the Northern Lights are never guaranteed to show!

As we parked and gathered outside of the van to watch the lights, it was clear that as a group, we had tempered expectations, but were willing to stand outside in 12F/-11C temperatures to wait for a chance to see those breathtaking green and gold hues. I personally had wanted to see them for years and was willing to bear through the cold, the wind, and the snow for this opportunity. Our guide helped us along by providing some rich, delicious hot cocoa.

Did I get to see the Northern Lights?

Technically, yes. While I didn’t see the colors everyone hopes to see, the moving star formations were visible and pretty neat. We kept hearing “you see them brewing” and there was momentary hope that we’d see that elusive colorful burst of light. Visitors with a high-quality professional camera could see some of the color. Alas, my iPhone 8 is not that camera. All said, this was still a fun experience. But not a “once in a lifetime” one, because I have no doubt that I’ll try it again.

Concluding Thoughts/Observations

· I’d like to do a trip around the Ring Road of Iceland, spending more time in the northern region. I know I only scratched the surface of Akureyri.

· Given the fantastic museums I’ve been to in Reykjavik, I’m disappointed I missed the art museum in Akureyri. I missed other museums as well, because I didn’t rent a car. Icelanders love museums and it shows. Akureyri alone features…

· One of the movie theatres in Akureyri was playing Cats on two screens. I will just leave that there.

· Iceland is a great place to spend New Year’s, but it can be rough for the solo traveler. If When I go a third time, I won’t plan to go solo.

· I didn’t go to one of the famous swimming pools this time, but I definitely recommend it. I stayed across the street from the main one in Akureyri and feel dumb for not packing my swimsuit.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you’re staying well. Now that I’ve settled more into my work-from-home routine, I plan to step up the frequency of posts. Until we meet again!