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Jewels of the North
 Duration: Approx.
8 hours
The capital of the north, Akureyri, is reputed to be the
nation’s loveliest town: with its attractive houses and colourful
well-kept gardens, it is blessed with a more favourable climate than you
may imagine – warm in summer and hospitable in winter. We leave the city
and cross the fjord and head to Godafoss, ‘the waterfall of the gods,’ a
raging but majestic waterfall which hurls down a huge volume of water. The
name celebrates the throwing of Thorgeir’s pagan gods into the falls in
the year 1000; Thorgeir was president of the Althing that decided in
favour of Christianity. Our next stop is Lake Myvatn, the third largest
lake in Iceland, where a sizeable community has developed around this
bird-watchers’ paradise. The area is a remarkable display of nature at is
most threatening and most endearing: lava fields, abundant craters,
surreal rock formations, boiling springs, sulphur pits, mud pools and a
breathtaking blue lake. The marshy shore of the lake is rich in wildfowl,
and it’s an important bird sanctuary harbouring the world’s most diverse
duck colony, many of which breed here during spring. We shall stop to
explore some of the moon-like pseudo-craters at Skutustadir, before an
excellent three-course lunch complete with local spring water and coffee
or tea will be served at a nearby leading hotel. After lunch we continue
to Dimmuborgir, an amazing lava landscape with bizarre formations of
columns and arches. The striking geothermal field at Namaskard is another
highlight of this tour, where we will see mud pools, steam vents, sulphur
deposits, boiling springs and fumaroles. After passing through the village
of Reykjahlid, we return alongside the shores of Lake Myvatn to Akureyri,
where we end with a short orientation tour of the city, before arriving at
the quayside in the late afternoon.
By coach/on foot, subject to a minimum of 30/maximum of
400. Please note: This tour
involves some walking over rough terrain, so flat, comfortable footwear is
strongly recommended. |
