A geologist’s idea of heaven, Northern Iceland is a mammoth collection of thundering waterfalls, green valleys, ancient mountains, and long fjords that stretch their icy arms towards the Arctic Circle.
For big-city living, check out Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest urban area, and its charming downtown region, which is full of 19th-century wooden houses, golf courses and diverse museums. However, if you are travelling to the north to get off the beaten track, you're in luck. North Iceland’s population, other than in Akureyri, can be found either in small fishing villages that cling to the end of unsealed roads, or located on the offshore islands, where a few hardy locals share their island with seabird colonies.
For the adventurer, white water rafting in Skagafjordur valley provides some added adrenaline as you crash through the glacial rivers that carve through deep volcanic canyons on their way to the ocean. A walk to the mighty Dettifoss waterfall in Jokulsargljufur National Park also gets the heart pumping, with its thundering waters and sheer drops, thinly veiled by clouds of mist.
Visit the remarkable horseshoe-shaped Asbyrgi Canyon, believed by the Vikings to be a hoof-print formed by Odin’s flying horse, wallow in the Myvatn Nature Baths and soothe your mind in the warming waters as you look out over the otherworldly Krafla lava fields, or catch a boat out to sea and watch over 20 species of whales swim, splash and even breach the surface in the beautiful bays off Iceland’s north coast.
