6 minute read
Mývatn Nature Baths
from Outdoors
by Ritform ehf
The new swim-up bar
– a wonderful place to relax and recharge
The Mývatn Nature Baths are at Jarðbaðshólar, around four kilometres from Reykjahlíð. This place has been used as a centre of natural bathing for as long as there have been people in Iceland. This is a place for those who like to be in direct contact with nature, and want to relax while they revitalise both body and soul. These are among the finest hot springs to be found anywhere in the world.
Unique mineral composition
The Mývatn Nature Baths offer a natural sauna, a bathing pool heated with hot spring water and a hot tub. The water is rich in minerals, alkaline and it’s a fantastic place to relax, while it also has properties that are effective against skin conditions, as well as being as soft as silk to the touch. Kaffi Kvika
Visitors to the Mývatn Nature Baths can take the opportunity before or after using the baths to choose from a menu of light refreshments served in an airy dining room. On offer are soups, salads, coffee and cakes, juices, beer and wine.
www.jardbodin.is
www.myvatnnaturebaths.is #myvatnnaturebaths info@jardbodin.is
Road toll in Vaðlaheiði tunnel
Vaðlaheiði tunnel is a 7.5 km (4.7 miles) on the Icelandic Ring Road, close to the town of Akureyri, the capital of North Iceland. The tunnel bypasses the precipitous Víkurskarð Mountain Road, a hazard for drivers in bad weather. The tunnel shortens the Ring Road by approximately 16 km (10 miles), saving drivers up to 12 minutes in good weather conditions.
Drivers need to pay road toll when driving through the Vadlaheidi tunnel, but they should pay attention to there are no toll booths or pay machines around. Instead travellers pay for a single trip by visiting the website www.tunnel. is and pay for each single trip via card. To avoid an extra charges from the Car Rental travellers can pay for the each trip throug the tunnel 24 hours before entering the tunnel or max 3 hours after driving through the tunnel.
All further information on www.tunnel.is The tunnel bypasses the precipitous Víkurskarð Mountain Road, a hazard for drivers in bad weather
The Icelandic Aviation Museum covers the history of aviation in Iceland Photo: www.northiceland.is
The Aviation Museum
The Icelandic Aviation Museum is located in a large hangar at Akureyri Airport. The museum covers Iceland’s aviation history with photographs, videos, artefacts, models and historic aircrafts, which some are in airworthy condition and fly on the annual Fly Day held by the museum in June.
The exhibition takes you back in time, as you explore the development of aircrafts and airlines from 1919 to the present, and are allowed to access the interior of few of the aircrafts.
Opening hours:
May : Saturdays and Sundays 11:00-16:00 June, July and August: Open daily 11:00-17:00 The museum is also open by appointment. www.flugsafn.is
Back in time at Grenjaðarstaður
A visit to the turf-walled homestead at Grenjaðarstaður in Aðaldalur takes you back in time to a world that has vanished. There has been a farm at this location since the settlement, and the farm has been been home to a chieftaincy, a church and a priest through the ages, and was at one time the location for postal services.
Grenjaðarstaður at one time was seen as the most magnificent homesteads of its kind and at 775m2, one of the largest of its kind in the country. The oldest surviving part was built around 1865 and the farm was still inhabited in 1949. It was opened as a museum in 1958, complete with several thousand artefacts that had been donated. Entering it and seeing how Visitors can see what daily life in a turfwalled house was like
adults and children lived in the past is a unique experience.
The museum is open between 10:00 and 18:00 every day between the 1st of June and the 31st of August.
Midnight sun on the Arctic Circle
Grimsey island Arctic Circle Monument
www.norticeland.is Grímsey island is the only substantial part of Iceland that lies partly within the Arctic Circle. The island is a notable tourist destination for being the northernmost place in Iceland, it is only two square miles in size.
The Arctic Circle is a line close to the 66,5° parallels in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It marks the approximate area where the sun never rises in winter and never sets in summer. There is no better place to enjoy the unique midnight sun and during the summer solstice the sun remains above the horizon around the clock and the islanders have a special festival to celebrate. ORBIS et GLOBUS (Circle & Sphere) is an artwork, a 17,600-pound concrete sphere, that was placed on the Arctic Circle in 2017. It is a 3m diameter globe that will follow the fluctuating North-South path of the Arctic Circle until it leaves the island.
www.grimsey.is
The viewing platform is a unique construction and it’s well worth the drive out to Langanes to enjoy the view over the cliffs and the sea Photo: www.northiceland.is
From a different viewpoint – Skoruvíkurbjarg
Your heart beats a little faster and you might find your knees go weak if you walk out to the viewing platform at Skoruvíkurbjarg on the furthest tip of Langanes. The platform is built on a robust framework and there’s no reason not to enjoy the unique experience it offers, namely the chance to see from a completely new viewpoint the fantastic bird life that inhabits this extreme position.
There is some exceptionally colourful bird life here, with puffins, common guillemots, razorbills, black guillemots, northern fulmars and black legged kittiwakes all nest on the cliffs. Beneath the Skoruvíkurbjarg headland itself is a freestanding rock formation known as Stórikarl that is home to population of northern gannets. The birds don’t pay visitors much attention, and it’s easy to forget yourself as you stand on the viewing platform and watch the bird life as it whirls around you.
Kolugljúfur’s waterfalls take their name from the she-troll Kola Photo: www.norticeland.is.
Beautiful Kolugljúfur
The Icelandic Emigration Center at Hofsós was founded in 1996
Photo: www.northiceland.is
The Icelandic Emigration Center at Hofsós
The Icelandic Emigration Center at Hofsós is dedicated to commemorate Icelandic emigrants to North America and to promote connections between their descendants and the people of Iceland. The exhibitions at the center combine text, photographs and tableaux to illustrate the conditions in Iceland that influenced the decision to emigrate, the journey to the ‘New World’ and the new way of life they encountered.
Visitors also have the opportunity to consult with staff about their Icelandic ancestors, accessing information found on our database and in our library. If you are planning a journey to discover the lives of your ancestors, contact us for assistance in identifying family ties and making connections that will enhance your visit.
www.hofsos.is Anyone travelling on Route i through Víðidalur in Vestur-Húnavatns County should make a point of taking time to visit Kolugljúfur on the Víðidalur river, which lies only a few kilometres from the main road.
The gorge itself is both magnificent and beautiful, with the delightful river that gushes over the falls. The falls take their name from the she-troll Kola.
There are parking facilities by the falls and a viewing area from which the fantastic views can be safely seen.
Welcome to Hrisey!
The House of Shark Jörundur
In the oldest house on the Island a museum has been set up where you learn about the history of shark fishing in Iceland and the settlement in Hrísey.
It also houses the Tourist information which is open 1pm to 5 pm from the start of June until the end of August.
