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Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 6 – 4th May 2023) – Akureyri to Reykholt

Florian Buechting Trip Reports No Comments

Day 6 on your Iceland Ring Road trip – time to start counting down the kilometers towards Reykjavik and Keflavik Airport (KEF). Before heading into the direction of the capital city region, we already had some 1,700 km in the books. The day started in the main city of North Iceland and my country’s favorite, Akureyri. Thereafter, we planned to go rather straight to Reykholt, which already quite close to Iceland’s capital. Enjoy traveling with us on our sixth day in Iceland.

 

Good Morning Akureyri

We just did not stop loving the view from Hafdals Hotel on the East side of Exjafjördur fjord to Akureyri. Our hotel room had it – and we had it for breakfast. From there we headed South on the East Fjord Road (829), before we crossed the side of water and headed back North. I at least wanted to give my wife a short look at the Akureyri Christmas House and also have a look at the progress of the new International terminal at Akureyri Airport (AEY). Basic message there: they are just at the very beginning of construction.

We parked the car in city center and a bit of a stroll through the shopping area and along the fjord, before we had some tea and coffee and a nice restaurant in the city, just right uphill of the main street, Hafnaestraeti. The Akureyri Church thereby felt to be the constant eye-catcher. Especially after the rather chilly times at the Icelandic East Coast and having had snow in the Egilstadir region, sitting in the sun almost felt like summer.

 

Go West

Around noon, it was time to leave my favorite place in Iceland and head West for the last major driving leg of our trip. Having 385km to Reykjavik did not feel too motivating – but we did not go for the full distance on that day. Nice to see the heart-shaped red traffic lights in the city before we said farewell and drove along a couple of valleys. The landscape is a beauty there. Sometimes, you also have some canyon-alike cuts by the rivers. However, the whole drive to Reykjavik was known to me already and I had driven it a few times before already (including a flat tire incident the last time…). Thus, it felt a bit of tiring this time.

Close to Varmahlid, we went for two stops. First of all, I never managed to make it to Glaumbaer Open Air Museum before. Even though the museum was not running on its full exhibition but on full admission prices, it was really interesting to walk through the authentic turf houses. I have to admit that I banged my head a couple of times – Sarah had an easier and less unhealthy visit, being some 20cm shorter than me. The second stop was at the local petrol station, which also features a burger grill I had used a few times before. This time, I used the smart way and went for some online coupons. Two cheeseburger and fries for the price of one – a nice snack for the road heading on along Icelandic Road 1.

 

The Final Sweat

The landscape is not that much altering in the Northwest section, especially compared to the South and Southeast. Thus, there are less opportunities to really enjoy the views on the road. Showing you the car service which changed a tire for me in 2021 is maybe not the biggest thrill as well. The catching Blönduoskirkja (in the city of Blönduos) is one of the most striking things, apart from countless sheep, Icelandic Horses, waterfalls and other amazing natural beauties, which just don’t work out as well as on the first day. Near Haugar, we left the Ring Road and turned East on Road 50.

The reason for that were the two last stops on our trip for that day: first of all, we went for the last geothermal spa pool on our tour, Krauma. The bath as such is a bit smaller and is located right next to a geothermal plant. The stay there was really lovely and relaxing… until a bus load of tourists arrived and crowded the place, shouting and drinking much more alcohol than the visitors before. After our stay, we had a lovely dinner snack at a superb street food place right next to Krauma. You could have some basic Icelandic food and eat it in a geothermal green house right next to the food car. Great food and we met some interesting people as well. Finally, we headed to our last hotel outside the capital area of Reykjavik on this trip, the Fosshotel Reykholt. More or less, just time to relax and prepare for the final two days around the key Icelandic city.

 

 

Iceland’s Ring Road Trip Report – Daily Episodes

Here are the episodes planned for this trip report. The reprise posting is also holding a gallery of major size pictures of the whole trip:

There will be no Day 9 report, as this would only cover the flight back to Germany.

 

Travel Postings about Iceland

Here are all my travel-related postings about Iceland:

 

Cyprus on Flyctory.com

Here are all my postings related to Cyprus:

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