Looking down Barónsstígur (Baron's Path)
Brightly colored houses on Njálsgata
On July 24, 2024, we flew from Nice to to Copenhagen, and from there to Reykjavik. The next day, we were scheduled to embark on an Iceland, Norway, The Netherlands, and Belgium cruise, but as we were concerned with getting to our ship on time (we understand flight delays are not totally unheard of these days), we opted for showing up in Iceland one day early and spending the night in a hotel. This also gave us the opportunity to have a little bit of time in the Icelandic capital; we used this to have a wonderful fish dinner on the day we arrived and doing a little bit of sightseeing in the morning of the day we sailed. What is new is that this page is truly a collaborative effort: a full third of the photos presented on this page were taken by Vicki. I will not identify which ones, but I do challenge you to see if you can. In my view, it is not possible.
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Looking down Barónsstígur (Baron's Path) |
Brightly colored houses on Njálsgata |
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Colorful Skölavörðustígur (School Guard Path) |
The Hallgrímskirkja (Hallgrims Church) |
The organ of the Hallgrims Church |
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Walking down Frakkastígur (French Path) |
Vibrant colors and intricate decorations |
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Leaving Reykjavik around 7 p.m. aboard the Norwegian Prima |
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Viðey House on Viðey Island, seen from deck 17 of our cruise ship |
On our way to Ísafjörður on the north side of Iceland |
Our cruise had only two ports of call in Iceland: Ísafjörður and Akureyri, both on the northern side of Iceland. We had not booked a shore excursion in Ísafjörður, and it was just as well: when we got there in the morning, it was bitterly cold and windy. Gradually, the wind abated which instantly made it feel warmer. There's not that much to see in Ísafjörður, the place is mostly a starting point for many different excursions.
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The Norwegian Prima in the harbor of Ísafjörður |
As is often the case, the harbor is not overly picturesque... |
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Traditional houses in town |
Kids getting rid of some pent-up energy |
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Street musicians |
As in Reykjavik, many houses are covered in corrugated metal... |
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...painted in a vivid color. |
An older building in town |
Fisherman's monument |
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Looking toward the harbor of Ísafjörður |
These tiny blue flowers were everywhere |
Time to head back to our ship |
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Leaving Ísafjörður en route to Akureyri, our next stop |
Akureyri, our second Icelandic port of call, is often referred to as the Capital of North Iceland. It's an important port of which we saw—practically nothing. Why? Because we had booked an all-day excursion that started at 8 a.m. and got us back to the ship just before we sailed, and that left no time to explore the town. But the excursion more than made up for it: on the agenda were Goðafoss (the waterfall of the gods), Lake Mývatn, the Dimmuborgir Lava Fields, and the Hverir boiling mud pits and fumaroles. We left promptly at 8 a.m. with a local driver and tour guide; when we got to the waterfall, it was extremely foggy, and because one couldn't see much, our guide decided we would change our itinerary and see Goðafoss at the end of the tour.
The landscapes around the lake are beautiful, but there were enormous numbers of tiny and extremely annoying midges that got into everything. Fortunately, we had done our homework (OK, one of us had, don't look at me!) and so we knew about it and came prepared with head nets. These were wonderful as they kept the annoying flies away. About the only positive things I can say about these pests is that they did not sting.
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By Lake Mývatn |
The lake has a very irregular shape... |
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...so it looks different depending where you take the photo from... |
...as a look at this map illustrates. |
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From the visitor center... |
...a short walk leads up a hill... |
...from where one has different views. |
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Part of a nine-vertical-frame panorama of Lake Mývatn. Not visible, the seemingly billions of minuscule, annoying flies. |
The Dimmuborgir lava fields reminded us very much of the ones we had seen in Hawaii, except that the Icelandic ones were much older. There is something eerie about walking through lava fields and seeing the many strange shapes the cooling lava has created. The resulting landscapes are interesting and perhaps a little intimidating.
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Looking at the lava rock formations... |
...reminded us of landscapes we had seen on the Big Island of Hawaii... |
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...despite the fact that the formations in Dimmuborgir... |
...are considerably older (ca. 2,300 years). |
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Leaving the Dimmuborgir lava fields... |
...we had a last look at Lake Mývatn. |
Before stopping at the Hverir boiling mud pits and fumaroles, we ate our picnic lunch near a geothermal power station. The view from the Mývatn lookout presented opportunities to see all the way to Lake Mývatn and admire the landscapes around it. When we finally made it to Hverir, the first thing we noticed was the stench: there was an obnoxious smell of rotten eggs caused by the sulfur. This was not as strong by the mud pits, but grew in intensity as one approached a fumarole. We were able to walk around a bit before heading back to the bus: it was time to backtrack and see the waterfall with had missed because of the fog when our excursion started.
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The Blue Lake and the Bjarnarflag Geothermal Power Station |
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Another look at the Power Station from higher up |
The view from Mývatn lookout where we had our picnic lunch |
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One of the mud pits (short video) |
An eerie landscape |
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The colors of the ground are amazing |
Everywhere one looks there are plumes of smoke |
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Imagine this scene with the strong rotten egg smell of sulfur! |
A fumarole (short video) |
Finally, we got to see Goðafoss, one of the most famous Icelandic waterfalls, and certainly one of the most photographed. Thanks to the flexibility of our tour guide and driver who swiftly moved this stop from the first to the last of our itinerary, we got to see it well: all the fog had lifted and the weather was fine. We were due to sail at 3:30 p.m., and everybody was supposed to be on board an hour before that time; still, we made one extra stop before arriving back in Akureyri to see our ship in front of the town from a highway lookout. We made it back exactly on time, leaving Akureyri and Iceland and heading for Norway.
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Heading back to where we were this morning... |
...on our way to the waterfall of the gods. |
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Goðafoss, the waterfall of the gods (click this link to see and hear it move) |
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Returning to Akureyri and the Norwegian Prima |
Leaving Akureyri—and Iceland |
The photos on this page were taken between July 24 and 27, 2024.
They are also available in a gallery.
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