AKUREYRI

At first sight, Iceland’s second largest city appears like it was transplanted from the Swiss Alps. It sits on the southwestern shores of the North Coast’s Eyjafjordur Fjord, one of the most breathtaking fjords in all of Iceland. Rising up immediately behind the city are azure farmlands that slope gently up to basalt mountains. The mountains are capped by snow year round, and in the winter they offer great skiing.  

One of the most extraordinary aspects of Akureyri is its warm climate. Although its sits only 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, it has some of the best weather in Iceland. Summer temperature frequently range in the high 60's (20�C), making the city the most popular weekend getaway for citizens of Reykjavik. To get an idea of just how warm it is, one need only to visit the city’s best known attraction, the Botanical Gardens, where over 2,000 species of native and non-native plants flourish without the help of a greenhouse. 

Anywhere else, Akureyri’s 15,000 people would probably constitute what most places call a “small town,” but in Iceland a number like that definitely qualifies Akureyri as a city. In fact, you could even call it “a cultural capital.” It has more than its share of museums, including a Natural History Museum, a folk museum, and museums set in the homes of native poet Matthias Jochumsson and children’s book author Jon Sveinson. Outside the city are numerous opportunities for excursions, the most popular being the road skirting the beautiful western shore of the Eyjafjordur Fjord.

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