Iceland review - 2016, Page 78

76 ICELAND REVIEW
SPECIAL PROMOTION
There are six or seven fjords and bays
(depends how you count) in North
Iceland. Every one different, with its
own special atmosphere. Starting in the
northwest, we have Húnaflói bay, the larg-
est in the region, the seal hotspot of Ice-
land. Next is Skagafjörður, Iceland’s horse
capital. Few places beat Skagafjörður at
the height of the summer, when the mid-
night sun sits on the horizon to the north.
Eyjafjörður, in the center, is home to
more than half of the population in the
region, thanks to Akureyri; a charming
university town, museum town, restaurant
town, skiing town, the hub of the region.
At the mouth of the fjord is the town of
Siglufjörður, the alluring former herring
capital of the world. Ólafsfjörður, Dalvík,
Hjalteyri and Grenivík are also on the fjord,
towns with different characters, and not to
be missed. And in the middle of the fjord
is the island of Hrísey, seemingly in a dif-
ferent time zone. There, life is in slow mo-
tion, no one in a hurry.
East of Eyjafjörður is Skjálfandi bay
and Húsavík, the whale watching capital
of Iceland. Further east is Öxarfjörður
fjord, a sheep-farming region, with
countless wonders of nature, like Detti-
foss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall.
Between the last two, Þistilfjörður fjord
and Bakkafjörður fjord, is Langanes. This
windswept peninsula is the country’s
bird watching paradise.
Inland we have Lake Mývatn, Iceland
in a nutshell: volcanoes, bubbling earth
and unique birdlife make the area one
of the top tourist destinations in Iceland.
Last, but not least, is the island of Grím-
sey. Here, 100 people live in perfect har-
mony with Mother Nature, at the only
place where the Arctic Circle crosses Ice-
land—and standing at the small fishing
harbor on Grímsey, looking south, you
can see the splendor of North Iceland,
the mountains and the fjords, opening
up to the Arctic Ocean. *
NORTH IS NICE
It’s time to head to North Iceland.
THE ARCTIC NORTH
INTRODUCTION AND PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.