Akureyri is the capital of North Iceland. This magical city of the North is located by the sea in Eyjafjörður fjord.
I have been writing a series of travel blogs about things to do in Eyjafjörður and want to dedicate this one to my favourite city, Akureyri.
The population of Akureyri is approximately 20,050 (2025), making it the second-largest city in Iceland after the Greater Reykjavík area.
Top photo: Downtown Akureyri
Péturskirkja - the Catholic church in Akureyri
Akureyri is such a beautiful city with a lot of character, surrounded by high mountains and only some 100 km away from the Arctic Circle.
Many cruise ships stop in Akureyri harbour in the summertime, and I have never visited it without seeing a cruise ship in the harbour.
I love visiting Akureyri, and it brings back fond childhood memories of my family's visits. Back then, my great-aunt lived here, and we often stayed with her. Now I have many relatives who live in Akureyri.
Akureyri town
During my many visits to Akureyri, I have camped at campgrounds and stayed in hotels, hostels, private homes, and guesthouses.
The photo below was taken at the campground, located in the middle of the city, next to a supermarket.
Sometimes I have to save money and camp, especially when I travel around Iceland for weeks on end, though it is not my preferred way to spend the night.
Check out various accommodations in and around Akureyri: The best Hotels and Accommodations in Akureyri.
You can compare different accommodations and find the one that suits you best.
Camping in Akureyri
We used to have a good friend we would always stay with, but then he died on us, so now we stay in different guesthouses and hotels when we travel up north.
Akureyri Botanical Garden 
The beautiful Botanical garden in Akureyri
The beautiful Botanical garden in Akureyri - Lystigarður Akureyrar - is not to be missed when visiting the city. Imagine that, a botanical garden so close to the Arctic Circle.
The park was founded in 1912 after a group of housewives formed the Park Society and sought "to have a park in Akureyri for the adornment of the town and a recreational place for the inhabitants".
The beautiful Botanical garden in Akureyri
They were given 1 ha, created the first public park in Iceland, and ran it with pride until 1953, when the town of Akureyri took over management of the public garden and added a botanical garden in 1957.
At first, it was only open on Sunday afternoons, but now it is open all summer long until late in the evening. Since 1957, it has grown into a beautiful park with over 400 native plant species and 6,600 alien plant species.
Seeds are collected from the plants and sold to other countries, a practice that has become increasingly popular.
The beautiful Botanical garden in Akureyri
It is a very popular park among both the inhabitants of Akureyri and tourists. Do visit it if you are in the area, it is ever so pretty.
I visit the park every time I go up north - it is like entering a small, magical oasis of colourful flowers, statues, bridges, and poems, and a lovely little fountain.
I have such fond memories from here when we had a picnic in the botanical garden when I was a child. Now I meet friends at the café in the park.
Akureyrarkirkja church
My father-in-law always runs up and down the church steps in Akureyri
The landmark of Akureyri is Akureyrarkirkja, the Church of Akureyri, with 112 steps to the top of the hill. It is such a beautiful church, consecrated in 1940.
Nobody should visit Akureyri without walking up the steps to the church, while counting them, which is a kind of tradition here in Iceland.
In the photo above, you can see my father-in-law running down the steps after having run up them while counting them :)
Stained glass windows in Akureyrarkirkja serve as an altarpiece
Akureyrarkirkja church was designed by the noted Guðjón Samúelsson, the State Architect of Iceland.
Inside the church, you will find 17 beautiful stained-glass windows. These windows tell us the story of Christianity, but also the story of Christianity in Iceland.
I want to show you one of the windows, as it is an interesting story about how this English window ended up in a church in Akureyri.
Stained-glass windows in Akureyrarkirkja - the adoption of Christianity - 8 were designed by Kristinn G. Jóhannsson and 4 by James Crombie
Jakob Frímannsson (whom I told you about in my winter visit to Akureyri) donated the Akureyrarkirkja church its first stained-glass window.
While in Reykjavík, Jakob heard of the beautiful stained-glass windows that Helgi Zoega had sent to Iceland from England. Helgi was a fish exporter who bought these stained-glass windows in 1942 in an antique shop in London. His brother, Kristján, was an antique and art dealer in Reykjavík.
When Helgi bought the windows, he was told that they were old stained-glass windows from the Coventry Cathedral in England.
The stained-glass windows had been removed from Coventry Cathedral in 1939 for safekeeping during WWII. (Coventry Cathedral was bombed in the Blitz in 1940.)
The old stained glass window from England
Helgi was told that some of the stained-glass windows had been separated from the others and had ended up in this antique shop in London. The antique dealer might have lied to him to boost the value of the stained-glass windows; who knows, he might not have known any better, as times were turbulent during WWII.
While in Reykjavík, Jakob Frímannsson measured one of the stained-glass windows and found it would fit perfectly in Akureyrarkirkja, which Guðjón Samúelsson was building at the time.
So he bought one of the windows and donated it to Akureyrarkirkja, where it was fitted in 1943.
It was firmly believed for 70 years that this window came from Coventry Cathedral, and bonds were formed between Akureyrarkirkja and the new Coventry Cathedral.
One of the stained-glass windows in Akureyrarkirkja church depicts the Reformation in Iceland
Later, in 2014, Dr Jonathan Foyle, from the World Monuments Fund Britain, investigated this story to determine whether this was, in fact, a stained-glass window from Coventry Cathedral (ref. BBC - an interview with Dr Foyle).
The conclusion was that it wasn't, but that it came from another English church or churches; we don't know which ones.
Some of the stained-glass windows Helgi had bought at that antique shop in London were purchased by Icelandic art collectors and are now in Áskirkja church in Reykjavík (ref. Áskirkja church).
Helgi magri & Þórunn hyrna- the Settlers of Eyjafjörður fjord
Helgi magri & Þórunn hyrna- the Settlers of Eyjafjörður fjord
Helgi magri Eyvindarson, or Helgi the thin, was the settler of the whole of Eyjafjörður and lived at Kristnes by Akureyri. Helgi spent the first winter at Árskógsströnd (most likely near where the Beer Spa is now located at Árskógssandur).
Seeing that Eyjafjörður is one of Iceland's longest fjords, Helgi magri divided it among his children and kin.
He, for example, donated Efri-Þverá, now Munkaþverá, to his son Ingjaldur. I have written a bit about Munkaþverá in another travel blog.
Helgi magri & Þórunn hyrna- the Settlers of Eyjafjörður fjord
If you search really hard, you will find the statue of Helgi magri and his wife Þórunn hyrna, who was the daughter of Ketill flatnefur.
But the children of Ketill flatnefur settled in big parts of Iceland. Þórunn hyrna was the sister of Auður djúpúðga, who settled at Hvammur in West Iceland.
Her brother, Helgi bjóla, settled in Kjalarnes, and her other brother, Björn austræni, settled in Snæfellsnes and lived in Bjarnarhöfn.
The statue, made by Jónas S. Jakobsson in 1956, is located on top of Hamarkotsklappir, behind the Police station (Lögreglustöðin).
Helgamagrastræti in Akureyri is named after the settler Helgi magri
Two prominent streets in Akureyri are named after these settlers: Helgamagrastræti and Þórunnarstræti.
Next to the statue, you will find an old view-dial. I was looking for the view-dial when I came across the statue, as my husband's family has made many of the Icelandic view-dials.
On the view-dial is written 1949 - Ferðafélag Akureyrar, but these view-dials show the names and height of the surrounding mountains. Sigurjón Rist designed the view-dial on Hamarskotsklappir. It is a copper plate made in Norway, on a molten pillar.
The view dial at Hamarkotsklappir in Akureyri
According to Margrét at Öxnafell, who lived here in Eyjafjörður and was a respected medium, an elf-lady resides at Hamarkotsklappir. She lives west of the statue of the settlers.
In a book about Margét Skyggna konan, Margrét says the following about the elf-lady at Hamarkotsklappir:
"She is brunette, tall and thin, smiling and happy. I have often seen her, and last time this summer (1959). She then smiled at me as she had before, and I felt she recognized me. I never saw her husband, so I thought he was away. She has many grown-up children.
The view dial at Hamarkotsklappir in Akureyri and the statue of the settlers
Judging by their clothing, they were going to work when they left the house (house of the hidden people - RHR). This woman has never spoken to me, so I know little about her life or the children's lives. Other people have seen this woman".
(Translated from the book Skyggna konan from 1960 - pages 32-33).
Margrét from Öxnafell in Eyjafjörður was a well-known medium in her time and saw the hidden people in many places in Akureyri and across Iceland, e.g., in Ásbyrgi, on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, and elsewhere, as I have shown you in other travel blogs.
The Parents of the Icelandic Yule Lads in the City Centre
The parents of the Yule Lads, Grýla and Leppalúði
The parents of the Yule Lads are Grýla and Leppalúði, and you can find them right in the centre of Akureyri!
Grýla is an evil, grim troll who eats badly behaved children. She comes to pick them up, puts them in her sack, and then cooks them in her cauldron.
Greeting Grýla and Leppalúði in Akureyri
I always have my photo taken with these two trolls when I visit Akureyri :) And I do believe that most visitors have their photo taken with Grýla and Leppalúði, as they are a great photo opportunity.
Now, it only seems that Grýla is left outside on the main street, maybe Leppalúði left her.
Photo taken in 2025 - Grýla was alone by then
I have written another travel blog about these two trolls and the Yule Lads if you want to know more about them.
You will find a Christmas house in Eyjafjörður fjord, only 14 km from Akureyri, and it is open all year. There, one can also meet Grýla.
She sits there, hidden away in a cave, and is even scarier-looking than the one in the centre of Akureyri.
The Christmas House
The Christmas house is open all year round, and it is strange but fun to visit a Christmas house in the middle of summer. I have visited it on several occasions, wearing a T-shirt in 20 degrees C and sunshine :)
At the Christmas house, you can buy all kinds of Christmas decorations and Christmas candy, visit the Well of the Unborn Children, and the boutique where I stock up on yummy hard candy, which I cannot buy anywhere else ;) And get some beautiful photos.
See also:
Eyjafjörður Fjord in North Iceland - The Christmas House is open all Year-Round
Friðbjarnarhús museum - a museum of old toys
I have only touched on a small part of Akureyri; there is so much more. It has got many lovely museums and beautiful, colourful houses, a myriad of shops, supermarkets, restaurants, and interesting things to see and do.
The photo above shows Friðbjarnarhús, a toy museum featuring old toys. I have yet to visit this museum, but it is always on my agenda.
Nonnahús and Nonni
Beautiful Nonnahús
Another old house is well worth a visit - Nonnahús, which has been a museum since 1957. Nonni, Jón Sveinsson (1857-1944), was one of Akureyri's most beloved sons and an honorary citizen of Akureyri.
Nonnahús was built in 1850, which makes it one of the oldest houses in Akureyri.
At the museum, you will get acquainted with the little Icelandic boy, who got the opportunity to study in France and became a Jesuit priest. He wrote 12 books in German about his life, which have been translated into 40 languages.
The Nonni statue by Nonnahús - and Minjakirkjan
When I visit Akureyri, I always go to greet the big statue of Nonni, but Nonni has a place in the heart of at least the older generation in Iceland, who grew up reading the books he wrote.
See also:
Nonnahús & Nonni - the Honorary Citizen of Akureyri
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Hidden away in a private backyard in Akureyri, you will find a fairytale world. It is a garden filled with colourful fairytale figures, created by the house's owner, the folk artist Hreinn. It is such a delight visiting this garden.
Here you will find both widely known fairy tale figures, such as Snow White and Cinderella, as well as figures from Icelandic fairy tales.
Pippi Longstockings
I have written another travel blog about these fairytale figures, with many photos.
I am sure you will recognize many of these figures from fairytales you have read as a child:
Wonderfully Colourful Fairytale Figures in Akureyri in North Iceland
Hof
My photo above is of Hof, Akureyri's Cultural and Conference Centre, where you will also find an information center.
Hof was opened in 2010 and has since become one of Akureyri's most prominent buildings, a landmark alongside Akureyrarkirkja church. It serves as the Cultural and Conference center for the whole of North Iceland.
It is such a delight visiting Akureyri, and I always look forward to it :) You can rent a car in Reykjavík and drive to Akureyri in one day. The distance is 388 km, depending on where you leave from in the capital city.
Our distances are measured from the old Post Office in the centre of Reykjavík, but Google Maps uses another location.
Beautiful Akureyri town
I have joined many guided tours from Akureyri and written travel blogs about my experience:
The Spectacular Diamond Circle in North Iceland
An Amazing Tour to Askja and Holuhraun Lava Field in the Highlands of Iceland
The Extraordinary Ice Sculptures in Lofthellir Cave in Mývatn, North Iceland
The whale-watching boat from Akureyri
A Fantastic Tour from Reykjavík to Akureyri including Hveravellir and Mt. Kerlingarfjöll
A Unique Lava Walk through the Colourful Lava Field at Gjástykki
Humpback Whales in Abundance on a fantastic Whale Watching Tour from Akureyri
Here is the location of Akureyri on Google Maps.
This is part VI in my series of travel blogs on Eyjafjörður fjord - join me on an exploration of North Iceland's longest fjord with some detours:
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part I - Hrísey Island, the Pearl of Eyjafjörður
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part II - Dalvík & the Great Fish Day
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part III - the Historical Gásir and the Vikings
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part IV - The Deacon of Dark River - A Ghost Story from North Iceland
The Akureyri heart is an obligatory photo stop
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part V - Mt. Hraundrangi in Öxnadalur and Hörgárdalur Valleys
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VI - Akureyri - the Capital City of North Iceland
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VII - the Christmas House is open all Year-Round
Eyjafjörður fjord up North - part VIII - Historical Churches in the Fjord
A Winter Visit to Akureyri - the Capital of North Iceland (my 300th travel blog)
Have a lovely time in Akureyri :)
