North Iceland, Akureyri to Mývatn, is the stretch where the Ring Road stops being about waterfalls and starts being about geology. A hundred kilometres of easy paved Route 1, and the one segment most people underbook. Here is how the northern leg splits up: drive times, what each stop costs you in hours, and what to drop if you are running late.
Route 1 covers the 100 km from Akureyri to Reykjahlíð, the village on the north-east corner of Lake Mývatn, in about 90 minutes without stops. Paved, two lanes, easy in summer. Nobody drives it without stopping, so budget half a day.
Two ways east out of Akureyri. The Vaðlaheiði tunnel is faster and carries a toll in the €8-12 range for a car, paid online within about a day of driving through — there is no booth. Ask your rental car desk if tolls go on your contract, because policies differ. The old pass over Víkurskarð is free, adds 10-15 minutes and has the better view.
Real legs, driving only:
Akureyri has around 19,000 people and does the work of a city. It is the last place with full-size supermarkets, tyre shops, a hospital and a real choice of restaurants until Egilsstaðir, 265 km east. Fill the tank and buy food here. Mývatn has one small shop and it knows it.
Two hours covers the town: the church steps, the botanical garden on the hill, the pedestrian street and the municipal pool, which locals use daily and most visitors walk past. The pool is the better of the two.
Sleeping here is cheaper than at the lake and gives you dinner options — see where to stay in Akureyri. Sleeping at the lake saves two hours the next morning. On the full loop, do one night in each.
Goðafoss sits right beside Route 1 — you can see the spray from the car. Twelve metres high, 30 wide, a horseshoe rather than a straight drop, and free.
Two car parks, one per bank, linked by a footbridge downstream. The west side has the café, toilets and the classic view; the east side is quieter and closer to the lip. Twenty minutes for one bank, 45 to walk both.
In winter the paths are polished ice within a metre of the railing. Micro-spikes cost about €20 in Akureyri and are the best purchase of any November-to-March trip. The car park gets ploughed. The viewpoints do not.
Mývatn is not one sight, it is a ring of them around a shallow lake. Work outward from Reykjahlíð.
Expect parking fees of a few euros at the busier sites. Cards work everywhere.
The baths sit on a ridge just east of Reykjahlíð, looking back over the lake. Milky blue geothermal water at 36-40°C, a steam room, a bar you swim to. Entry runs roughly €45-60 per adult in high season, towel extra — cheaper and far emptier than the equivalent near Keflavík.
Go last, after Hverir and Dimmuborgir, when your legs are done and the light is long. Book a day ahead in July and August; the rest of the year you can walk up. Leave silver jewellery in the car, it tarnishes in the sulphur.
The lake itself is not for swimming. If you get to Húsavík, the sea baths on the cliff above the harbour are the other good soak on this leg.
Húsavík is 55 km from Mývatn on Route 87, paved, or 90 km from Akureyri via Route 85. Skjálfandi bay is deep, sheltered and full of food, which is why the whale-watching reputation is earned.
The season runs roughly April to October and is reliable from June to August. Humpback and minke are the regulars; blue whales turn up some years in June and July. Trips run two to three and a half hours, somewhere in the €90-130 range per adult, on either an old oak schooner or a RIB. Overalls are provided. Take the seasickness tablet before you board, not after.
Book a day or two ahead in July. Above about 10 m/s of wind, expect cancellation and keep the whale museum as the backup. More on the activities page.
Mývatn translates as midge lake and the name is a warning. The chironomid midges do not bite but swarm in columns you can see from a kilometre off, and they go straight into your eyes and mouth. The blackflies near the Laxá outlet do bite. Peak is late May through July, worst on warm still evenings, and both disappear the moment there is a breeze.
A head net costs €5-10 in Akureyri or at the shop in Reykjahlíð. Buy one per person and keep them in the door pocket. Everyone at Skútustaðagígar in June is wearing one.
Add up the hours. The Mývatn loop done properly is a full day. Dettifoss and back is two and a half hours of driving plus an hour on foot. A Húsavík whale trip is five hours door to door from the lake. That is three days of material.
One night means arriving at 18:00, using the baths, and leaving at 09:00 having seen Hverir from the car park. Two nights, ideally at the lake — see where to stay at Mývatn — makes this the best 48 hours on the northern half of Route 1. The Ring Road is 1,322 km and seven days is the honest minimum for the loop; our 7-day Ring Road itinerary gives this segment two of them.
Behind schedule, cut in this order: Húsavík first, then Krafla and Leirhnjúkur, then Skútustaðagígar and Hverfjall. What survives is Goðafoss, Hverir, Dimmuborgir and the baths — about four hours, and still the strongest half-day in the north. Fill up in Reykjahlíð before heading east: it is 165 km to Egilsstaðir across empty plateau with no fuel in between.
About 90 minutes for the 100 km on Route 1 without stopping, using the Vaðlaheiði tunnel. With Goðafoss and a coffee, allow half a day. The old Víkurskarð pass is toll-free and adds 10-15 minutes.
Not if you want Dettifoss or Húsavík as well. The lake loop alone fills a day, Dettifoss adds three to four hours, and a whale trip takes five. Two nights is the difference between seeing the area and driving past it. One night works only if you skip both.
Late May through July, and worst on warm windless evenings. The lake midges do not bite; the blackflies by the Laxá outlet do. A head net for €5-10 solves it, and any breeze clears them.
Usually yes, but only on the west bank. Route 862 is paved and normally kept open to the falls. Route 864 on the east side is gravel and closes for the winter. Check road.is or umferdin.is the morning you go, and never take a 2WD onto a closed or unploughed gravel road.
No. Route 1 and the access roads to Goðafoss, Hverir, Dimmuborgir and the Nature Baths are paved and fine in a 2WD, with studded winter tyres in the cold months. A 4x4 is legally required only on F-roads, such as F88 south to Askja, where 2WD insurance is void and river crossings are never covered.
Yes, mainly for the crowds. Entry is roughly €45-60, the water sits at 36-40°C, and it is a fraction as busy as the big one near Keflavík. Do it at the end of a day on the geothermal fields rather than as a stand-alone stop.