Day 21 — Friday, 22nd August
Even More Akureyri!
Morning all! 😁. Welcome to our BIG Holiday of 2025 – and our last day exploring Iceland! We’re with great mates, Ralph and Karen, having conquered Canada, and grappled with Greenland‘s weather! 😯. Even MORE Akureyri? Can there be anything left to see here?*
We do! 😁👍
*Of course there is! This is a modern city with museums, retail outlets for every occasion and a wide range of eateries. For us though, today was a fairly relaxed itinerary (by our standards!) 😁. We began the day with plans to complete the famous ‘Diamond Circle‘ route visiting the famous Godafoss Falls (we simply ran out of time yesterday). Yes, it’s another Waterfall, but we’re told it’s worth it! But before all that – Breakfast! 😋
Final Breakfast in Iceland
8.05am: We were all ahead of our planned 9am breakfast. When we got to the breakfast area, it looked like the locusts had landed! Apparently, a pre-planned party of 60 (yes, 60!) had just finished breakfast – and decimated the Buffet! Cue a few embarrassed staff who rallied round, moved us to a different room and set about replenishing the food!
If you want to read more about yesterday’s adventures, covering the rest of the route, click HERE.
9.10am: After saying goodbye to the Centrum Hotel (great service, great food, very basic accommodation) we headed by car to our next impressive location.
Godafoss Falls
10.15am: Goðafoss is another waterfall in northern Iceland. It is located along the country’s main ring road at the junction with the Sprengisandur highland road, about 45 minutes from Akureyri. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of around 12 metres over a width of 30 metres. A 1.8-mile hiking trail also loops around the waterfall area, but maybe that’s for next time!! 🥴
By comparison with yesterday’s Dettifoss Falls, this one’s a lot smaller, but in its own way, no less impressive – maybe more so.
11.05am: Coffee Break as there was plenty more to see.
12.02pm: There was even more to see from the other side after walking across the small bridge 👍. And if the ‘first half’ was impressive in terms of the views, the ‘other side’ was just as jaw dropping!
We liked the fact you could view the waterfall from multiple angles (great for photos and just plain looking), and even the terrain there and back was much more shoe-friendly! The coffee was good and they also had a gift shop! We liked it! We liked it a lot!!😁
If you only have time for ONE waterfall in these parts, I’d say this is the one! But do use the loo before you arrive as it’s a cheeky 200ISK (c£1.20) for even a wee! 😳.
Back on the road
12.57pm: We’re all ‘waterfalled out!’. We headed back in the direction of Akureyri with two things on our mind – food and petrol.
1.40pm: Back in Akureyri, we were sorted!
2.25pm: Now for the savoury course! We returned to Bautinn (where we’d eaten when we first arrived a few days ago). They gave us the same table too! 😊
That was yummy! (19943ISK = £120.87) 🤔
3.35pm: Suitably stuffed and a little poorer, we left for the Airport and returned the car to Avis.
Back on the Plane!
3.55pm: Tomorrow, we head home, but we’re not quite done yet. Today, it was back on the plane for an internal flight to take us to the Aurora Hotel in Keflavik. The trip was to get us closer to the Airport in readiness for our flight home on Saturday.
Flight F147 left on time at 4.45pm and landed just under 40 minutes later in Reykjavik. We were soon heading for the Aurora Airport Hotel, for a sleepover in readiness for our longer trip back to Heathrow tomorrow at 10am. Ronaldo was our driver, from Croatia, and he proudly showed-off his newly acquired Tesla Model Y with all its ‘whistles and bells’. It was a hassle-free journey, but I think by now we were all beginning to feel our long day catching up with us! 🥴
Hotel Sleepover
6.35pm: We arrived to a windy, cold and foggy weather! In fact, it was foggy pretty much the whole trip. We were quite surprised at how different the weather was compared with the bright blue skies and warm temperature we enjoyed at the Falls earlier in the day. We were soon checked in and beginning the process of unpacking.
Well, this was very nicely decorated. Very modern, and where the whole place had a sense of newness about it. By now, we were pretty much done in, but there’s always room for a beer and cake (or both!) and we all met up the the Hotel’s Restaurant – Aura – for a quick nibble.
7.15pm: With drinks all around, the Tiramasu Cake and the Lava Cake with Whipped Cream went down a treat! 😋😋. I now need sleep!
Tomorrow…
We’re back on another plane. This time, we’re heading home, landing at Heathrow. We arrive back in Blighty, just three hours later – just after 2pm, and then it’s round on the Tube to St Pancras before grabbing to train to Kettering. Back to earth with a bang, ehh!
9.00pm: That’s it, we’re both done in. I’ll pull together a summary of the holiday tomorrow when my brain is functioning! 🥴. Nighty night! 💤💤💤💤
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