Iceland Ring Road – Akureyri & Forest Lagoon

We don’t have far to go for our next stop – Akureyri. It is the second largest city in Iceland and has one of the rarest sights………an actual forest. The Vikings denuded almost 90% of the forests over a thousand years ago by building boats and weapons.

I wanted to chuckle at the sign before heading into this tunnel. I suppose people have tried to ride their horses and bicycles through, hence, the sign.

Another sign………..we’re approaching Akureyri, having to cross a causeway before getting into the city.

We stayed in the downtown area, with minimal street parking, but a large city parking lot is fairly close AND it was the weekend, so no charge. Sweet. I put in the hotel name using google maps. Centrum Hotel. As we were getting closer, I noticed that google maps was calling it a hostel. Uh Eric, are we staying at a hostel or hotel? Yikes, I think I put in the wrong place. Found the hotel’s address and did this again, nope same end point. Really? Eric was still driving so he couldn’t confirm anything, but I think for a few moments, even he was concerned. We are waaaaaaay past the age of staying in a hostel. Nope, we are staying in a hotel.

Check-in was at the bar on the first floor. There was no reception desk. What kind of place were we staying in?

Fourth floor opened the door and VERY nice. It is a kitchenette – nice, but not part of our plan for this trip around the ring road. No cooking happening this time.

We had an early dinner, ultimately eating at the same place we checked in – which was below us. The crowd is ‘hip’ and I’m going to guess it continues to get younger as the night wears on and the bar has more action than the restaurant.

To celebrate our time on the ring road, we started with a bottle of prosecco.

I ordered a shrimp & langoustine flatbread for my dinner. While a tad unusual, it was tasty. I really liked the pickled red onions and the spicy mayo on top.

Eric ordered the grilled arctic char. He liked his meal. We don’t get arctic char so every chance he can, he seems to order it.

We both ordered desserts and really enjoyed them. Looking at the photos afterwards, they kind of look like a ‘crime scene’. Regardless, we were scraping every last bit of goodness from the plates.

I’m going to admit right now, we didn’t spend enough time in Akureyri. There were a number of places that in hindsight I wished we had seen. Guess that means I’ll have to plan a trip back! We did a tiny bit of exploring in the morning.

At the end of the block was a cute children’s area with seating for the parents.

The street was fairly deserted the morning we left. The night prior there were plenty of people walking around, hitting the bars and socializing.

We had plans that I was VERY excited about. Eric was kind of getting into the geothermal pools and asked me to see if there was another one somewhere along our route.

Forest Lagoon near Akureyri!

I remembered reading about it in 2022 when it first opened – never dreaming that I would get a chance to experience it, but here we are. We had reservations for 12 noon, when it opened.

It was a short hike from the parking lot passing this nearby waterfall.

Couldn’t resist a quick photo with the forest in the background. It really was unusual to see trees.

And then we arrived.

As I mentioned earlier, shoes come off before going into the changing room. Yep, not too many people here first thing.

I scoped out the facilities then stripped for my shower. One of the best things…………..being shielded from the wind when stepping and submersing yourself into the water. LOVE that. After our visit to GeoSea in Husavik, the 20 feet walking to/from the pool took courage. The outside temps were about the same, but here we were protected.

Eric joined me soon after. In the background is a bar if you so choose.

Even though you’re in the water, can’t forget to hydrate.

It really was lovely, quiet and peaceful with everyone being respectful of your space in the pools. The bay and Akureyri was the view beyond the infinity pool’s edge.

Yes, pools – plural. The larger pool was kept at 37C or 98F. They had a ‘hot’ pool which was smaller. Eric didn’t want any part of that, but I did. I moseyed on over to test the waters.

The smaller pool was 40C or 104F. I could feel the difference, but still enjoyed the hotter temps. This wasn’t a place you could spend all of your time. It was draining on your body. Twenty minutes max and I needed to get to the other pool.

Something very unusual for me, instead of a selfie one of the other patrons offered to take my photo and I said yes. 🙂

There was a Finnish dry sauna with a really cool-looking reflection window. Nope, didn’t check it out.

I paddled over to find Eric as he was contemplating this experience.

Forest Lagoon has a tranquil atmosphere, relaxing hot pools and majestic views of the Icelandic wilderness. It was a perfect place to listen (via my hearing aids) to Taylor Swift and her new album. I mean come on. Really good music that I enjoy, good company and great surroundings. It couldn’t get better.

The geothermal spa was actually a ‘happy’ accident. During nearby construction a geothermal water source previously unknown was found and while it was an issue with the construction company the resourceful Icelanders came together as a community with this as a result.

Notice another ‘non-selfie’? While in the hot pool these ladies were the ones that offered to take my photo. They were from Manitoba, Canada and driving around the ring road the opposite direction as we were. They had family in Iceland and were meeting up with them throughout their time here. Milestone birthdays were being celebrated. Nope – not sharing anyone’s age. 🙂

We really enjoyed meeting and talking with them, staying longer than planned. With the recent electro-magnetic activity seen recently, they shared the Northern lights had been awesome in Canada. I will see them in my lifetime……….

Since they graciously allowed me a photo, I shared the blog address with them.

“I hope you get a chance see this and know you are one of our fond memories of Iceland. Enjoyed all of the time spent together.”

We thought of them the next day when our rental car company sent an email about road closures. Three of the roads we recently traveled were closed due to weather – and that was the way they were driving.

The next leg of our ring road was going to be the longest stretch of driving…….. 5+ hours. It was time to get going. We reluctantly got back into our rental and continued west.

Ginny