Day 8 Highlights:
45 min drive to Godafoss
45 min drive to Akureyri
2 hr 30 min drive to Hvitserkur
30 min drive to hotel
Night 8: North West Hotel & Restaurant
Back to the full 10 day Iceland Itinerary
Godafoss:
A short 45 minute drive from My’vatn you’ll find the beautiful Godafoss right along the side of Ring Road. Godafoss (waterfall of the gods) symbolizes Iceland’s conversion to Christianity from Norse Paganism in the year 1000. Heathen gods were thrown into the falls as a symbolic act of this religious conversion. There’s plenty of parking and the falls are very easy to access.
We spent about an hour walking along the falls and taking photos. It’s crazy how accessible all of these falls are - right alongside of the main road.
Akureyri:
Akureyri, the second largest city in Iceland is a 45 min drive West of Godafoss. It’s a beautiful city, on the water with plenty of coffee shops and good eats. We stopped into Kaffi Ilmur, which had a great, relatively reasonably priced brunch buffet, and we also had some much needed coffee and pastries at Blaa Kannan Cafe. The downtown has plenty of shops and lots to see while walking around. We also found a really nice Icelandic wool blanket which we bought to take home!
Hvitserkur:
Continuing West, about 2 hr 30 mins from Akureyri is a really amazing rock formation called Hvitserkur. Legend has it, that Hvitserkur is a petrified troll! From Ring Road, you’ll take a right on Road 716. It’s dirt, but we found it to be in great shape despite some warnings from other people. We took it slow and made it to the parking area at Hvitserkur. There’s a lookout above the shore, and a fairly steep, challenging path to get down to the water’s edge. We slid down the path which was very worn away, but it was worth it to get down to see Hvitserkur up close!
After watching the sunset, we drove 30 minutes back to Ring Road to our hotel, North West Hotel & Restaurant. We had a quick bite to eat at their restaurant before heading to bed after a long day of driving! We would rate this hotel as adequate, nothing amazing, but a super convenient location right near Ring Road.