The Mývatn Experience
As of writing this blog post, we have only reached the 16th of May and I find myself looking back on experiences during this year that I thought I would have written about towards the end of 2026. I am rather surprised at myself for doing so, given that so much has happened in my personal life I never thought I would have had the time to even write this. Let alone, take as many weekend trips or day trips around the country! But here we are, mid May and ready to share my awesome trip to Mývatn, the friendships I have made along the way and the experience I have gained.
Image taken during Easter of 2026, North Iceland.
North Iceland
A trip was planned and a trip was made! This Easter was a fantastic time for me, travelling to the North of the country and experiencing Mývatn and the surrounding area for the first time was truly beautiful. The trip we made to the north of the country was done with quite a lot of time in advance, given that me and a friend of mine had to account for travel time, weather conditions as well as plan for potential hiking routes and general site seeing. We were in a way incredibly lucky with the weather as most of the North during that time of year was still covered with heavy snow, aggressive winds and rather dangerous road conditions (more on this later).
Location: Vindbelgjarfjall Hiking trail. Season: Winter
Distance: 3.17 Miles Surface conditions: Moderate
Elevation gain: 886 ft Time of hike: Estimated 3 hours
Max elevation: 1,667 ft Suffering rating: 4/10 😂
One of the highlights of this trip was hiking up Vindbelgjarfjall. A rough 3.1 mile round trip that essentially doubled in time due to the amount of snow. A real leg work-out, the trip totalled 4 hours of hiking there and back and even though it was tough, there was a huge sense of satisfaction when reaching the top. I felt my legs were strong and had good confidence in each step. Even when things got rather sketchy due to ice build up, planting your foot hard in the ground and taking things slow made a huge difference. Wind increased the higher we got but this was expected and it was great to share a hiking experience with a group of friends that are as involved and active as you. This hike was great because I loved the pace we all shared, it was consistent, hard when it needed to be but also challenging at times. As we practically made the path ourselves due to the snow level which I estimate at times was around 25-30cm in depth, the higher we got the less snow we encountered but the more necessary it was to wear micro spikes. The hike was in all a success and of course the view at the top was quite incredible. Seeing lake Mývatn and it’s surrounding covered in blanket of white was truly amazing.
Link to Vindbelgjarfjall hiking trail:
Vindbelgjarfjall Hiking route and elevation gain.
As the North of Iceland experiences winters which are far more brutal than in the south, driving also became a challenge. An experience which was I feel lucky to walk away with was when we had to travel back to our accommodation during the evening. It was rather unfortunate that on the downslope we caught nasty gusts of wind, covering the entire road with snow and making it practically impossible to see! Although driving at a very reduced speed is a preventative measure, the ice which was covered by the snow that had built up on the road was something which I could not control. This unfortunately lead me to lose traction of the back left wheel, turning the car on it’s side while sliding down a road for 20 meters before I finally managed to get the car level again. Looking back at this experience and with a fresh perspective, I really don’t think there was much I could have done differently to prevent getting the car stuck in the snow. These situations in my opinion are huge learning curves for me and taking away the fact that no one was hurt, this was ultimately an experience which I have absorbed in my mind as something that I can learn and adapt from.
Our trip to Hauganes Beach Baths & Geo Sea thermal baths in Húsavík were both relaxing and necessary after a week of shovelling snow under the car every morning. 😅 Everyone knows that thermal baths in Iceland are practically a mandatory activity, with there being hundreds of thermal baths and natural hot springs. This one in Hauganes was no exception, a thermal bath located on the very edge of the sea shore meant that we decided to be brave and go for a cold dip before and during our chill day in the thermal baths! An activity that was awesome to do and yes, slightly crazy during the winter period.
Geo Sea in Húsavík was an altogether different experience. This ‘paid’ and ‘not natural’ hot spring has one amazing feature that is truly special, the view of the mountain and fjord from the thermal baths. This however, was an unlucky day as the visibility made it practically impossible for us to see anything 😂 Regardless of this, the thermal baths, sauna and ability to order a drink in the very hot water your’e in made this experience worth the money! Húsavík itself is very cute and chill village, the emphasis on whale watching is very much present as most of the villages in the north seemed to have this nature first focused tourism.
The trip to the north of Iceland as a whole a great experience with most of the trip encountering good to moderate weather conditions. We both managed to do quite a lot of travelling and site seeing. Geothermal hot springs, visiting Akureyrí (the northern most city in the world) to almost getting my car stuck in a ditch during a storm! The north presents a different set of challenges and an environment that is both peaceful but also relentless.
