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Choosing between Selfoss and Akureyri for a three-day base

Hello!

I'm planning a six (or maybe seven) day trip to Iceland with my dad in late September. We intend to spend about half of the trip in Reykjavik and the other half based somewhere with or near breathtaking landscapes as a base. It seems to me that Selfoss and Akureyri are our best options, but I'd love to know what the community prefers! We'd ideally like do some light hiking and cave touring, but nothing too strenuous as my dad is in his late 60s. We'd ideally like to take one or two tours wherever we go.

Much Thanks,

Max

Posted by
771 posts

If you think in terms of nights in a place, and not days, are you thinking of 3 nights in Reykjavik and 3 nights elsewhere?

It's hard for me to answer your question directly since I have not been to Akureyri, although I totally understand why you want to go there. My answer addresses if you go south. No matter which, you might consider 2 nights for Reykjavik and add the other night elsewhere. It's an interesting city, but there is so much to see beyond there.
We went up the west coast and inland a bit for 2 nights, then stayed in Selfoss for one night and went out along the south coast to near Kirkjubaejarklauster. If you decide to go south rather than north, I would encourage you to go further along the south coast than Selfoss--towards Vik or Kirkjubaejarklauster. If you have the Rick Steves Iceland book, he describes many points of interest, beauty, and hikes along there. We did a glacier hike, went up Droholey Promontory for some gorgeous views, visited the black sand beaches of Vik, did a zodiac boat ride in the iceberg lagoon of Jokulsarlon, visited Vatnajokull National Park and did a moderate hike to a waterfall, along with other suggested sights. (And we are of similar age as your dad.) As others have suggested, look at some of the self-drive options with tour companies to see their itineraries for ideas.
PS--To really make thing easier, look at the list of geographic terms in the Rick Strives book in order to understand that place names in Icelandic are just a combinations of various geographic terms: Vik=harbor; reyk=steam; Reykjavik=steamy harbor; Jokulsarlon=glacier lagoon, etc.
Let us know what you decide, and how your dad enjoys it.