Day 9 – Akureyri to Sauðárkrókur

The drive from Akureyri to Sauðárkrókur is around 90 minutes without stops. When planning the trip I though we might be tired of driving and so I decided to make another short driving day before the long drive of tomorrow. But by day 9, rather than being tired of driving, we had become accustomed to living on the road and were anxious to see and experience more. Sauðárkrókur is a small, quiet and pretty waterfront town in the North of Iceland. It is a nice out of the way place to relax and unwind. But, if you’ve gotten used to living on the road, this is exactly the type of place to make you restless.

If I were to have push on instead, I think we could have gone into the West Fjords. Hólmavík is approximately 4 hours drive from Akureyi. From there, I might have spent another day in the fjords followed by a ferry ride in Barðastrandarvegur back to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. You can find more information about this ferry here: https://www.seatours.is

Day 9 Map

Day 9 Map

Akureyi Sundlaugar

With only 90 minutes of driving planned for the day we decided to spend a few hours riding the waterslides at the public pool. The air was cool with a mild, occasional rain, the pools were toasty and the slides were great fun.

Waterslides at Akureyi Sundlauger

Akureyi to Glaumbær

The drive was about an hour and a quarter to Glaumbær. Most of the route followed the Öxnadalur valley with mountains on both sides. The light rain obscured much of the view unfortunately.

Leaving Akureyi
descending into the Öxnadalur valley
We followed the Öxnadalsa river for several miles.

Glaumbær

We reached Glaumbær after an hour drive through the quiet green countryside. Here we toured a turf covered farmhouse including the stockrooms, kitchen and various bedrooms for the owners family and the farmhands that lived with them. It gave an interesting glimpse of 18th century Icelandic life including an idea of how they stocked up to survive the winter.

Storerooms, blacksmith, stable and main home at Glaumbaer
Church at Glaumbaer
Pantry
Bedroom

Glaumbær to Sauðárkrókur

Another 15 minutes down the road was Sauðárkrókur and our final stop for the day. I had planned a short drive today partly to rest and partly to provide extra time to take in the sights of Akureyi.

The town of Sauðárkrókur on the horizon
Arrived at Sauðárkrókur

Sauðárkrókur

We arrived at Sauðárkrókur early compared to most days. It is a small town a ways off the main ring road. We stayed the night at a nice, large guesthouse on the main street. I suspect our distance from the ring road allowed us to get a much better deal on the accommodations as compared to some of the other locations where we stayed.

We spent the remainder of the day walking around the quiet town of Sauðárkrókur, visiting their Puffin Museum and a few local stores before turning in early to relax and catch up on rest. I did manage to fly the drone around a bit for a few arial shots before turning in.

Sauðárkrókur

The Video

The drive from Akureyri to Sauðárkrókur was only about an hour and a half. We made one stop along the way at Glaumbaer. The morning rain cleared up about half way through the trip which allowed some good footage.

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