Akureyri day tours drive east from town to Goðafoss and Lake Mývatn, and on the longest days to Dettifoss, with the pickup in the fare. They run five to nine hours and stop at the craters, the lava towers and the steaming ground. Two things are left out of every fare: food, and the entry to the baths wherever the day stops there.
Meets you in the car park on your ship's pier and gives Goðafoss 30 minutes and the lake about three hours, over five to six hours. The bath stop is optional if the ship's schedule allows, and its entry is extra.
From $197 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Six hours from the cruise terminal with the longest timed stops of any lake day: 45 minutes at Goðafoss and at the lava formations, half an hour each at the craters, the cave and the steaming ground. Food and drinks are yours.
From $180 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pickup at 09:00 at Hotel Kea, Brynja or the Hof building, then about six hours in the lake area with 20 minutes at Goðafoss and an hour at the baths. The bath entry and your lunch are not in the fare.
From $197 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Eight hours in a minibus of eight from the cruise terminal, with a minimum of two to book. Goðafoss gets 45 minutes, the lake four stops and the baths an hour, whose entry you pay at the desk.
From $215 per person (minimum 2)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Seven to nine hours from Hotel Kea at 09:00, taking in Dettifoss for 40 minutes, Goðafoss, the lake, and the baths for an hour and 20 minutes. The bath entry is extra, and food is yours.
From $302 per person (minimum 2)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Eight to nine hours from your hotel in a group of twelve at most, with an hour and a half at Dettifoss and shorter stops at Goðafoss and the lake. Adults 16 and over only, from 18 May to 31 October.
From $395 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Pickup at 09:00 in the centre, about six hours in the lake area and an hour at the baths, back for dinner.
Check availabilityYou are collected in town or at the cruise terminal and driven east on Route 1 through the Vaðlaheiðargöng tunnel. The first stop is nearly always Goðafoss, 12 m high and 30 m wide, about 40 minutes out. Then comes the lake: the craters at Skútustaðagígar, the lava towers of Dimmuborgir, the cave at Grjótagjá and the steaming ground at Hverir under Námafjall. Some days end at the baths, Earth Lagoon Mývatn, the former Mývatn Nature Baths. The longest add Dettifoss, about two hours from town.
No tour here drives the whole Diamond Circle, which also takes in Ásbyrgi and Húsavík; the Dettifoss days cover three of its five stops. And none is a private tour: the smallest group is the eight-seat minibus.
Every day tour here includes the pickup and the drop back. You do not hire a car, pay the tunnel toll or read a map, and nobody in your party spends the day at the wheel.
Goðafoss and Lake Mývatn have no public bus from town. Without a car of your own, a day tour is the way there.
From autumn to spring the roads can ice, and the road to Dettifoss is not in winter service from January until the beginning of April. The driver makes the call on the day, so you do not have to.
Six hours if you want the lake and the falls and an evening in town. Eight if you want the baths too. Eight or nine if you want Dettifoss as well.
In summer, a confident driver can do the lake alone. Here is what changes.
| A day tour | Driving yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | From $180 a person, all in | A hire car, fuel and the tunnel toll |
| Getting there | Pickup in town or at the cruise terminal | Route 1 east, your own pace |
| Time at each stop | Timed: 15 minutes to an hour and a half | As long as you like |
| The baths | Entry extra, from 7,900 ISK | Entry from 7,900 ISK |
| Winter | The driver decides on the roads | You do, on ice |
| A guide | Yes, on most days | No |
If you have a car and it is summer, driving is cheaper for two or more and slower-paced. If it is winter, or nobody wants to drive, the tour is the better buy. The full self-drive case is in Akureyri without a tour.
What you get: the pickup and the drop, the vehicle, and on most days a guide. The morning pickups are at 09:00 from Hotel Kea on Hafnarstræti, with Brynja and the Hof Cultural Centre as further points on one day. The port days meet at the cruise terminal or in the car park on your pier.
What you don’t get: food, on any day, so bring lunch or budget for a stop. And on every day that stops at the baths, the entry: from 7,900 ISK at the desk, free for children 5 and under. One port day makes the bath hour optional; the eight-hour days build it in. How the extras add up is in Akureyri tour prices.
Price. From $180 to $395 a person. The spread is group size and Dettifoss: groups of up to 57 at the bottom, twelve seats and the big waterfall at the top.
Time. Plan the whole day. Pickups are at 09:00, and the eight-hour days bring you back in the late afternoon.
Season. The small-group Dettifoss day runs from 18 May to 31 October, for adults 16 and over. In summer, bring a head net for the midges by the lake. In winter, the roads decide; see Akureyri in winter.
Booking. Every day tour refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead. The stops, one by one, are in the Lake Mývatn day, stop by stop.
Twelve seats, eight to nine hours and an hour and a half at Dettifoss, from 18 May to 31 October.
Check availabilityNext: See how the whole day compares with a boat in Akureyri tours compared, or price the extras in Akureyri tour prices. Every tour sits side by side on Akureyri Iceland Tours.