A Cruise Day in Akureyri, Hour by Hour

A day ashore in Akureyri is a question of hours. With four you can see the big waterfall or sail the fjord. With six you can reach Lake Mývatn. With eight you can add the baths. What you cannot do on most calls is reach the whale boats at Húsavík and be back in time. This guide works through the day by the hours your ship gives you, and the pier-side tours sold for it are compared on Akureyri shore excursions.

Where does your ship dock in Akureyri?

Large ships berth at Oddeyrarbryggja and Tangabryggja, the piers on the north side of the harbour. The tourist board puts it simply: most ships dock very close to the centre, or about ten minutes’ walk from it. The cruise terminal building is on Laufásgata, and several tours meet you there or in the car park on your pier.

The town takes up to 200 cruise calls a year, mostly from May to the end of September, into a town of about 20,000. The tours that start on the pier seat a fixed number, from eight to 57, so book them before you sail. The meeting points, pier by pier, are on the Akureyri map.

What fits into each length of call?

Measure from the moment you can walk off, to your all-aboard time, and take an hour off for margin. What is left is the time you can book.

What fits a four-hour call?

Two things fit cleanly, and a third fits in summer.

The waterfall. The Goðafoss run leaves the cruise terminal, goes through the Vaðlaheiðargöng tunnel on Route 1 and gives you an hour at the falls, about 40 minutes each way. It takes two and a half hours from $128, with snacks included and a restroom stop at the hotel by the falls. One traveller called it basically transport with some narration, and that is the right way to think of it: it gets you there and back, with time to walk both banks. It returns you to the ship or drops you in town.

The fjord. The whale ships leave the harbour beside the Hof Cultural Centre, a short walk from the piers. A sailing takes two and a half to three hours from $103. Nobody drives you there, but nobody needs to.

The lagoon, in summer. In high season the Forest Lagoon runs a free shuttle from Tangabryggja every hour on the hour from 10:00 to 17:00, under ten minutes each way. Seats go first come, first served, and ticket holders board first.

What fits six hours?

A day to Lake Mývatn. The port days are built for exactly this call, and the fare includes the pier pickup and the drop back.

The most-booked of them meets you in the car park on your own pier, under an Imagine Iceland Travel sign. It gives Goðafoss 30 minutes and the lake about three hours, over five to six hours from $197. Its full shape is on the Mývatn shore excursion page. A second day from the cruise terminal runs six hours from $180 and gives its stops the longest timed visits: 45 minutes each at the falls and at the lava formations of Dimmuborgir, and half an hour at the craters, the cave and the steaming ground at Hverir.

Both spend the time well. Neither leaves room for the baths unless your ship stays late. The six-hour day by the port operator lists the bath hour as optional “if the ship’s schedule allows”, with the entry extra.

What fits eight hours or more?

Now the baths fit. The small-group day meets at the cruise terminal (at the entrance that faces the car park, not the sea side; look for the turquoise jacket) and runs eight hours from $215. It seats eight, needs two travellers to book, and ends with an hour at Earth Lagoon Mývatn. The entry there is not in the fare: it starts at 7,900 ISK at the desk.

A long call is also the only kind on which a Húsavík boat is thinkable, and only with a hire car and discipline. Read the next two sections before you try it.

Can you go whale watching from the ship?

Yes, and from the town harbour it is the easiest thing you can do ashore. Walk from the pier to Oddeyrarbót, by the Hof building, and board. One listing sells the sailing to cruise passengers by name; it leaves the Special Tours ticket office there and lasts two and a half hours from $103, with warm overalls in children’s sizes.

The free second try that most town ships offer is worth less on a port day, because your ship will not wait for it. One exception: the classic ship’s complimentary ticket is valid for two years in Reykjavík or Akureyri. If your cruise also calls at Reykjavík, you can use it there.

Why the Húsavík boats rarely fit a port day

Húsavík is about an hour’s drive east of the cruise port. No fare includes the drive, and the operators want you at their ticket office 30 to 40 minutes before the boat sails. Add a two- or three-hour sailing and the drive back, and a five-hour outing needs a seven-hour call.

It goes wrong in a predictable way. One Húsavík operator, replying to a traveller who missed the boat, reminded them that the harbour is approximately a one-hour drive from the Akureyri cruise port. The boat did not wait. If you want a Húsavík sailing, stay a night in the north and drive over the next morning. The case for each harbour is made in Akureyri or Húsavík for whale watching.

How do pier-pickup tours handle all-aboard time?

By returning you to the pier, and by keeping the stops short. That is the trade: a port day runs to the minute, and the stops are timed to protect your ship’s schedule rather than your photographs.

The risk is other passengers. One traveller on the most-booked port day never reached the caves, because some of the group kept coming back late to the vehicle at each stop. Be the one who is early. Know your all-aboard time, tell the guide when you board, and do not book anything whose published duration leaves you under an hour of margin.

Forest Lagoon from the pier

The lagoon is the calmest way to spend a short call. The shuttle from Tangabryggja runs in high season (from June to early September, and on the busiest ship days either side). Outside it there is no port shuttle, only one evening run from the centre, which is no use to a ship that sails at six.

The ticket at $80 includes a towel, a locker, shower products and a drink at a swim-up bar. At the door, the same package is 10,150 ISK. The water in both pools is 37 °C. Everything about the lagoon, and the town’s own pool, is on things to do in Akureyri.

The town on foot between tours

If you have an hour to spare, walk it. Start at Akureyrarkirkja, the twin-towered church on the hill above the centre, consecrated in 1940. Walk a few streets south to the botanic garden, free and open all year. Come down Aðalstræti for an ice cream at Brynja, and finish at the harbour.

The tourist desk is inside Hof, at Strandgata 12, open 08:00 to 16:00 from June to August, 09:00 to 14:00 in April, May and from September to mid-October, and closed from 16 October to the end of March. The town buses are free and loop from the Miðbær stop, which helps if you would rather ride up the hill than walk it.

Booking before you sail

Book the pier-side tours before you leave home. There is little to lose: every tour listed here refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. If a tour booked through your ship runs late, that is the ship’s problem; if an independent one does, it is yours. That is the whole case for each, and it is yours to weigh.

Check the call time against the season, too. The food walks run from mid-May to September and the puffins at Húsavík from about 15 April to 15 August. What each month brings is on when to visit Akureyri.

Where these figures come from

• Arriving with a cruise ship (Visit Akureyri) — read 23 September 2026
• Cruise calls (Port of Akureyri) — read 23 September 2026
• The lagoon's free shuttle timetable — read 23 September 2026
• The baths at the lake (Earth Lagoon) — read 23 September 2026

A cruise stop in Akureyri: frequently asked questions

Tours that fit a day off the ship

Goðafoss Waterfall from Akureyri Port

Two and a half hours from the cruise terminal: an hour at the waterfall, snacks and a restroom stop. Lunch and bottled water are extra.

From $128 per person

Check Availability

Akureyri: Whale Watching Shore Excursions

Two and a half hours on the fjord from the town-centre harbour, warm overalls in children's sizes, and a second-chance ticket if no whales are seen.

From $103 per person

Check Availability

Akureyri to Lake Myvatn and Nature Baths Small Group Tour

A minibus of eight seats from the cruise terminal for eight hours, a minimum of two travellers, and an hour at the baths with the entry left to you.

From $215 per person (minimum 2)

Check Availability