Lake Mývatn and the North
A bird-filled lake ringed by pseudocraters, Mars-coloured steaming solfataras and Europe's most powerful waterfall next door: the North condenses all of Iceland's geology.
Suggested stay — 2 nights
Around Lake Mývatn, the earth doesn't pretend: the Skútustaðir pseudocraters, the lava labyrinth of Dimmuborgir, the perfect crater of Hverfjall (a 20-minute climb), and over the pass, the Hverir solfataras — boiling mud, fumaroles and ochre ground straight off another planet. The Mývatn Nature Baths, cheaper and quieter than the Blue Lagoon, close the day in milky water facing the lake.
Forty-five minutes away, Dettifoss hurls 200 m³ of grey water per second into the Jökulsárgljúfur canyon: Europe's most powerful waterfall, heard before it is seen. On the road west, Goðafoss — the "waterfall of the gods" — earns its stop, and Húsavík, an hour away, remains Europe's whale-watching capital.
Don't miss
- The Hverir solfataras below the Námaskarð pass
- The Hverfjall rim walk and the Dimmuborgir lava field
- Dettifoss (west bank, tarred road 862) and Goðafoss
- A whale-watching trip from Húsavík (record sighting rates in summer)
Our tips on the ground
- In summer the lake's midges (mý = midge!) justify a €5 head net — they don't bite but saturate the air in calm weather.
- The Mývatn baths at sunset, after the solfataras: the perfect sequence.
- In winter the North is another planet: closable roads but exceptional auroras — check the weather twice a day.
On our publishing schedule
Coming soon“Iceland on your own”, the complete edition, is in preparation
Same method as our Namibia guide: day-by-day itineraries, driving, a costed budget and checklists. Leave us your address and you'll hear about the launch — at the launch price.
In the meantime, our reference
The “Namibia on your own” guide — €29
- The same method, already applied to Africa's easiest self-drive country
- 3 day-by-day itineraries, 4x4 insurance decoded, costed budget
- Instant download, 14-day guarantee — currently in French, English edition coming
Before you go
Readers' questions about Lake Mývatn and the North
Is Mývatn worth going all the way north for?
On under 8 days, we usually advise concentrating on the South and West rather than racing the Ring Road. But with 10 days or more, the North is the piece that turns a beautiful trip into a full circumnavigation — geothermal fields, whales and solitude included.
Mývatn baths or the Blue Lagoon?
Mývatn for authenticity and price (half the cost, lake views, local crowd), the Blue Lagoon for the polished spa experience near the airport. Best of all worlds: any town's municipal pool, at €8, where the country's true bathing culture lives.