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Where to Stay in Akureyri
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
Akureyri is Iceland’s second city, which in this country means a town of about twenty thousand people sitting at the head of a sixty-kilometre fjord, sixty miles short of the Arctic Circle. It is the most agreeable town in Iceland to spend a few days in: a compact, flat waterfront centre you can cross in ten minutes, a proper concert hall, a botanical garden that has no business flourishing at this latitude, an excellent swimming pool, and the country’s best short list of day trips within an hour’s drive — Goðafoss, Mývatn, the whales at Húsavík. The one thing to understand before booking is the shape of the place: the centre is level, and everything behind it climbs sharply. Where your hotel sits on that slope will decide how your legs feel by Thursday.
Choosing Your Ground
A flat strip along the water, a steep hill behind it, and a scattering of quieter places out of town.
The waterfront, the hill, or out of town altogether?
The centre — the pedestrianised Hafnarstræti and the streets around it — is flat, walkable and where nearly all the restaurants, shops and tour desks are. This is where most visitors should stay. The hill above it, crowned by Akureyrarkirkja and its long flight of steps, holds several handsome guesthouses and hotels; the views are lovely and the walk home is a genuine climb, so think about that honestly before you book. The southern edge, towards the botanical garden and the swimming pool, is quieter, greener and only ten or fifteen minutes on level ground from the centre — our choice for a stay of several nights. Out of town, on the fjord or in the woods a few miles south, sit the lodges and apartment houses: darker skies for the aurora, hot tubs, and no evening walk to dinner without a car. One practical note for everyone: Akureyri is a cruise port, and on a big ship day the centre is briefly and noticeably busier between about ten and four.
The best in town
There is no five-star tower here and there should not be. These are the two full-service hotels that anchor the town.
Hotel Kea by Keahotels
The grand old hotel of the north, standing at the foot of the church steps in the middle of everything, and the address most Icelanders would name if you asked. It is comfortable rather than glamorous, with a good restaurant, proper lifts and staff who have been doing this for a long time. Rooms at the front look down the fjord. If you want one hotel in Akureyri that will simply work, this is it.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Akureyri — Berjaya Iceland Hotels
The former Icelandair hotel, a larger and more modern property a short walk from the waterfront, and the most reliable choice in town for anyone who wants a bigger building with lifts, a restaurant and a proper front desk at eleven at night. It is the hotel that most coach tours of the north use, which tells you it is well set up for arrivals and departures.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Small & characterful
Akureyri’s pleasure is its small hotels, several of them in old timber houses on or just below the hill.
Hotel Norðurland
A small, well-kept hotel a couple of streets back from the waterfront, which is the sweet spot in this town: quiet at night, flat to walk, and two minutes from dinner. Rooms are modest in size and spotless. It is the sort of unshowy place that regular visitors to the north book again without thinking about it.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Akureyri
A small independent hotel close to the middle of town, friendly and straightforward, and consistently better value than its location would suggest. Ask about the room aspect when you book — the fjord-facing side is worth requesting — and ask about steps, as with any older Akureyri building.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Budget & value
Akureyri is meaningfully cheaper than Reykjavík, and the budget end here is guesthouses rather than chain hotels.
BG4 Guesthouse
A simple, clean, well-reviewed guesthouse of the kind that makes travel in the Icelandic north affordable. Expect a comfortable room, a kitchen you may share, and a host who knows the road conditions better than any website. Confirm which rooms have a private bathroom when you book; in guesthouses of this type they are not all the same.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Akureyri Backpackers
Right on the main street, with private rooms as well as dormitories and a busy bar on the ground floor that doubles as the town’s information exchange. It is the cheapest central bed in Akureyri and a genuinely sociable one. The obvious caution for our readers: there is a bar downstairs, and there are stairs.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Family-friendly & self-catering
For families, and for anyone who would rather cook than eat out at Icelandic restaurant prices, the apartment houses and lodges are the answer here.
Saeluhus Apartments & Houses
Serviced apartments and small houses on the southern side of town, with proper kitchens, separate bedrooms and, in many of the units, a private hot tub on the deck. For a family or two couples travelling together it is both cheaper and far more comfortable than a row of hotel rooms, and the supermarket is close. You will want a car from here.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Kjarnalundur — Aurora Dream Lodges and Rooms
A few miles south of Akureyri in the Kjárnaskógur woods, which makes it one of the easiest places in the north to step outside and look for the northern lights without driving anywhere. Lodges and rooms, quiet surroundings and space for children to be children. A car is essential; the town is a ten-minute drive.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Adults-only & grown-up quiet
Honestly: a town of twenty thousand people does not run adults-only hotels, and we will not invent one for you. Akureyri has no property we can verify as adults-only through our Trip.com partner. What it does have is a great many small, calm hotels where the loudest thing you will hear is the harbour. The two small hotels above — Norðurland and Hotel Akureyri — are the ones we would choose for a quiet week, and the browse link below lets you filter the whole town by rating and by guest type.
Browse quiet stays in Akureyri ›Pet-friendly
Another honest absence. We could not verify a single pet-friendly hotel in Akureyri that Trip.com actually sells — the pet-friendly accommodation in this town is almost entirely self-catering cottages and campsites, booked elsewhere. Rather than point a booking button at something we have not checked, here is the honest browse link for the town, where the pet-friendly filter will show you whatever is genuinely available on the dates you want.
Browse pet-friendly stays in Akureyri ›Hot water and the pools
Akureyri does hot water better than almost anywhere. The municipal swimming pool at Síðusel is one of the finest in Iceland — outdoor, geothermal, with hot pots, steam and waterslides, open year round and costing a few dollars. The Forest Lagoon, five minutes out of town on the eastern side of the fjord, is the handsome modern alternative, built into the hillside with a view down the water. Neither needs to be booked through a hotel. If you want hot water at your own door, the Saeluhus units above have private tubs; otherwise take the ten-minute walk to the pool, which is what the town itself does every day of the year.
Browse Akureyri stays with a spa or hot tub ›Don’t see your perfect fit?
Every hotel in Akureyri on Trip.com, with live prices and availability. Booking through our links supports Destinations Guild at no extra cost to you.
Browse all Akureyri hotels ›Akureyri Hotel FAQ
Is Akureyri worth staying in, or just passing through?
Worth staying in, and most visitors give it too little time. It is the only town in Iceland outside the capital with a full week’s worth of good restaurants, a concert hall, a botanical garden and a proper swimming pool — and it puts Goðafoss, Mývatn, Húsavík and the Arctic Coast Way all within an easy day. Two nights is the minimum that makes sense; three or four is better.
How do I get to Akureyri from Reykjavík?
Either a forty-five-minute domestic flight from the little city airport in Reykjavík — not Keflavík — or a drive of about 390 kilometres, roughly five hours in good conditions on Route 1. The flight is inexpensive by Icelandic standards and it is a spectacular one. In winter, flying and hiring a car at the other end is a great deal wiser than driving north.
Is Akureyri walkable?
The centre is, easily and pleasantly: the waterfront, the main street and the harbour are flat and close together. The town behind it is not — it climbs steeply, and the church that everyone photographs sits at the top of a long flight of steps. Choose a hotel on the flat unless you actively want the view and the exercise.
What can I do from Akureyri in a day?
A great deal. Goðafoss is thirty-five minutes east. Lake Mývatn, with its craters, steaming ground and nature baths, is an hour and a quarter. Húsavík, for whale watching, is an hour and a half. The Arctic Coast Way, Dalvík and Siglufjörður with its herring museum run north up the fjord. All of these are comfortable half or full days by car or on an organised tour that collects you in town.
When is the best time to be in the north?
June to August for the long light and the whales; September for autumn colour and the first aurora; February and March for snow, skiing at Hlíðarfjall and reliable dark nights. November to January the days are very short indeed this far north — worth knowing before you book a driving holiday.
Are there lifts in Akureyri hotels?
The two larger hotels have them. Several of the small hotels and guesthouses, which occupy older timber buildings on a slope, do not, or have bedrooms up a steep stair. This is often not stated in the listing. Ask the hotel directly before you book if stairs are a difficulty.
Does the cruise-ship traffic spoil the town?
Not really, but it is noticeable. Akureyri is a busy summer cruise port, and on a big ship day the main street and the church steps are crowded between about ten in the morning and four in the afternoon. The ships leave in the evening and the town returns to itself. Plan your walk around town for the early morning or after five and you will barely notice.
Is Akureyri cheaper than Reykjavík?
Yes, noticeably — often twenty to thirty per cent less for a comparable room, and rather less again for the guesthouses. Restaurants are a little cheaper too. Combined with the fact that the north is far less crowded in summer, that makes a few nights here one of the better-value decisions available on an Iceland trip.
Ready to book your Akureyri stay?
Compare every Akureyri hotel on Trip.com, with live prices and availability. Booking through our links supports Destinations Guild at no extra cost to you.