Whales, Puffins and Stop Lights Full of Love on Iceland´s North Coast

Days 11-13, 2025 European Odyssey

Wednesday-Friday, July 9-11, 2025; Húsavík, Akureyri and Ísafjörður, Iceland.

When Norse explorers established the first Icelandic settlement in what is now Húsavík in around 860, I’m sure they never would have dreamed that more than a millennium later, the town would be known for its role in the Will Farrell comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Today Húsavík bills itself as the Whale Capital of Iceland, and an official travel guide doesn’t mention the movie until the second paragraph. Whale-watching boats come and go all day in the harbor, and I joined one for an afternoon cruise.

First, I enjoyed a cup of coffee on a sunny terrace under a line from the movie. My Google Translate app came in handy. Had I been a fan of the movie, I would have tendered to shore a bit earlier to visit the Jaja Ding Dong bar and Eurovision Exhibition.

My focus was on whales and I wasn’t disappointed. With whales you never know what you will see. We hit the jackpot last summer in Juneau, and nothing may ever beat my experience 25 years ago in Puget Sound when a pod overtook my sailboat.

In Skjálfandi Bay, we weren’t disappointed, discovering a few humpback whales. We first saw a spray of mist from their blow. Next came the surfacing of their humped backs, called a peduncle arch. After repeating the behavior a few times, the whales completed the arch and showed their tails as they dove deep.

They wouldn’t resurface to repeat the behavior for a few minutes. We stayed quite a while watching repeat performances. And because the boat company supplied full body coveralls, I stayed warm in the wind and brisk temperatures.

We also saw puffins swimming in the water and furiously flapping their wings to take off. We cruised over to privately owned Lundey Island in the bay, where puffins and other sea birds, such as guillemots, razorbills, arctic terns and gulls nest on the rocky slopes. I saw a couple of men with nets on poles on the private island. Our guide said they are hunting the birds for local menus, but most restaurants will not serve them.

The previous day we sailed for hours in a fog bank, which sadly prevented us from enjoying the advertised scenic cruising past Jan Mayen Island, a volcanic island inhabited only by a handful of Norwegian armed forces and meteorological personnel.

Akureyri, Iceland’s largest town outside the capital area, is far up a beautiful fjord on the north coast. So close, in fact, that we docked at 10 p.m. not long after leaving Húsavík. Some crew members said they went ashore, but most passengers waited for the next day.

The most popular tours go to Goðafoss, one of the many stunning waterfalls in Iceland. I settled for walking into town from the pier, the same thing I’ve done before. The nice weather continued, so it was fun to watch young children rolling down the hill in a small park, young tourists with backpacks sitting outside the hostel, and lots of ship passengers checking out winter wear in the shops.

I did a rough sketch of the church atop the 10 flights of stairs that have been rebuilt since I was here in 2023. And of course I took my obligatory photo of their unique stop lights. I’ll be back in Iceland in a month and have promised myself to go further afield then. A dinner companion told me about a private backyard of fairytale figures generally open to the public. It’s on my list; more to come.

I was even lazier on Friday in Ísafjörður – I stayed on the ship. It’s a fun town to walk around, but the forecast for off-and-on rain swayed me to make it a ship day. I settled in the art studio by the Crow’s Nest and painted my sketch of the Alta Northern Lights Cathedral. I’ll be back here again, too.

Instead of touring I am indulging in fine dining. Thursday night was a special Cellar Master dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, with a menu pairing five courses of food and wine. It’s only offered on grand and legendary cruises, so this was my only opportunity for the next five months. We had a fun group of six to enjoy the meal.

Friday night I enjoyed a meal at the Morimoto pop-up in the Tamarind restaurant. I seem to always order the same courses – dumplings, lobster pad thai and gelato. Each of my 10 cruise segments will have a Morimoto pop-up dinner, so I’ll be back again.