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Húsavík, Iceland
Iceland

Things to do in Húsavík

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Húsavík

A fishing town of roughly 2,500 on the east shore of Skjálfandi bay, 50 km short of the Arctic Circle. Whale watching started from the harbour in 1995 with converted oak fishing boats and now defines the place. The timber church of 1907 stands above the quay, the old slaughterhouse holds the whale museum, and geothermal seawater is pumped to baths on the cliff at Húsavíkurhöfði.

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Things to do

5
  1. Ásbyrgi

    Ásbyrgi

    Natural Wonder · 2 hr

    Walk into a horseshoe canyon three and a half kilometres long, under cliffs up to a hundred metres high. Its floor is birch wood and still water, not the bare rock found elsewhere in the north.

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  2. Dettifoss

    Dettifoss

    Waterfall · 1 hr

    The most powerful waterfall in Europe by volume, and the ground shakes before the canyon comes into view.

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  3. Húsavík Whale Museum

    Húsavík Whale Museum

    Museum · 1.5 hr

    The reference collection behind Skjálfandi bay, and the place to learn what is out there before boarding a boat.

  4. GeoSea Geothermal Sea Baths

    Hot Spring · 2 hr

    Saltwater rather than freshwater, at eye level with the bay the whale boats work.

  5. Húsavíkurkirkja

    Church · 30 min

    The most photographed wooden church in the north, and the work of the man usually called Iceland's first architect.

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Dispatches

1
Half of Vatnajökull Is Always Shut
Vatnajökull National Park

Half of Vatnajökull Is Always Shut

Ice caves October to April, interior roads for a few weeks at midsummer, boats at the weather's discretion: whichever month a visitor picks, a large part of Iceland's biggest national park is shut.
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