Qualla: North Iceland https://qualla.com/north-iceland en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:05 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/d/3/iceland-wp/iceland-2017-02-22-gullfoss-36.jpg Qualla: North Iceland https://qualla.com/north-iceland North Iceland: Introduction https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit Superbass, CC BY-SA 3.0. The waterfall appears suddenly, a horseshoe of thunder carved into dark basalt. Goðafoss - the Waterfall of the Gods - earned its name a thousand years ago when Iceland's law speaker threw his Norse idols into the falls upon converting to Christianity. The drama feels appropriate: North Iceland is a region that deals in extremes. Volcanic craters dot Lake Mývatn like something from another planet. Glaciers cap the jagged peaks of Tröllaskagi. Whales breach in Skjálfandi Bay while travelers watch from Húsavík's wooden boats. And just offshore, the tiny island of Grímsey straddles the Arctic Circle itself - a place where the midnight sun truly never sets.

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Image: Superbass | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full North Iceland: Fire and Ice https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit Hansueli Krapf  This file was uploaded with Commonist., CC BY-SA 3.0. Mývatn is not quite of this world. The lake's name means 'midge lake' - a warning for summer visitors - but the real strangeness lies in the landscape. Pseudocraters ring the water, formed when lava flowed over wetland and the trapped steam exploded upward. The Dimmuborgir lava f...

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Image: Hansueli Krapf  This file was uploaded with Commonist. | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-fire-and-ice.mp3 0:06 2 full North Iceland: The Diamond Circle https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit Chris 73, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Diamond Circle route loops through North Iceland's greatest hits: Goðafoss, Mývatn, Dettifoss (Europe's most powerful waterfall), and the whale-watching port of Húsavík. The roads wind through landscapes that shift from lush valley to lunar desert within kilometers. The north...

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Image: Chris 73 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-the-diamond-circle.mp3 0:06 3 full North Iceland: The Capital of the North https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0. Akureyri is Iceland's second city, which means 20,000 people clustered at the head of a 60-kilometer fjord. It feels impossibly lush for 65° north - botanical gardens bloom with flowers that have no business surviving this close to the Arctic. The surrounding mountains trap warmt...

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Image: Gerd Eichmann | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-the-capital-of-the-north.mp3 0:06 4 full North Iceland: Horse Country https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit APK, CC BY-SA 4.0. Skagafjörður is Iceland's horse heartland. The Icelandic horse - small, shaggy, developed from Viking-era stock brought by settlers - has been isolated here for a thousand years. No horse that leaves Iceland may return, protecting the breed from disease. These horses can tölt, a ...

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Image: APK | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-horse-country.mp3 0:06 5 full North Iceland: Edge of the Arctic https://qualla.com/north-iceland/ Photo credit Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason, CC BY-SA 4.0. Grímsey is a sliver of rock 40 kilometers offshore, population around 60, bisected by the Arctic Circle. A ferry runs from Dalvík; small planes land on a grass strip. The main attraction is simple: stand on the line where the sun officially never sets on midsummer's night, never ...

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Image: Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/e/e/j/north-iceland-wk/geej-north-iceland-edge-of-the-arctic.mp3 0:06 6 full