IS · Northeastern Region · 65.60°N 17.00°W

mývatn

Lava towers, bubbling mud and waterbirds around a shallow volcanic lake.

Best time
June–September is best, with good birdwatching, though summer brings clouds of midges. Winter has snow and dark skies for the northern lights, but ice and closed side roads limit what you can do.
How long
2 days
Getting there
Fly with one stop to Keflavík, usually via London, Amsterdam or Istanbul (about 19–21 hours all in), then take the 45-minute domestic flight from Reykjavík's city airport to Akureyri. Mývatn is about an hour's drive from there. Iceland is 8 hours behind KL all year.
Save postcard
IS · Northeastern Regionmývatn65.60°N 17.00°Wgowherelah.com
Dear group chat,Lava towers, bubbling mud and waterbirds around a shallow volcanic lake.— gowherelahTo: whoever’s drivingMývatnIS, Northeastern Region
KLmývatn
≈ 10,955 km from KL, as the crow flies
Lava island in lake Mývatn, Iceland

Photo: Andreas Tille · CC BY-SA 4.0

1 / 2

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each.

Mývatn is a shallow lake in a landscape shaped by eruptions: lava castles, craters, steaming vents and bubbling mud. The sights are short walks apart, so it's worth slowing down for a day or two.

Makan

  1. Geothermal rye breadSweet, dense rye bread baked for a day in the hot ground near the lake.Map ↗
  2. Smoked troutLake trout smoked the traditional way over dried sheep dung, served on rye bread.Map ↗

Things to do

  1. DimmuborgirPaths through a maze of dark lava pillars, caves and arches.Map ↗
  2. HverirA field of hissing steam vents and boiling mud pots below an orange-streaked hill.Map ↗
  3. HverfjallA huge, near-perfect volcanic crater; a path climbs up to walk around the rim.Map ↗
  4. SkútustaðagígarGrassy pseudocraters on the lake shore, made when lava flowed over wet ground.Map ↗
  5. Earth Lagoon MývatnThe old Mývatn Nature Baths, renamed and rebuilt with a bigger milky-blue lagoon in 2026.Map ↗

Good to know

  • Bring a head net in summer; most of the midges don't bite, but they swarm.
  • At Hverir, stay on the marked paths; the ground off them can be a thin crust over boiling mud.
  • There's no halal meat around the lake, so stock up in Akureyri or Reykjavík.

Last checked October 2026. Things change, so check opening times, fees and transport before you go.