- In 1863, more than fifty years before Icelandic women won the right to vote, a woman in Akureyri voted in the municipal elections. Her vote was accepted because of a loophole created by a translating error in the original Danish law.
- Many of the older houses in town have a quilted exterior, unlike the corrugated iron ubiquitous elsewhere in Iceland. The houses are tiled with pre-pressed iron plates imported from America in the 1930s.
- With a population of just under 20.000, Akureyri is the largest town in North Iceland and the third-largest urban area in Iceland after Reykjavík and Keflavík.
- Since Akureyri is so far north, it’s a prime spot to experience the midnight sun. Around the summer solstice, the sun doesn’t set at all.
- Akureyri is only about 90 km south of the Arctic Circle.
- The town’s Botanical Garden contains almost every plant that grows in Iceland and several species from other countries like Greenland.
- In Akureyri, stopping at a red light is much more pleasant than elsewhere; the red lights are heart-shaped! Stopping for a selfie in the middle of traffic is dangerous, but you’ll find a heart-shaped red light by the cultural centre, Hof!
- Akureyri sits at the head of the longest fjord in Iceland: Eyjafjörður.
- Akureyri was home to Matthías Jochumsson, the poet who wrote the lyrics to Iceland’s National Anthem.
- The weather in Akureyri is always perfect.*
*According to the people of Akureyri
Last updated 8 May 2023.