Northeast Iceland: Mývatn, Húsavík & Stuðlagil, 12 Days

It begins with your own journey to Hirtshals in Denmark. Boarding follows late in the morning and the ferry leaves for Iceland at around 11.30. The night is spent on board in the two-berth inside cabin, with the machine on the vehicle deck.

A quiet day on the North Atlantic opens the loop. On board there is time for maps and route variants, before the east coast of Iceland comes into view the next morning and the first kilometres on the island begin.

The ferry docks at Seyðisfjörður in the morning, and the Ring Road leads west. On the programme are the pseudocraters at Skútustaðir, the lava formations of Dimmuborgir and the mud springs at Námaskarð, before a dip in the Mývatn Nature Baths. Night in or near Reykjahlíð.

Past the Goðafoss waterfall the way runs to Akureyri, capital of the north, with its museums, exhibitions and botanical garden. Anyone who likes can add a gravel loop into the Eyjafjörður to remote horse and sheep farms. Night in or near Akureyri.

West the stage runs through the lonely Öxnadalur valley and over the Öxnadalsheiði pass. At Varmahlíð you can meet Icelandic horses or go rafting, and the way then follows the coast via Sauðárkrókur and Hofsós to Siglufjörður.

Through several tunnels the route reaches the fishing village of Dalvík and then Húsavík, the whale town of the island. The included whale watching sets off in the afternoon, with humpbacks and dolphins often about. The GeoSea Baths above the bay follow.

Across the Tjörnes peninsula, the Ásbyrgi canyon and the Dettifoss waterfall the stage leads into the Icelandic highlands, the last outpost at the edge of settled country. With luck arctic foxes show themselves along the way. Night in or near Möðrudalur.

Today the basalt column gorge of Stuðlagil is on the programme. A short detour to the museum farm at Sænautasel shows how plain life in the northeast was at the start of the 20th century, and the Wilderness Center exhibition follows. Night in or near Egilsstaðir.

The last stage runs past the Vök geothermal baths to the coastal village of Borgarfjörður Eystri, home to puffins and eider ducks. Anyone skipping the detour is in Seyðisfjörður after around 80 kilometres. The night is spent there before the ferry leaves.

The morning brings the goodbye: at around 10.30 the ferry leaves Seyðisfjörður, and the stages of the past week play back once more on board. The night is spent again in the inside cabin, with the machine below.

One more quiet day at sea belongs to the way home. There is time to sort through the impressions of northeast Iceland while the ferry holds its course for Denmark. The last night is spent on board in the inside cabin.

At around 12.30 the ferry reaches the port of Hirtshals, where the loop ends and your own way home begins. Behind you lie around 2,000 kilometres between fjords, volcanoes, waterfalls and whales in the northeast of the island.