Experience the best of Reykjahlíð

Reykjahlíð lies on the north-east shore of Lake Mývatn, in a volcanic landscape of lava, craters and hot ground about 54 km east of Akureyri. Lava from the Mývatn Fires of the 1720s flowed through this district, and the village church is said to have been spared in 1729 when a flow divided around it. The lake's name means midge lake, for the clouds of harmless midges that hover over the water in summer.

Close to the village, Dimmuborgir has towers and caves of lava, the cone of Hverfell is a vast circular crater, and Hverir, a field of boiling mud pots and steaming vents, smells strongly of sulphur. Krafla has the turquoise crater lake Víti and a lava field from the eruptions of 1975 to 1984. Goðafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods, Dettifoss, one of Europe's most powerful waterfalls, and the whale-watching harbour of Húsavík are each within about an hour's drive.

Hverabrauð, a dense sweet rye bread baked in warm ground, is the local speciality, often served with smoked trout or Arctic char from the lake, alongside lamb and skyr. Mývatn is a rich nesting ground for ducks, including the Barrow's goldeneye and harlequin duck. Summer brings near-endless light and the midges, in June and July, while winter brings snow and northern lights.