A tranquil valley in Hunavatnssyslu Iceland. Certainly nice and even beautiful but on the scale of other things around here not very remarkable at all. PIC Jonathan
H undreds and hundreds of tour sites and travel sites about Iceland out there but none is telling you stuff like this: What is the least exciting part of the country to visit?
We won´t say boring as boring is a state of mind and if you have not visited Iceland before there really are no places here boring in the sense you will regret a visit. Every spot here has a little something to offer but oftentimes one has to know a little history or be guided by a great guide for a seemingly flat and uninteresting area to become something more. And no. Fancy guiding apps will not do the trick.
It is the kind of area locals speed through without looking back
That being said, there is without a shadow of a doubt one area here much less impressive than the rest. Locally these are known as Hunavatnssyslur or the counties of Hunavatn. One could also rate Skagafjordur in the same category. Broadly speaking this is the stretch of Ring Road from the town of Akureyri in the North all the way to Borgarfjordur in the West (see map.)
This part of the country does not have much in the way of fabulous natural sights. In fact, it has none if you are only traveling along the Ring Road through these parts. This changes for the better as soon as you turn off that highway either towards the coastline or inland to the highland. While you will still not find any achingly beautiful spots there are a number of very nice areas to visit. Places such as the hills and lakes of Vatnsdalur, very odd stone formations like the Hvitserkur or the groups of seals calling this shore home for a few months.
Mind you, we are not saying the area is void of beauty. Just that compared to almost all other areas of Iceland there is very little to see and less to explore. It is the kind of area locals speed through without looking back and kids in the backseat soon start to complain about boredom. Incidentally, that is partly why cops around here are known nationwide for the great efficiency in issuing speeding tickets as so many start to drive a little faster than usual around here. Driving here in summertime one should automatically assume cops are hiding here somewhere.
However, there is no avoiding this place if driving around the island. In places you could take secondary roads along the coast or partly cut the route in half by driving over the highland road known as Kjolur. But that would also delay you arriving at more interesting places in Eyjafjordur and Akureyri or Borgarfjordur and the Westfjords.
Best advice we can give is to enjoy the ride as well as you can. One good thing about not seeing stunning things every five minutes is that when you do arrive in an area with stunning things every five minutes the experience is heightened.
