Northeast of Akureyri, you can indulge yourself decadently in warm beer! The place is called Bjórböðin (The Beer Baths) and opened in 2017. The facility is located close to the sea with a fabulous view. There is a fjord, there are mountains and in the middle is Hrisey (Bush Island). It can’t get any more beautiful than that!
From Akureyri to Bjórböðin it is a 35 km drive. If you for obvious reasons don’t want to drive there, you can sign up for a minibus transport there and back, which we did – and it worked very well, you quickly get to know each other on the road. We hadn’t talked for long before the people in front of us turned around and asked if we were Norwegians. When this was confirmed, they continued: ‘Norway is so exotic to us, you really live a rich man’s life there, it’s not like that in Iceland.’ (they were referring to the Norwegian TV series Exit…). But a fun travel companion we had, that’s for sure!
We had some time to wait for our turn when we arrived, and were encouraged to take a bath in one of their two hot tubs. It was incredibly beautiful! Outside, a little above the sea, with the sun on the snow-capped mountains. A nice warm-up before the actual beer bath.
The beer bath took place indoors, in a separate small pool made from half a beer barrel filled with warm, fresh, newly fermented beer. It smelled good and foamed a lot – and tasted like grass. Next to it was a tap – you could drink as much beer as you wanted for the half hour that was allotted to you. But we are talking about only half an hour.
After the beer bath you are led up a white plush staircase to the attic. There you are wrapped in blankets and can lie down and relax. Knut thought it was a waste of time, because he was in party mood. The alternative is to return to the hot tubs outside or to go to the restaurant. We went to the restaurant first. The fried cheese is delicious.
A bath or three in Bjórböðin is a good idea, even for those of us who don’t otherwise live the Exit life.