7 Best Shopping in Akureyri, Iceland

The ultimate Icelandic heritage brand, 66°North has managed to stay trendy with both cool fashionistas and their rural grandparents. Their Akureyri location, smack dab in the middle of downtown, offers all their classic wares, from their iconic Workman's hat to their popular Jökla parka. Pick one up and watch as suddenly everyone starts speaking Icelandic to you. 

There’s an Eymundsson bookstore staffed by bibliophiles in almost every major town in Iceland, and the Akureyri location sits on one of the hot corners of town where the main high street meets the trendy Listagil street, which leads up to the church. Here you'll find all the latest titles along with a few classics, in both Icelandic and English, plus an excellent selection of magazines. Their superb in-house coffee shop is Te & Kaffi.

This lovely concept studio/store presents a beautiful array of goods made by local artists, farmers, designers, and more. They aim to promote fair trade, support local culture, and encourage creativity through workshops, events, and exhibitions. Hours can vary.

This shop has been selling woolens, knitting kits, sheepskin rugs, and other souvenirs to locals and visitors for more than 20 years. It's a great place to get a traditional Icelandic woolen sweater.

There’s a treasure trove of secondhand books here, with around 85% Icelandic titles and quite a few books in English, too. Among the romance novels and pulp fiction you’ll find the occasional rare classic, with some dating back to the 1700s. The owner, Olga, has been running the shop for over 30 years, but now in her 80s, she has passed the baton to a couple of charming young Brits named Stu and Ren, who run it on her behalf.

Located just south of Akureyri in a fairy-tale-inspired house decorated with giant candy canes and trimmed with faux frosting, Jólagarðurinn is not the place for grinches. The inside is packed to its pretty little rafters with an impressive display of Christmas goods, and the smell of burning embers mingles delightfully with those of peppermint, cinnamon, and smoked lamb. Icelandic Christmas music blends romantically with the tick-tock of Black Forest cuckoo clocks and the sound of wood crackling on an open hearth, fueling an atmosphere that should have your heart bursting with Yuletide joy, even in the middle of summer.