{"id":224995,"date":"2025-06-29T21:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T21:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/224995\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T21:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T21:43:08","slug":"jaw-dropping-town-considered-the-best-place-to-escape-hot-weather-europe-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/224995\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaw-dropping town considered &#8216;the best&#8217; place to escape hot weather | Europe | Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Much smaller than Reykjav\u00edk, Akureyri is nicknamed the \u201cCapital of the North\u201d and is Iceland\u2019s second-largest settlement, though it has a population of only about 20,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.holiday-weather.com\/akureyri_\/averages\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Holiday Weather<\/a> lists August as its warmest month at a mild 12C, while July enjoys up to 20 hours of daylight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This means that even at the height of summer visitors will probably want a jumper.<\/p>\n<p>But the cooler climate is a big part of the draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One TripAdvisor reviewer wrote: \u201cAkureyri was an absolute breath of fresh air, literally! It\u2019s the perfect escape for anyone looking to avoid the scorching summer heat that sweeps across much of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added: \u201cForget sweating through your vacation; Akureyri offers a wonderfully refreshing climate even in summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is plenty to do besides soaking up the crisp air.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/guidetoiceland.is\/history-culture\/akureyri-icelands-capital-of-north\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Guide to Iceland<\/a>, the town dates back to Viking times and has grown into a cultural hub packed with museums and galleries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Akureyri Art Museum shows cutting-edge Icelandic work, while the local museum traces more than 1,100 years of history.<\/p>\n<p>Akureyri also claims the world\u2019s most northerly botanical garden, home to more than 7,000 plant species.<\/p>\n<p>A short walk away stands Akureyrarkirkja church, designed by the architect behind Reykjav\u00edk\u2019s famed Hallgr\u00edmskirkja and offering sweeping views over Eyjafj\u00f6r\u00f0ur fjord.<\/p>\n<p>Nature lovers can head out on popular whale-watching tours from the harbour during the summer season, and day trips reach the thunderous Go\u00f0afoss waterfall and the volcanic landscapes of Lake M\u00fdvatn.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In winter the surrounding hills turn into a ski area, but when the snow melts, the same slopes are criss-crossed with stunning hiking trails.<\/p>\n<p>Add cosy caf\u00e9s, fresh-fish restaurants and long evenings under the midnight sun, and it is easy to see why Akureyri is now billed as Europe\u2019s best place to keep cool while everyone else bakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much smaller than Reykjav\u00edk, Akureyri is nicknamed the \u201cCapital of the North\u201d and is Iceland\u2019s second-largest settlement, though&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[88782,88787,88786,88790,13222,88789,88783,2000,299,5187,2837,7059,88784,88785,5006,88788],"class_list":{"0":"post-224995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-akureyri","9":"tag-best-coolcation","10":"tag-best-european-destination-to-avoid-heatwaves","11":"tag-best-towns-to-visit-in-europe","12":"tag-cold-weather","13":"tag-cold-weather-destinations","14":"tag-coolcations","15":"tag-eu","16":"tag-europe","17":"tag-european","18":"tag-holiday","19":"tag-iceland","20":"tag-iceland-travel","21":"tag-summer-escape","22":"tag-tourism","23":"tag-where-to-travel-to-avoid-the-heat"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114768838912938774","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}