Lystigarðurinn, the botanical garden under the Arctic Circle

Lystigarðurinn, laid out on the slope above the town, is one of the northernmost botanical gardens anywhere, and it should not work at this latitude — but Eyjafjörður's sheltered microclimate and long summer daylight let it grow trees, hedges, lawns and a collection of Icelandic and imported plants in dense flower from June to August. After a week of black sand and grey basalt, walking into it is a shock of green.

For photographers it supplies everything Iceland usually withholds: shade under real trees, hedges to shoot against, paths that curve, flowers for foreground, and shelter from wind. It is the natural choice for family sessions, for anyone in delicate clothing, and for the soft romantic frames that lava fields refuse to give. The garden faces roughly south-west down the fjord, so late light comes in low across the beds — and in June and July that light lasts until nearly midnight, though the garden's own opening hours are shorter.

Seasons run this spot completely. From roughly June to September it is at its best; by October it is bare, and in winter it is closed or under snow. Opening hours are seasonal and change year to year, and a garden this small has rules about tripods, group sessions and commercial shoots — check both with the garden before booking rather than arriving hopefully.

Otherwise it is the easiest location in the north: level gravel paths, benches, five minutes from the town centre, workable in any shoes, and usable in light rain under the trees. Keep off the beds and the labelled specimen plantings, work with the flow of other visitors on the narrow paths, and if a session needs more space than a path allows, the lawns at the lower end are the place to ask about.