Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stokkseyri
South from Selfoss, Route 34 runs straight to the coast across the
Flói
, a 10km stretch
of land so flat that halfway across you can see both your starting point and destination.
At the far end, the pretty seaside village of
STOKKSEYRI
is a former fishing port set
around its church and behind a protective storm wall. Over the wall is a windswept,
vestigial and unattended
harbour
- though even in its heyday in the 1900s it must have
been tough to launch a boat here - and, oddly, a little yellow sand beach nestled
amongst black, weed-strewn rocks. Stokkseyri´s most famous resident was
Thurídur
Einarsdottír
, a nineteenth-century woman who worked on commercial fishing boats
and is renowned for successfully defending, in court, her then-illegal preference for
wearing men's clothing. The
Cultural Centre
, inside an old fish factory at Hafnargata 9,
houses (among other things) the workshop of Iceland's only pipe organ maker,
Björgvin Tómasson, who has built instruments for many of Iceland's churches.
2
EATING
STOKKSEYRI
Ì
Fjöruborðið
Eyrarbraut 3a
T
483 1550,
W
jorubordid.is.
Set in an old wooden building right
against the sea wall, this is probably the most renowned
place to eat lobster in Iceland; former patrons have
included Clint Eastwood and they serve up 15 tons of
lobster a year. It's fair value considering what you get: a set
meal of lobster soup, 300g of langoustine tails and a
dessert costs 6950kr, but you could always just order the
soup (2050kr) or 250g of tails (3850kr) - add 950kr for a
side order of potatoes, cucumber salad and extra dips.
Booking advisable.
Daily noon-9pm.
Eyrarbakki
Some 4km west of Stokkseyri,
EYRARBAKKI
is a larger version of its neighbour, and has
a greater claim to fame: local boy
Bjarni Herjólfsson
sailed from here in 985 aiming for
Greenland, lost his way in a storm, and became the first European to set eyes on North
America - though, displaying an incredible lack of curiosity, he failed to land. After
reaching Greenland, he told his story and sold his ship to Leifur Eiriksson, who
retraced Bjarni's route, made landfall, and named the place “Vinland” after his
foster-father reported finding grape vines. The details are recounted in
Greenlanders'
Saga
and
Eirik the Red's Saga
(see “Books”, p.337).
Until the early twentieth century, Eyrarbakki's
harbour
was considered one of the best
in southern Iceland, though boats had to be launched by dragging them through the
surf into deeper water where they could be rowed out. Fishing and a proximity to the
Öfulsá estuary ferry ensured Eyrarbakki's prosperity until the Selfoss bridge was
completed and the town's harbour was rendered redundant by a safer, man-made effort
west across the Öfulsá at Þorlákshöfn. Today, the hamlet's main employer is the local
jail
, one of Iceland's largest. Despite this downturn of fortune, Eyrarbakki sports an
attractive core of early twentieth-century houses, an older timber-sided
church
, and the
nearby
Husíð
museum complex.
Husíð
Búðarstígur • June-Aug daily 1-6pm • 700kr •
W
husid.com
Husíð
, a Norwegian wooden kit-home dating back to 1765, now incorporates several
museum exhibitions. The most interesting is the
Maritime Museum
, whose centrepiece is
THE STOKKSEYRI AND EYRARBAKKI BUS
From Monday to Friday, a
free bus
from outside the tourist o
ce in Selfoss runs to Stokkseyri
and Eyrarbakki throughout the day. Note, however, that departures are unevenly spread, and
not all services stop at both villages (though it's only an hour's walk between the two); check
with the Selfoss tourist information about the current schedule before heading out here.
