Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The west coast
The panorama of the bay of Faxa Fiord is magnificent - with a width of fifty miles from horn to horn, the one
running down into a rocky ridge of pumice, the other towering to the height of five thousand feet in a pyramid of
eternal snow, while round the intervening semicircle crowd the peaks of a hundred noble mountains.
Letters from High Latitudes
, Lord Dufferin
Reykjavík and the Reykjanes peninsula together form the southern edge of
Faxaflói, the sweeping bay that dominates Iceland's west coast and any
journey north of the capital - the Ringroad clings to its shores as far as the
small commercial centre of Borgarnes before striking off inland on its way
towards Brú and the north coast. Although the scenery is not Iceland's most
dramatic, it provides visitors travelling clockwise around the country with
their first taste of small-town Iceland and as such makes a satisfying
introduction to the rest of the country. If you can, it's a good idea to break
your journey and get a feel for what rural Iceland really is all about - in
summer the views of flower meadows dotted with isolated farms sheltering
at the foot of cloud-topped mountains are picture-postcard pretty.
3
Travelling north, the first town you come to is ugly
Akranes
. With its concrete factory
and fish-processing plants, it's certainly no beauty, but its museum quarter can make an
interesting diversion on the way to
Borgarnes
, a small commercial centre with an
excellent museum. The town serves as a jumping-off point not only for Iceland's largest
hot spring,
Deildatunguhver
, and the hiking trails around
Húsafell
, but also the
historical riches of
Reykholt
, the setting for
Egill's Saga
and home to the only saga
writer known by name, the thirteenth-century politician
Snorri Sturluson.
he “pyramid of eternal snow” which Dufferin referred to when he sailed his yacht
Foam
to Iceland in 1856 was the glacier,
Snæfellsjökull
, which sits majestically on top
of a dormant volcano at the tip of
Snæfellsnes
, a long arm of volcanic and
mountainous land jutting out into the sea, which is the highlight of any trip up the
west coast. Divided by a jagged mountain ridge, the peninsula not only marks the
northern edge of Faxaflói bay but also the southern reaches of the more sheltered
Breiðafjörður.
, with its hundreds of islands and skerries, over which lie the table
mountains of the West Fjords. On a clear day the snowcap is clearly visible across the
water from both Reykjavík and the West Fjords. A gem of a place on the peninsula's
north coast,
Stykkishólmur
is not only the main town hereabouts but also one of
Iceland's most attractive, with its brightly painted wooden houses nestling by a vibrant
harbour busy with chugging fishing vessels. It's from here that the ferry sails for the
pastoral delights of
Flatey
, the largest island in Breiðafjörður. From
Arnarstapi
on the
Exploring the west coast
p.147
Hvalfjörður and whaling
p.148
Egill's Saga
p.151
When the north wind doth blow
p.152
The men of Borg
p.153
Snorri Sturluson
p.154
The Kaldidalur interior route
p.157
Hiking from Varmaland to Bifröst
p.158
The Vikings, Greenland and North
America
p.160
The Laxdæla Saga
p.162
Boat trips from Stykkishólmur
p.167
Flateyjarbók
p.170
Snæfellsjökull
p.173
Hiking in western Snæfellsnes
p.175
Tours from Arnarstapi
p.177
Lýsuhóll
p.177
