Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HIKING BETWEEN HESTEYRI AND AÐALVÍK
From
Læknishúsið
guesthouse in Hesteyri, a good
path
- actually the old road that led west to
the now abandoned settlement of Slettá - leads up the hill following the course of a river. At
the top, the trail strikes out across an extensive rockfield, which can be hard going in parts;
even in July there is a lot of snow left up here. Follow the cairns through the rockfield until the
track descends into sandy
Aðalvík
: the bottom of this path is rather boggy. At the foot of the
hill you've descended, cross a shallow river to reach the beach and the couple of houses that
make up
Látrar
, at the eastern end of Aðalvík bay, or
Sæból
at the western edge, both
surrounded by snowy mountains on all sides. To retrace your steps,
note that the path to
Hesteyri can be found by crossing the river at the rear of the beach and heading for the single
house on the river bank. From here head up the hill to the right of the house to reach the
rockfield plateau to Hesteyri. Either way this 12km hike takes around four hours to complete.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
HORNSTRANDIR
By ferry
Between June and August, ferries from
Ísafjörður run daily to Hesteyri, and once or twice a week
to other destinations including Hornvík and Aðalvík
(though departures are late June to mid-Aug only). Two
companies sail to Hornstrandir:
Vesturferðir, based at
Ísafjörður's tourist o
ce (
T
456 5111,
W
westtours.is)
and Borea Adventures, at Aðalstræti 22B (
T
456 3322,
W
borea.is). It costs 6300kr one-way to Hesteyri and
11,200kr to Hornvík, and it's a good idea to book in
advance to be sure of a seat.
ACCOMMODATION
Læknishúsið
Hesteyri
T
899 7661,
W
hesteyri.net.
The
former village doctor's house from 1901, on the western
side of the Hesteyrará river, offers self-catering
sleeping-bag accommodation in three rooms. There's also a
share
d bathro
om and a lounge. Closed late Aug to mid-
June.
4500kr
4
The west coast: along Route 60
Passing through some of the most dramatic scenery the West Fjords have to offer,
Route 60
is the access route for the southern and western sections of this region. It's
predominantly a mountain road, winding through narrow passes and deep-green
valleys as often as it rounds the heads of fjords, past the handful of tiny villages which
mark the way down the west coast south of Ísafjörður. It arrives on the south coast at
the insubstantial outpost of
Brjánslækur
, where you have the option of continuing
south or east and out of the region, or heading down to the West Fjord's southwestern
tip at Látrabjarg (see p.203).
Despite Route 60 being one of the West Fjords' main roads, once you're south of
the small sleepy fishing villages of
Flateyri
and
Þingeyri
, it's little more than an
unsurfaced and badly potholed dirt track, where driving requires slow speeds, much
gear changing and even more patience. Things improve after the spectacular climb
and descent into minute
Hrafnseyri
, the birthplace of
Jón Sigurðsson
, the man who
led Iceland's nineteenth-century independence movement. Beyond here, look out
for triangular
Dynjandi
waterfall, at the head of the eponymously named fjord, and
a favourite rest break for buses. One of the main entrance points into the West
Fjords lies due south of here, the
ferry
terminal at Brjánslækur for connections to
the island of Flatey (see p.170) and on to Stykkishólmur (see p.164) on the
Snæfellsnes peninsula.
GETTING AROUND ROUTE 60
By bus
From June to August, a thrice-weekly long-
distance bus service follows Route 60 between Ísafjörður
and Brjánslækur, stopping at most settlements along the
way (except Flateyri) and connecting with Stykkishólmur
ferries. It then continues westwards to Patreksfjörður and
Látrabjarg on the southwestern peninsula (see p.199 for
more about these) before retracing its route to Ísafjörður.
Timetables are at
W
bsi.is.
