Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Services
The chances are the swimming pool at
Þingeyraroddi (Mon & Wed 8.15-11.30am & 4-7.30pm,
Tues 8-8.50am & 4-7.30pm, Thurs 8-8.50am & 4-9pm,
Fri 8.15-11.30am, Sat & Sun 10am-3pm) will be closed
when you want to go, so check the times carefully. The post
o
ce (Mon-Fri 12.30-4pm) and the bank (Mon-Fri
11.30am-4pm) are together at Fjarðargata 2.
ACCOMMODATION, EATING AND DRINKING
Campsite
Hrunastígur 1
T
450 8470.
The town's
campsite, with showers, toilets and electricity, is located
next to the swimming pool at the
western
end of the
village. Closed mid-Sept to mid-May.
1200kr
Sandafell
Hafnarstræti 7
T
456 1600,
W
hotelsandafell
.com.
This bright and airy place overlooking the harbour likes
to think of itself as a hotel but it's really a smart guesthouse.
Rooms are both en-suite rooms and with shared facilities.
The restaurant serves tasty
fish suppers for 3200kr as well as
a good chicken cordon bleu at 2800kr and a range of salad
options for 2200kr.
Resta
urant op
en daily 11am-8pm;
closed Oct-May.
Doubles
11,900kr
Simbahöllin
Fjarðargata 5
T
899 6659.
Creative new
life has been breathed into the town's creaking old timber
grocery store from 1905: it's now a cute café serving
genuine Belgian wa
es, home-made cakes and evening
suppers such as lamb tajine.
Daily: early June & late Aug
daily
noon-6pm;
mid-June
to
mid-Aug
daily
10am-1pm.
Vera
Hlíðargata 22
T
456 8232.
Cheery Vera rents out a
comfortable studio with kitchen facilities located in the
basement of her own home. It's available all year and there
are discounts for longer stays.
15,000kr
Við Fjörðinn
Aðalstræti 26
T
847 0285,
W
vidjordinn
.is.
Offering just ten cosy rooms both with and without
private facilities, this guesthouse is worth checking out if
you're he
re out of season when the
Sandafell
is closed.
11,500kr
Hrafnseyri
The 17km drive south from Þingeyri to minuscule
HRAFNSEYRI
is one of the most
dramatic sections of Route 60. Climbing all the while to squeeze through a narrow pass
between mountains over 700m high, the road then makes a stunning descent into
Hrafnseyri on the shores of
Arnarjörður
; when viewed from the hamlet below, the road
appears to cling precariously to a vertical wall of rock. Named after the fjord's first
settler, Örn (meaning “eagle”,
arnar
being its genitive case), who lasted just one winter
here, Arnarfjörður is 30km long and up to 10km wide: it forks at its head to form four
smaller fjords, Suðurfirðir, to the southwest, and Borgarfjörður and Dynjandisvogur
inlet to the northeast. It's widely, and quite rightly, regarded by locals as the most
picturesque of all the West Fjords, enclosed by towering mountains.
Hrafnseyri itself, consisting of a tiny church and a museum, is one of only two
settlements on Arnarfjörður (the other is Bíldudalur, 79km away). It was named after
one of Iceland's earliest doctors,
Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson
, who died here in 1213, having
trained in Europe then returned home to practise. A memorial stone next to the church
commemorates his life, and the grass mound nearby is thought to be the site of his
boathouse. However, the settlement is best known as the birthplace of
Jón
Sigurðsson
(see box, p.198), the man who won independence for Iceland in the nineteenth
century. The best time to be in Hrafnseyri is
Icelandic National Day
(June 17), when a
special mass is held in the church and prominent Icelanders from across the country
travel to the village to remember their most distinguished champion of freedom.
Although it's a serious occasion, there's a mood of optimism and good humour, with
plenty of singing and celebration.
4
Jón Sigurðsson Museum
June-Aug daily 10am-8pm • 800kr •
W
hrafnseyri.is
Adjacent to Hrafnseyri's church, the excellent
Jón
Sigurðsson
Museum
records
his life, mostly with photographs, some of his letters and contemporary drawings.
Particularly evocative is the painting of the meeting of 1851, which Sigurðsson
and a number of Icelandic MPs held with representatives of the Danish state in the
Grammar School, Menntaskólinn, in Reykjavík, and which helped pave the way for
Icelandic independence.
