Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Swimming pool
Aðalstræti 55 • Mon-Fri 7am-8.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm • 500kr
Patreksfjörður's one saving grace is its spectacularly located open-air
swimming pool
,
perched high above the fjord at the western edge of the tiny town centre. As you swim
here, you're treated to uninterrupted views across the fjord to the mountain of
Vatnsdalsfjall, which rises on Patrekfjörður's sandy southern shore; soaking in the hot
pots, drinking in the views, is equally as pleasurable. Though the pool should have been
built a little longer (the neighbouring graveyard is in the way), a swim here is one of
the most restorative and relaxing activities in the whole of the West Fjords region.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
PATREKSFJÖRÐUR
By bus
Both year-round buses between Patreksjörður,
Tálknafjörður and Bíldudalur, and summer services to
Látrabjarg, Brjánslækur and Ísafjorður, depart from the
Esso filling station on Strandgata.
Destinations
Bíldudalur (1 daily except Sat; 1hr);
Brjánslækur (3 weekly; 1hr); Ísafjörður (3 weekly; 4hr);
Látrabjarg (3 weekly June-Aug; 1hr); Tálknafjörður (1 daily
except Sat; 30min).
Services
The post o
ce (Mon-Fri 10am-4.30pm) is at
Bjarkargata 10. For cash withdrawals there's an ATM at the
bank (Mon-Fri 9.15am-4pm) opposite, at Bjarkargata 1.
Nearby, at Þórsgata 10, down by the harbour, you'll find the
vínbúð
(Mon-Thurs 2-6pm, Fri 2-7pm, Sat 11am-2pm),
whilst the Albína supermarket and bakery (Mon-Fri
8am-10pm, Sat & Sun 10am-10pm), Aðalstræti 89, is the
most central place for provisions.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Fosshótel Westfjords
Aðalstræti 100
T
562 4000,
W
fosshotel.is.
Opened in June 2013, the brand-new
Patreksjörður
Fosshótel
has 41 rooms and far outstrips any
other accommodation in town. Check the website for prices
and the latest details. Rooms may have the usual chain feel,
but are bright,
airy and
comfortable and have great views
over the jord.
28,500kr
Þorpið
Aðalstræti 73
T
456 1295.
An airy modern place
with excellent views over the fjord. Best choice is the deep-
fried haddock in garlic sauce (2900kr), but they also do a
good
plokkfiskur
(2900kr), lamb chops (3200kr) and pizzas
(from 1650kr).
Daily noon-10pm.
Ráðagerði
Aðalstræti 31
T
456 0181,
W
radagerdi
.com.
A new hotel, owned and run by a designer and
architect couple. Clever use of bold colours enlivens the
white interiors to
great effe
ct: bright, airy and very stylish.
Closed Oct-May.
18,900kr
Stekkaból
Stekkar 19
T
864 9675,
E
stekkabol
@snerpa.is.
Located behind the church off Aðalstræti, this
simple guesthouse offers a choice of plain double
rooms o
r
sleeping
-bag dor
ms; breakfast is 1500kr. Dorms
3800kr
;
doubles
10,000kr
4
Hnjótur Folk Museum
Late May to mid-Sept daily 11am-7pm • 600kr
Route 62 runs southeast from Patreksfjörður down to the south coast. Around 12km
from town, the unsealed
Route 612
branches westwards to run along the underside of
yet another fjord, passing a beached shipwreck and the town's now disused airport at
Sandoddi. After 25km, the road reaches the
Hnjótur folk museum
, diagonally across
the bay from Patreksfjörður. Its poignant semicircular stone monument is dedicated to
the sailors who lost their lives of the treacherous shores of the southwestern peninsula
during the early twentieth century - all bar one were from the British ports of
Grimsby and Hull.
Inside the museum, two short
films
are worth catching. The first, on the ground floor,
features the rescue of the
Sargon
(see p.204); the second, on the upper floor, is a
late-1980s documentary on the then 74-year-old Gísli Gíslason, a hermit who lived all
of his 79 years in remote Selárdalur at the mouth of Arnarfjörður and only once
ventured to his nearest village, Bíldudalur. On the few occasions he spoke, even
Icelanders found his bleating speech virtually incomprehensible, and there was general
disbelief that such an existence was still possible. Otherwise, the museum contains a
jumble of assorted nostalgic paraphernalia, the prize exhibits being two rusting old
planes
: an Aeroflot biplane that landed in Iceland after running out of fuel, having
been turned back to Russia from the US, where it was refused permission to land; and
