Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
INFORMATION
DRANGSNES
Services The new open-air swimming pool (Mon-Thurs
10am-9pm, Fri-Sun 10am-6pm) is next to the Malarhorn
guesthouse on Grundargata, while there are three hot pots
on the seafront opposite the church. Drangsnes also has a
petrol pump and a village shop (Mon-Thurs 9am-noon &
1-6pm; Fri 9am-noon & 1-7pm, Sat 11am-3pm).
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Campsite T 451 3207, E drangsnes@snerpa.is. Beside
Baldur Community Centre above Drangsnes' harbour, with
washing and toilet facilities in the community centre next
door, this tiny c ampsite is rather exposed to the wind.
Closed Oct-May. 1000kr
Malarhorn Grundargata 17 T 451 3237, W malarhorn
.is. Recently expanded, this place now offers a range of
accommodation: as well as regular double rooms, whose
interiors resemble traditional wooden cabins, there's an
entire cottage sleeping eight (38,400kr), and a separate
apartment (30,000kr). The on-site restaurant serves tasty
fish mains from 2350kr. Rest aurant Ju ne-Aug daily
11am-2pm & 6-8pm. Doubles 16,500kr
Djúpavík
North of Laugarhóll, Route 643 cuts into one of the most remote corners of Europe,
where towering rock buttresses plunge precipitously into the icy sea and the coastline is
strewn with vast expanses of driftwood that originated on the other side of the Arctic
Ocean, in Russian Siberia. Tourist facilities here are virtually nonexistent, but the
region is stunningly beautiful and somewhere to really experience Iceland's rawness
close up. The road is in shocking condition, however, with huge potholes and some
alarming narrow stretches, whilst the wind on this exposed coast is ferocious at best,
hurling rocks and scree down from the mountain slopes onto the road below and
blowing cars from one side of the road to the other.
Life in these remote parts has never been easy, and the village of DJÚPAVÍK , close to the
head of shadowy Reykjarfjörður, is testimony to this hardship, dominated by the huge
carcass of its old herring factory and the rusting hull of the 100-year-old former passenger
and cargo ship Suðurland , another victim of the West Fjords weather. When the herring
industry was at its height in the mid-1940s, several hundred people lived in this remote
outpost, women salting the fish, men turning the remains into animal meal and oil. The
factory went bankrupt in 1955 following a disastrous collapse in fish catches, but the
enormous costs involved in demolishing the building - once the largest concrete structure
in Europe - means that its hulking hollow shell remains, reminiscent of a Hollywood
film set; Icelandic band Sigur Rós saw its potential in 2006 and even played a concert in
it, attracting over three hundred people, a veritable throng in these parts.
Despite the evident failure of the herring adventure, there's an endearing air to
diminutive Djúpavík, consisting of just seven houses and one of Iceland's most
charming hotels , the Djúpavík , located beneath a braided waterfall. The hotel now
owns the herring plant and runs tours inside (June-Aug daily 10am & 2pm; 1000kr),
which take in the Sögusýning Djúpavíkur (Historical Exhibition of Djúpavík), a
collection of evocative black-and-white photographs from the herring years.
4
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
DJÚPAVÍK
By plane Other than driving, the only way to reach
Djúpavík is to fly to Gjögur (see p.209); the Hótel Djúpavík
will pick guests up from the airport (by snowmobile if the
weather demands, otherwise more conventionally by car)
for around 1500kr.
ACCOMMODATION
Hótel Djúpavík T 451 4037, W djupavik.com. Originally
built as a hostel for the women who worked on the dockside
and in the factory, this remote retreat has rooms (all with
shared facilities) in the main building, and a next-door
annexe where the simpler rooms offer sleeping-bag
accommodation and share a kitchen. Breakfast is 1400kr;
dinner is also availabl e (7-9p m) and cos ts around 2500kr.
Sleeping-bag 3700kr ; doubles 10,400kr
 
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