Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
HRÍSEY
By ferry
The ferry to Hrísey (March to Oct every 2hr
7.20am-11.30pm; rest of the year see website for
details;
W
hrisey.net; 15min; 1000kr return) departs
from tiny Árskógssandur, which is just off Route 82
some 10km southeast of Dalvík, and is reachable by bus
from Akureyri (Mon-Fri 3 daily; 35min), Dalvík (Mon-Fri
3 daily; 10min) and Ólafsfjörður (Mon-Fri 3 daily; 1hr).
Services
There's a grocery store at Sjávargata 2 (Mon-Fri
11am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm), which
also serves coffee and light meals, and a bank (Mon-Fri
noon-4pm) with an ATM on Skólavegur.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Brekka
Brekkugata 5
T
466 1751,
W
brekkahrisey.is.
This yellow-painted wooden building up on the hill behind
the harbour has just three doubles with shared facilities,
but if these are full the owners will endeavour to find a
room in a private house somewhere in the village. Lunch in
the restaurant, which overlooks the sea and the jagged
mountains of the western shore of Eyjafjörður, is truly
excellent; try t
he salted c
od in coconut with a pineapple
sauce (3250kr).
10,000kr
Ólafsjörður
From Dalvík, Route 82 winds its way north for 17km to the fishing village of
ÓLAFSFJÖRÐUR
, clinging all the way to the steep slopes of the mountains that plunge
into the steely waters of Eyjafjörður, and with superb views of the snowy peaks of the
uninhabited Látraströnd coastline on the opposite shore. On a clear day it's easily
possible to spot Grímsey island, northeast of the fjord's mouth. The road enters
Ólafsfjörður by means of a single-lane, claustrophobic, 3.4km
tunnel
through the
Ólafsfjarðarmúli headland.
Although the drive to Ólafsfjörður and its setting are breathtaking, the village,
unfortunately, isn't: this is an unattractive, workaday place of a thousand people, set
behind the working
harbour
on Sjávargata, one block northeast of the main road,
Aðalgata.
There's little here to detain you other than the taxidermist's dream, the
well-stocked
Náttúrugripasafn
, and the chance to go
whale watching
.
Náttúrugripasafn
Aðalgata 14 • June-Aug Tues-Sun 2-5pm ; Sept-May ask at Sparisjóður bank, in the same building • 800kr
Náttúrugripasafn
(Natural History Museum) contains all the usual suspects -
everything from a ringed seal to a stuffed polar bear shot by a local fisherman off
Grímsey as he saw it approaching his boat while balancing precariously on a piece of
pack ice. With over 140 bird species stuffed for posterity, you'll at least learn the names
of some of the living specimens you'll see in the wild; pick up the free museum
catalogue for the English translations.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
ÓLAFSFJÖRÐUR
By bus
Buses to and from Ólafsfjörður stop at the
Hótel
Brimnes
on Bylgjubyggð.
Destinations
Akureyri (Mon-Fri 3 daily; 1hr); Árskógssandur
(Mon-Fri 3 daily; 25min); Dalvík (Mon-Fri 3 daily; 15min).
Services
The swimming pool (Mon-Thurs
6.30am-7.45pm, Fri 6.30am-6.45pm, Sat & Sun
10am-6pm) is at Ólafsvegur 4, just off Hornbrekkuvegur,
which heads south from Aðalgata. There's a supermarket
(Mon-Thurs 9am-6pm, Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 11am-6pm,
Sun 1-5pm) at the corner of Strandgata and Aðalgata,
next to the harbour, and a post o
ce and a bank at
Aðalgata 14 (both Mon-Fri 9am-4pm).
Whale watching
From Ólafsfjörður harbour, North
Sailing (
T
464 7272,
W
northsailing.is) operates whale-
watching tours (June-Aug up to 3 daily; 3hr; 7500kr) to the
mouth of Eyjafjörður, close to the whales' feeding grounds
and a good place to spot humpback and minke whales, and
sometimes blue whales, too.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Hótel Brimnes
Bylgjubyggð 2
T
466 2400,
W
brimnes.is.
The plain doubles here are best passed
over in favour of the their Finnish-built log cabins (from
23,400kr) overlooking the lake opposite the hotel, all
with shower and bathroom, and sleeping between four
and eight. The hotel restaurant serves tasty fish meals
