Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(3300kr), as well as pasta (1650kr) and lamb (3900kr)
and can also rustle up lighter meals such as burgers with
fries and
salad fo
r 1450kr.
Restaurant daily noon-late.
Doubles
8000kr
Höllinn
the harbour, this simple little restaurant is popular
with local fishermen and is the best bet in town,
with decent pizzas for 1600kr, burgers at 1400kr or
grilled salmon at 3000kr.
Mon-Fri 6-9pm, Sat
4-10pm, Sun 4-9pm.
5
Hafnargata 16
T
466 4000.
Located near
Eastern Eyjajörður
The eastern shore of Eyjafjörður, covered in part by the Ringroad and then Route 83,
offers something quite rare in Iceland: remote, uninhabited wilderness that is
relatively accessible from a major town. North of the small village of
Grenivík
, now
the only centre of population on the eastern side of the fjord, the perpetually
snowcapped
Látraströnd
coastline is made up of some of the most rugged mountains
in the north of Iceland, including the peak of
Kaldbakur
(1167m), which dominates
any view of the eastern shore. Excellent and challenging
hiking
routes lead through the
wilderness to abandoned farms which, until World War II, made up some of the
country's most remote and desolate communities, where life in this area of
unforgiving Arctic fjordland, known as Í Fjörðum, was a constant struggle against the
elements. The region's other attraction, however, is not nearly so remote: the unusual
five-gabled turf farmhouse and church at
Laufás
, 10km south of Grenivík and close to
the Ringroad.
It's 40km from Akureyri to Grenivík and, though
no public transport
runs this far,
buses heading east from Akureyri to Mývatn or Húsavík can drop you at the start of
Route 83, some 20km from town - you'll have to rely on your own car, your legs or
passing motorists beyond this point.
Laufás
June to mid-Sept daily 10am-6pm • 800kr
Thirty kilometres north of Akureyri up Route 83,
Laufás
is a superb example of a
traditional turf farmhouse. Dating from 1866, the building is timber-fronted and
has five gabled roofs, all made of turf, giving the impression that it's composed of
several separate cottages all joined under one roof. The most remarkable feature,
however, is the fabulous
herringbone
arrangement of turf pieces used to make up
part of the front wall. Don't miss the unusual
carved eider duck
that sits on one of
the gable ends, serving as a reminder of the local nesting area belonging to the
property; the eider down once brought the owners a considerable income. Inside,
sadly, is the usual array of mind-numbing how-we-used-to-live paraphernalia,
showing household and farm life from the days when the house was used as a manor
farm and a parsonage for the next-door
church
, which itself dates from 1865 and
contains a pulpit with wood carvings from 1698; the local priest shared the building
with his labourers.
Grenivík
Ten kilometres northwest of Laufás,
GRENIVÍK
is a modern fjordside village, which only
began life in 1910. Although improvements to the tiny
harbour
, around which the
village is situated, brought about a slight increase in trade and thus population, there
are still only around 250 people who call the place home. Its principal use is as a
starting and finishing point for
hikes
along the fjord to
Látraströnd
and the
Í Fjörðum
region of the north coast (see box, p.240).
