Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Set in the blue-painted former fishworks, behind the
supermarket, rooms are plain but spotless. There are sea
views, a kitchen, shared bathrooms and the owner is a
mine of in
formation about birdwatching and hiking trails.
12,900kr
Borg
T
472 9870 or
T
894 4470.
Functional shared
rooms in three houses around town, all on the road
through
the village. Beds
5600kr
; with sleeping bag
3500kr
Campsite
T
857 2005.
Between the church and
Álfaborg, with plenty of spongy grass stretching in all
directions, plus a new wooden building housing toilets,
showers, washing-up sinks, laundry
with d
ryer and an
indoor dining area. Third night is free.
750kr
EATING
Álfa Café
T
472 9900.
Cosy café seawards from the church
whose tabletops are irregular, polished granite slabs - they
sell stone jewellery too, and once had an outlet in Reykjavík.
Fish soup, thick with seafood, is their most expensive dish
(1700kr); there's also sandwiches, wa
es, and cakes and
coffee.
Mon-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat & Sun 1-8pm.
Fjarðarborg
T
472 9920.
Grey, pebbledash block
across from the fuel pump whose bare and basic decor
harks back to the 1960s. The menu is straightforward
burgers (1200-1700kr), but as the town's sole bar things
can get lively in here at the weekends. Nightly in
summer.
7
Seyðisfjörður
Twenty-five kilometres east of Egilsstaðir over a good mountain road (Route 93),
SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR
is an attractive town set at the base of a long, tight fjord. It has
a strong Norwegian heritage: first settled by a tenth-century Norwegian named
Bjólf, Seyðisfjörður was established as a herring port a thousand years later by
entrepreneurs from Norway, who also imported the town's wooden buildings.
During its herring heyday, Seyðisfjörður looked set to become Iceland's largest
port, but geography limited its expansion. Used as a US naval base during World
War II, the town remains an active fishing and fish-processing centre, with a
continuing Nordic link embodied by the Faroese-operated
ferry
Norröna
, which
calls in every Thursday on its Iceland-Faroes-Denmark route. The town's summer
rhythms follow the ferry schedule and it's generally busy only on Wednesdays, when
there's an afternoon craft
market
and evening classical concert in Bláa kirkjan, the
pastel-blue
church
.
Scattered along a 1km crescent of road, Seyðisfjörður is split by the small mouth of
the shallow
Fjarðará
as it empties into the fjord - marked by a short bridge - with the
church and surrounding older buildings to the north, and the ferry terminal and most
amenities to the south.
SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR HIKES
One popular walk from Seyðisfjörður starts by following the road along the north side of the
fjord for a couple of kilometres to the
Vestdalsá
, the first real river you'll encounter on the
way. Just before you reach it, a trail heads uphill along
Vestadalur
, a valley leading up into the
hills to a small lake, Vestdalsvatn, past several pretty waterfalls; allow five hours to make the
return hike from town.
In the opposite direction, follow the road through town and out along the south side of
the fjord for 8km to the site of
Þórarinsstaðir
, a former farm where archeologists
unearthed the foundations of a church dating from the eleventh century, believed to be
the oldest such remains in the country. Not much further on,
Eyrar
is yet another
abandoned farm, though here the ruins are far more substantial; it's hard to believe now,
but this was once one of the region's busiest settlements. Experienced hikers can spend an
extra half-day walking south across mountains from here to
Mjóifjörður,
, the next jord
south (see p.285).
