Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ugly red- and white-striped towers you can see from here, which dominate the
surrounding flat landscape of lavafields, belong to the vast aluminium smelter at
Straumsvík, which imports its raw materials from Australia and uses local geothermal
power to produce the metal.
1
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
HAFNARFJÖRÐUR
By bus
From Hlemmur and Lækjartorg in Reykjavík city
centre, bus #1 runs to Hafnarfjörður (every 30min), passing
the tourist information o
ce.
Tourist information o
ce
The main o
ce is at
Strandgata 6 (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm); there's another inside
Hafnarfjörður museum at Vesturgata 8 (daily June-Aug
11am-5pm;
T
585 5500,
W
visithafnarjordur.is).
Internet access
The library, diagonally opposite the
tourist o
ce at Strandgata 1 (Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, plus
Oct-Apr Sat 11am-3pm), has internet
access.
Horseriding
If you've come to Hafnarfjörður to go
horseriding, you'll find Íshestar at Sörlaskeið 26,
southeast
of the town centre along Kaldárselsvegur.
Swimming pool
There's a decent outdoor
swimming pool
at Hringbraut 77, and an indoor pool at Ásvellir 2 (both
Mon-Fri 6.30am-8.30pm, Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 8am-5pm).
ACCOMMODATION
Campsite
Hjallabraut 51
T
565 0900.
Located within
leafy Víðistaðatún park, off Flókagata north of the centre,
the town's basic campsite, in a quiet part of town, has
access to hot and cold running wate
r, thoug
h no other
facilities. Closed mid-Sept to mid-May.
1100kr
Hafnarfjörður Guesthouse
Hjallabraut 51
T
565
0900,
W
hafnarjordurguesthouse.is.
A sound choice
housed in a handsome modern timber structure next to the
campsite; the airy roo
ms here
have private facilities and
look out over the park.
9600kr
Helguhús
Lækjarkinn 8
T
555 2842
,
W
helguhus.is.
Family-run guesthouse with just a handful of rather small
and plainly decorated rooms; facilities are shared, and
there's access to a kitch
en. There'
s a larger apartment
sleeping six available, too.
12,500kr
Hótel Viking
Strandgata 55
T
565 1213,
W
jorukrain
.is.
All 42 rooms here have private facilities and a Viking feel
to the decor, with lots of heavy wooden flourishes and
Gothic prints hangi
ng on the
walls; there's also a sauna and
hot tub for guests.
13,000kr
EATING AND DRINKING
Café Aroma
Fjarðargata 13-15
T
555 6996.
Upstairs in
the Fjörður shopping centre, this light and airy café enjoys
unsurpassed views over the harbour and serves an array of
burgers from 1490kr, pasta dishes for around 1790kr plus
homemade crêpes for 450kr.
Mon-Wed 10am-11pm,
Thurs-Sat 10am-1am.
Fjaran
Strandgata 55
T
565 1213.
Cosy, wood-panelled
restaurant akin to a British country pub, serving the same
Viking delicacies as
Fjörugarðurinn
, though on proper
plates rather than wooden platters and offering a more
fine-dining experience.
Daily 6-10pm.
Fjörugarðurinn
Strandgata 55
T
565 1213.
Designed
to resemble a Viking longhouse, this place serves a full
Viking dinner (8900kr): seafood soup, shark, dried haddock,
lamb shank and
skyr
for dessert, accompanied by a half-litre
of beer and some Black Death schnapps.
Daily 6-10pm.
Gamla Vínhúsið
Vesturgata 4
T
565 1130.
The walls of
this wooden-beamed place are lined with old wine bottles,
creating a cosy atmosphere to savour fish of the day
(3450kr), steaks (2200kr), or just a house burger (1600kr).
Lunch specials go for 990kr.
Mon-Fri noon-2pm &
Mon-Thurs & Sun 6-9.30pm, Fri & Sat 6-10.30pm.
Gló
Strandgata 34
T
578 1111.
A fabulous new
restaurant inside the Hafnarborg complex serving the very
freshest of ingredients in a variety of complex and
mouthwatering salads featuring lots of mint, spinach,
pomegranate, mango and sesame oil. Salads 1499kr, soups
999kr.
Mon-Fri 11am-9pm, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm.
Súfistinn
Strandgata 9
T
565 3740.
Hafnarfjörður's
main coffeehouse, with outdoor seating in good weather,
and serving an impressive range of coffees, as well as
crêpes (1480kr), panini (1280kr), chicken salad (1280kr)
TRADITIONAL VIKING FARE: ÞORRABLÓT
The best time to sample some truly weird Viking specialities in Hafnarfjörður is during the
old Icelandic month of
Þorri
(from the Friday between Jan 19 & 25 until late Feb) when
there are nightly Viking banquets known as
þorrablót
at
Fjörugarðurinn
. This smorgasbord-
style feast offers the dubious delight of sampling traditional foods - rotten shark, singed
sheep's head and pickled rams' testicles, squashed flat and eaten as a topping to an open
sandwich - all washed down with generous quantities of the potent Icelandic schnapps,
Black Death.
