Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION
Alex
Aðalgata 60
T
421 2800,
W
alex.is.
Guesthouse,
cabins and the closest campsite to Keflavík, though the
location - on a dismal vacant lot halfway to the airport on
the southern edge of town - is too far from the centre to be
convenient. The facilities are comfortable, though:
spacious, well-appointed rooms, self-contained en suite
wooden huts and partially sh
eltered gr
assy tent
sites. Fre
e
airport t
ransfers
. Doubles
21,500kr
; huts
15,000kr
;
camping
1000kr
Hótel Keflavík
upmarket options, this is a modern transit hotel with
hot tubs installed in the suites. They al
so run a
comfortable
, lower-ke
y guesthouse opposite.
28,000kr
;
guesthouse
13,800kr
Njarðvík Youth Hostel
Fitjabraut 6A, Njarðvík
T
421
8889,
W
hostel.is.
Huge building, though a lack of signage
makes it hard to spot; it's on the seawards side of the road
just as the highway from Reykjavík enters town. A dreary,
blocky exterior, but warm and well equipped inside, if
institutional. There's a laundry, large kitch
en an
d
communal area with TV. Sleeping-bag dorm beds
3800kr
2
Vatnsnesvegur 12
T
420 7000,
W
hotelkeflavik.is.
Best-value of
Keflavík's few
EATING
Ka
Duus
Duusgata 10
T
421 7080.
Cosy café-
restaurant in a converted fishing store overlooking Grófin
harbour, with outdoor balcony seating in good weather. Pick
of the grill-oriented menu is the lamb, beef and pork “trio”,
served with a salad (4500kr); they also do inexpensive lunch
buffets of soup, salad and coffee (1690kr). Good place for
coffee and cake too.
Daily 11am-11pm.
Raïn
Hafnargata 19
T
421 4601.
Smart, long-
established restaurant with sea views and pizzas, fish
dishes and salads (the pan-fried cod loin makes you realise
how large these fish grow). Mains around 4000kr; garlic-
roasted lobster will set you back 5000kr. The bar is a
popular watering hole with locals.
Mon-Thurs & Sun
11am-1am, Fri & Sat 11am-3am.
Garður
Just 7km from Keflavík at the Reykjanes Peninsula's northwestern tip,
GARÐUR
is a
tiny, scattered community whose distinguishing feature is an overpowering smell of
rotting seaweed. A grassed-over ridge marks the remains of an old wall, apparently
the original eleventh-century estate boundary (garður); the discovery of nine
Viking
graves
found south of here in the 1860s supports the theory - the bones included
humans, dogs and horses. Later associations can be found at the nineteenth-century
Útskálakirkja
, a church dedicated to Iceland's only saint,
Þorlákur Þórhallsson
, bishop at
Skálholt in 1178-93 (see p.104).
Garðskagi
Reykjanes' northwestern tip,
GARÐSKAGI
, is marked by two lighthouses; the older,
red-striped affair is right on the seafront and was once used to monitor bird migrations.
Its base is a sheltered spot from which to look westwards over the sea - with a pair of
binoculars you can spot seals, eider ducks, turnstones, gannets and assorted wading
birds - and admire the 11pm summer sunsets.
ACCOMMODATION
GARÐSKAGI
Free campsite
Garðskagi.
Between the two lighthouses
and slightly sheltered by the 2m-high storm walls, but you
wouldn't want to be here in bad weather. There's an on-site
shower, toilets, washing-up sink and limited power access.
Stafnes
About 15km south from Garður along Route 45, via the small fishing village of
Sandgerði
and a huge
arctic tern colony
, the scattered hamlet of
STAFNES
sits under
another lighthouse, orange this time. Views from here take in heavy surf and distant
airport buildings, and there's a half-day walking trail south along the coast to Hafnir,
which after about 1km passes the site of
Básendar
, the Reykjanes Peninsula's largest
trading town until it was totally destroyed by an overnight storm in January 1799
- killing just one person. Very little remains besides nondescript rubble.
