Seyðisfjörður

East

Route 93 climbs the Fjarðarheiði mountain pass at around 600 meters, then descends through hairpin turns with waterfalls dropping down both valley walls before Seyðisfjörður appears below — colorful Norwegian timber houses at the end of a long, narrow fjord. Norwegian herring fishermen settled here in the mid-19th century, and many of those original buildings survive. In 1906, the town became the landward terminal of Iceland's first undersea telegraph cable to Europe. The most photographed spot is the rainbow-painted street leading to the blue church (Bláa Kirkjan, built 1922). The Skaftfell Center for Visual Art anchors the town's creative scene. Seyðisfjörður is the Icelandic terminal for the Smyril Line ferry from Denmark and the Faroe Islands — the only car-ferry link between Iceland and Europe. The mountain road closes regularly in winter storms; check road.is between October and April. Egilsstaðir is 26 km away. Allow at least two hours; an overnight stay is worth it for the quiet that settles over the fjord once the day-trippers leave.

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