Seyðisfjörður is a small fjord town in East Iceland, about 27 km and roughly 30 minutes by road from Egilsstaðir over the 600 m Fjarðarheiði pass. It has 676 residents (2018), old wooden houses, an arts scene, waterfalls on the Fjarðará river, and the weekly Smyril Line ferry from Denmark and the Faroe Islands. This page contains partner links: if you book, we earn a commission at no cost to you.
Highlights
The town on the fjord
the old wooden houses and the harbour sit at the head of a steep-sided fjord.
Rainbow Street
painted pavement leading to the blue church, the town's best-known photo spot.
Skaftfell Center for Visual Art
the main visual art centre in East Iceland, opened in 1998, with exhibitions, an artist-book library and a bistro that serves pizza and snacks.
The Fjarðará waterfalls
a popular path follows the river, which has 25 waterfalls further upstream.
Tvísöngur and Vestdalur
a mountainside sound sculpture reached on foot, and a nature reserve with waterfalls, a lake and a cave.
The swimming hall
an indoor pool built in 1948 with hot tubs and a sauna.
Practical info
Tips
- Allow at least half a day, or an overnight stay. The town has a campground, hotels, a library and a hospital, and the Seyðisfjörður Information Centre is at the ferry harbour (Ferjuleiru 1), where staff advise on weather and walks. Food is mostly pizza, sushi and burgers, and the local beer is named El Grillo, after a wartime shipwreck in the fjord. Other activities include kayaking, sea angling and a nine-hole golf course. In December 2020 heavy rain triggered mudflows that damaged or destroyed many houses and forced an evacuation; residents were allowed back in October 2021 after protective barriers were built. The pass road can be icy in winter, so check road.is and the forecast first. For a car trip to the east, read Iceland car rental, and for the other sights of the region see Hengifoss and Stuðlagil canyon. The Booking.com page for Seyðisfjörður is linked in the box above.
How to get there
By road from Egilsstaðir (27 km) over Fjarðarheiði; Egilsstaðir airport has regular flights to Reykjavik. By sea, the Norröna ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark via Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands is the only car ferry linking Iceland to other countries.
Opening hours
Nearby
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