Seydisfjordur
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Seydisfjordur

Seydisfjordur

East Fjords harbour town of bright timber houses, tucked below mountains at the end of Seyðisfjörður

Seyðisfjörður is one of Iceland's most striking small towns, tucked at the end of a long fjord in the East Fjords region and reached by a dramatic mountain road that drops in hairpin bends from the highland plateau. The town is small — around 700 people — but punches well above its weight for culture and atmosphere.

The Norwegian-style timber buildings clustered around the harbour were built in the late 19th century by fishing merchants, and many are still painted in bright primary colours. The blue church at the end of the rainbow-painted street has become Iceland's most photographed small-town landmark. Artists and craftspeople have moved here in numbers over the decades, drawn by the light and the quiet — the LungA School and its annual summer festival have made Seyðisfjörður a recognised centre of Icelandic contemporary art. On the hillside above town, the sound sculpture Tvísöngur — five concrete domes tuned to Icelandic harmonic intervals — is one of the more quietly extraordinary things you can visit in the East Fjords.

Seyðisfjörður is also Iceland's main ferry terminal for the Smyril Line service from Denmark and the Faroe Islands — many travellers making the ring road get their first taste of Iceland here, stepping off the boat into a landscape of waterfalls and steep fjord walls. The town fully justifies a night or two of its own.

Guide

Getting There

Seyðisfjörður is reached by a single road — Route 93 — which climbs from Egilsstaðir over a mountain pass at around 750 metres before dropping in a series of hairpin bends to the fjord below. The drive from Egilsstaðir takes about 30 minutes and is one of the most spectacular short drives in Iceland. In winter the road is sometimes closed by snow; check the Vegagerðin road condition website (road.is) before setting out.

Egilsstaðir has the nearest airport, with daily flights from Reykjavík on Icelandair and Fly Play (check current operators). From Egilsstaðir there is a bus service to Seyðisfjörður that runs to meet the ferry — otherwise a taxi or rental car is necessary.

The Smyril Line ferry Norröna arrives once a week from Hirtshals (Denmark) via Tórshavn (Faroe Islands), typically docking on Thursdays in summer. If you are starting or finishing an Iceland trip by ferry, the schedule determines your arrival and departure days — plan accordingly, as the ferry is the most interesting way to arrive and one of the great sea crossings in the North Atlantic.

Guide

Things to Do

Seyðisfjörður rewards slow exploration on foot. Walk the rainbow street to the Blue Church, wander along the harbour watching the Smyril Line ferry manoeuvre through the fjord, and follow the river upstream past the old industrial buildings. The Technical Museum of East Iceland is the main indoor attraction, covering the modernisation of the region from the 1880s onwards with hands-on exhibits and a strong sense of the local story. Above the town, the sound sculpture Tvísöngur rewards the fifteen-minute climb with resonating concrete domes and views over the fjord.

Guide

When to Go

Seyðisfjörður is most visited in summer (June to August), when the fjord is green, the waterfalls are at their peak, and the LungA festival (late June or early July) brings a burst of creative energy to the harbour. The midnight sun means you can walk around the fjord at 11pm in golden light. This is also when the Smyril Line ferry runs most frequently, so the town fills briefly each week as passengers disembark and explore before moving on.

The ferry also runs a reduced winter schedule, and arriving in winter requires some planning but rewards it with a genuinely remote feeling, dramatic low light, and occasional northern lights over the fjord walls. The road from Egilsstaðir is sometimes closed by snow or ice — check conditions before driving, and be prepared for the pass to close overnight.

Spring (May) and autumn (September) offer the best balance of quiet and accessibility. The Fjarðará waterfalls are full in spring, and in September the surrounding hills turn rust and gold. Both seasons are good for photography in the sharp East Fjords light.