Every part of Iceland is beautiful, and every is different. Eastfjords are an exhibition of magical unspoiled nature. Hiking is the best way to explore them, even short hikes or “hikes” by car 🙂 I would like to tell you about four of them – Borgarfjörður Eystri, Seyðisfjörður, Mjóifjörður and Eskifjörður.
Let´s start with Borgarfjörður Eystri, the northmost one. There is quite a big colony of puffins on a small peninsula inside the fjord. The puffins come usually in April, stay on water for about two weeks, then move on the cliffs, where they nest and have small puffins during the summer. When winter approaches, on one single day in October or November, all of the puffins take off to spend the winter on the ocean. The next year, they come back again and meet with their partners, as they form partnerships for life. The young ones come back to the place where they were born after five years.
Near this peninsula the hike starts. It is possible to hike all the way down to Seyðisfjörður which takes 4 days, or there are plenty other shorter routes which can take you back to the same place. In the center of the town, there is a big map of possible hiking routes and it is advisable to take a photo of it, as they are not really marked.
Once back from the hike, it is possible to regain your strength in the amiable Alfa Café, where they have the best all you can eat fish soup. Almost everything inside is made from local stone, even the plates for bread.
Seyðisfjörður kept its importance, because it is the gateway to Iceland if you want to bring your own car. The ferry from Denmark comes here, after 2 days journey on the open sea and a stop on Faroe Islands (from where the company comes). The ferry comes and leaves back every Thursday and so Wednesday is said to be the busiest evening in this otherwise quiet town. It is busy, but only on the campground 🙂 The local pub was almost empty when we were there. It is anyway worst trying, it is called the Kaffi Lára El Grillo Bar and they are even brewing their own beer, which is excellent. You can wander to either side of the fjord and discover beautiful magical waterfalls and abandoned farmhouses from the time before the World War II.
The Seyðisfjörður ferry also plays an important role in the famous icelandic TV series coproduced by BBC called Trapped (Ófærð). I recommend watching it to get the proper icelandic atmosphere.
The next fjord south is the Mjóifjörður. Once housing a comunity and even biggest whailing station in the word, now a display of pure unspoiled nature. Enjoy riding the F-road mountain pass, full of snow even in summer, followed by an 18% descent along another beautiful waterfall and then the calm nature of the fjord once on the other side. Pure perfection. There is also an old rusted ship, just left there like that.
Eskifjörður, for its part, can offer water falling down in almost 90 degrees all around the town. Around the place where this little fjord meets with its bigger cousin Reyðarfjörður lays a strange factory. Strange in the fact that it seems it doesn´t belong into this nature-filled place. But it is nice nevertheless. It has got two long halls, each of them measuring over 1 kilometer, and its own container port with cranes and such. Its product? Aluminium, being shipped to Norway mostly. Its name? Fjarðaál.
