Seyðisfjörður lies at the end of a long, narrow fjord in the east of Iceland, hemmed in by steep mountains and cut off from the rest of the country by a high pass that closes with the first serious snow. That isolation has shaped it. In the late nineteenth century it was one of the richest towns in Iceland, a herring port with Norwegian merchants who built tall wooden houses in a style found nowhere else on the island, and in 1906 the first telegraph cable from Europe came ashore here. The old buildings survive, painted in cheerful colours, and give the place the air of a small Norwegian port that has wandered a long way west.
To get here you climb from Egilsstaðir over Fjarðarheiði, a mountain road that rises to about six hundred metres through moorland and often through cloud, then drops in a series of bends towards the sea with waterfalls tumbling beside the tarmac. It is a short but rewarding ride, tight in places, with the views opening suddenly as you come off the plateau. Fog and snow can arrive in any season outside high summer, so check the forecast. Ice can linger on the shadowed corners well into spring.
In the town, the famous sight is a small blue wooden church at the end of a street painted with a rainbow path, and the place is full of artists, designers and a lively summer festival. A technical museum, a few galleries and good cafes make it an easy afternoon. The ferry from Denmark and the Faroe Islands docks here, so you will often see motorcycles with foreign plates unloading, riders looking slightly dazed after the long sea crossing. Mountains such as Bjólfur rise straight from the water behind the houses, and in 2020 a large landslide damaged part of the town, a reminder of how steep the surroundings are.
Fuel is available in the town, as are shops, a bakery and several places to eat, with fresh fish a safe order. Egilsstaðir, roughly eighteen kilometres back over the pass, has the larger supermarkets and more services. Accommodation fills up around ferry days and festival time, so book ahead in summer.
The best time to come is late afternoon or evening, when the low sun lights the fjord and the colours on the houses glow. Keep a warm layer to hand, because the air coming off the water has a sharp edge even in July.