ISAFJORDUR, ICELAND

Isafjördur, Norway is a sleepy little town in the northwest of Iceland with a population of almost 3,000. It is the largest town in the Westfjords Peninsula.  The Westfjords are known to be the coolest area in Iceland at sea level.  Ísafjördur climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. The warmest month is July with the average temperature 49.8° Fahrenheit.  The wettest month is November with 4.7 inches of rain.

Iceland has earned the name “The Land of Ice and Fire”.  The name Ísafjördur literally means fjord of ices. 

 

Ísafjördur experiences high winds and very few clear days throughout all the year.  On the day of my arrival the weather forecast called for a high of 51 and cloudy.  

 

The Norwegian Star dropped anchor off the coast of Ísafjördur on Thursday June 22, 2023 at 9am.  This would be a tender port.   By the time the ship was cleared and I arrived at the port, it was already after 10am. 

 

My goals for the day included a visit to the Maritime Museum and a stop at the Drokkan Brugghaus.  The local bus service is extremely poor.  In fact, it's pretty much non existent.  Not only could I not find a bus schedule anywhere,  even the locals couldn’t tell me how often or when the bus runs.  This made walking the primary way to explore the area.   

 

Photos from my walk around the city.  

ISAFJORDUR MARITIME MUSEUM

The Maritime Museum opens at 10am and is located to your left after you exit the port. The Museum is located in one of the 18th century buildings in Neðstikaupstaður. 

Entrance to the Museum

  

The museum is based on maritime heritage and gives insight into the local fisheries and fishing industry as well as the life of the fishermen, their families and the coastal culture through the centuries. 

Videos throughout the museum

 

The museum has adopted a policy to preserve boats, restore them to their previous condition and keep them seaworthy. The main focus is also to maintain knowledge and skills concerning their repair and maintenance and make sure that the knowledge is being passed between generations. 

 

 

 Most of the museum collection consists of various historical things regarding the fisheries and the fishing industry around the area. Among interesting things is a collection of 190 accordions, a collection of valuable old boats and different items found by divers in the seas around the fjords. Admission is 1300ISK or $9.89USD as of this writing.  

 

DROKKAN BRUGGHAUS

 

Drokkan Brewhouse is located within 2 blocks of the port.  The micro brewery is a small family business founded in October 2017 solely for the purpose of making local craft beer.  The first beer was made in the early summer of 2018.  

 

A local beer here will run you 1300ISK or $9.89USD as of this writing. 

 

The last tender was leaving the port at 5pm so I now had 30 minutes to make it to the tender pickup area.  The Dokkan Brewhouse is about a 5 minute walk to the tender so there was no problem making the 5pm deadline.  I was back onboard the Norwegian Star and in my cabin by 5:30pm. 

 

My step meter registered 8,986 steps or 3.8 miles for the day.