Ólafsfjörður, Iceland

Ólafsfjörður

Our first impression of Ólafsfjörður is that it is a very small town, which we knew before arriving. We also knew the town had only 800 residents and was located in a remote area of Northern Iceland. It is a nice town with beautiful views of mountains, fjords, and a lake. The town only has one grocery store, a cafe, a small convenience store that is 24×7 and is run out of a house it appears, a post office (inside the grocery store), two small hotels, and a restaurant/bar. We have found no pharmacies, doctors, or medical facilities in town so far.

Doesn’t that sound dreadful? Well to be honest it is refreshing compared to many places where there is a store on every corner. The downside is you have to drive about 45 minutes to Akureyri to get to any store that has a selection of food, clothing, etc. One of the neighbors has their groceries delivered from Akureyri. However, Dalvik and Siglufjörður do have pharmacies and a few more restaurant options, they are both about 20 minutes away. Both of these towns are small as well with around 1000 residents each. Siglufjörður is where the TV shows Trapped (Entrapped), 22 July (Svalbard portions of 22 July), and others were filmed.

Why Ólafsfjörður?

We are doing a 6-week house/pet sit and thought this would be an interesting place. This is our second visit to Iceland, but first outside the Reykjavik area. Also, while speaking to the home/pet owner during our initial video call (normal after applying for a sit) we learned that the northern lights can be seen almost every day as long as the sky is clear. Since we missed the northern lights during our 3 weeks in Alaska this sounded like a great idea. After one week, we have seen them all but one night (we may have missed them the first night). I go outside to check every hour or so at night. Some are visible to the naked eye, others are not and look like a thin line of clouds.

Aurora Northern Lights — Northern Lights

Is there anything to do in Ólafsfjörður?

Depending on the time of year, there are many outdoor activities, such as hiking, watersports, skiing, snowmobile, and more. Whale-watching tours are available in Davlik and Akureyri all year. Jetski tours are available at the dock area in town during “warmer” months. Also, you can just relax to the sounds of a quiet town and the surrounding nature.

My Thoughts After a Week

Ólafsfjörður is well worth visiting, we are here in February and have been able to enjoy the outdoors while walking the dog around the lake and town. The weather has been around 0C/32F and a few days at 7-9C (43-48F) So it has not been bad, the wind can change quickly and you can have some heavy gusts which make it feel very cold. A few days before we arrived the winds were strong at 40m/s (90MPH). The house we are staying in is great, it has fast internet, a nice kitchen, a washer and dryer, a garage for our rental car, and underfloor heating which helps a lot when you return after a walk with the dog. Most importantly, it has been warm and quiet.

I would 100% recommend coming here for a few days to relax. The locals are extremely friendly, everyone so far speaks English very well, the scenery is amazing, it is very safe, and overall it is extremely enjoyable. Remember that there are limited stores and they typically close before 7 PM (5 PM on Sunday) which is normal in Iceland. Also, Iceland is expensive compared to many destinations, so you will need to budget accordingly.