Our first port in Iceland was a tender port.  We were scheduled to arrive at 8 am and our tour was scheduled to depart at 8:30 ashore.  Our goal was to be on the first tender, but we had no idea how many other people would be competing for the same tender.  At some popular ports around the world, Easter Island, for example, people will often line up several hours early to get on the first tender.  We arrived around 7:15 and as it turned out – we could have waited until 8 am and still be on the first tender.  There were very few people on private tours in this port.  There wasn’t a lot of availability for private tours which does keep the crowds down.  

Brad and Judy enjoying the chalk “Welcome to Ísafjörður” sign near the tender pier

We took the 5-hour Dynjandi and The Westfjords group tour by Artic Shorex. Here is the route we followed along with the places we stopped.   $130 pp

There were the two 20 passenger buses used on our tour.  Each bus had room for 18 guests, a driver and a guide.  Every seat in our bus was filled.  The seating was 3 across with a row of 4 in the back.  Our buses left about 15 minutes apart, so there was some overlap – but we didn’t coordinate any events.

As we headed out toward our first stop Barbara, our guide, pointed out the avalanche fences that were installed on many mountains in the area to reduce the danger of avalanches in the winter.  

Look closely on the left side of this mountain to see the avalanche fences

We drove through two tunnels each over 3 miles long today

Dynjandi is a 330-foot waterfall, and below it are five other waterfalls:  Háifoss, Úðafoss, Göngufoss, Hundafoss,, and Bæjarfoss.  There is a large parking lot at the base of the falls with a clean restroom.  Paved paths lead you to the lower falls.  Afterwards, the path is steep, rocky and treacherous.  You can see Dynjandi from midpoint if you don’t feel like taking on the steeper grades.  

This is an overview of the parking area looking down from a vantage point about 1/2 way up to the first falls.  You can see the Cruise Ship “The World” in the background. There are clean restrooms available.

The feature photograph at the top of this post is the view of Dynjandi from the mid-point

One of the smaller falls closer to the bottom

The path toward the base of Dynjandi is steep, uneven, and treacherous.  Proceed with caution.

Judy sat on the bench at the midpoint while I continued up to the base of Dynjandi.

Judy found some interesting flowers while I was hiking up to the top

This is the view at the base of the falls.  If you can manage the steep path, its worth the hike.

After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we continued on toward our next stop:  The Hrafnseyri farm, which is the home of Hrafn Sveinbjarnason, a famous Iceland chieftain.  This spot is better known for being the birthplace of Jon Sigurdsson, one of Iceland’s founding fathers.  They sell a few souvenirs and T-shirts at the front desk in the museum.  

Museum main building

The museum exhibits are printed on clear panels inside the building and backlighted by the windows.

In addition to the museum,  there is a restored turf house and a church.  Inside the turf house is a cafe that serves coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in addition to the tasty Skyrterta Cake – made from blueberries and cream over a crumbled biscuit.  

Restored Turf House has several rooms open for display.  There is also a cafe that sells Skyrterta cake along with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

We paid for the coffee and cake in advance with our tour ticket.  You could also pay for it at the time.  There wasn’t any advantage to prepaying.

Skyrterta Cake

Details of the interior wall sod brick construction

The church is next door to the sod house and is open for visiting

Church interior

On our way back to town, we spotted “The World” cruise ship with the falls in the background

We were ahead of schedule so we made a brief stop at a beach close to town.

It was cold and windy here – not a place you would want to lay out in the sun – at least not today

Instead of taking us back to the ship, our tour driver dropped us off in the center of town.  I found an ATM and withdrew some local currency.  We haven’t found any shops that don’t take credit cards, but we like to have some local currency just in case.  The ATM machine gave us large bills so we stopped by the nearby grocery store and bought a little chocolate to get smaller bills as change.  

We discovered this Yarn shop near the center of town

Judy’s first yarn purchase on this cruise

Judy spotted yarn in the window of Klaedakot before I did.  This shop sells yarn as well as children’s clothing.  Always looking for yarn that is new to her, she bought some ‘Selma’ by the Danish company, Permin.  She got 1,428 yards and is now looking for a pattern that would look good in this yarn.  

The Yarn Shop had a nice selection of yarn and the staff was very helpful

We discovered this interesting 3D illusion on a nearby crosswalk.  The address is Hafnarstræti 17, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland

There aren’t that many restaurants in town and most were closed in the early afternoon.  We eventually found Husid, near the 3D crosswalk, and enjoyed a tasty meal.

Fish of the Day at Husid

We found these photo boards near the Heritage Museum

Ísafjörður is a very nice town.  You could easily spend the day here exploring in more detail and spending time in the museums.