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Iceland

Siglufjorour, Iceland

Siglufjörður: Iceland's Former Herring Capital at the Edge of the Arctic

Siglufjörður is a fishing town on a narrow fjord in North Iceland, linked to the rest of the country by road tunnels. There are no taxis in town, so plan to walk, or ask your ship what transport it has ordered.

Good to know

Overview

Ships up to 170 meters long, with a draft of up to 9 meters, can tie up at Siglufjörður's quay, while larger ones anchor in the fjord and bring passengers ashore to a tender pier. Either way, the town's sights are within walking distance.

  • About 1,165 people lived in Siglufjörður in 2024, far fewer than the roughly 3,000 of 1950.
  • It lies on a small, narrow fjord at the northern tip of the Tröllaskagi peninsula, ringed by high, steep mountains.
  • The longest walk across town is about 2.2 kilometers, and there is no town bus.
  • There is a tourist information point in town.

Siglufjörður on Your Own

Siglufjörður suits an independent day on foot. Start at the Herring Era Museum, then visit the Folk Music Centre and the church.

  • Herring Era Museum: The museum at Snorragata 10 is spread across three buildings.
  • Folk Music Centre: The town's oldest house, from 1884, is now a center for Icelandic folk music, in honor of the priest Bjarni Þorsteinsson, who collected Icelandic folk songs that had nearly been forgotten.
  • Siglufjörður Church: The church of 1932 has a 30-meter tower, an altarpiece of the Last Supper painted in 1726 and stained-glass windows added in 1974.
  • By the harbor: The Lífsbjörg memorial, unveiled in 1988, remembers 62 local seamen lost at sea between 1900 and 1988.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
  • Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match local clocks or your phone. Iceland keeps UTC+0 all year, with no daylight saving time.

Getting Around Siglufjörður

You will not need transport in town. Two road tunnels link Siglufjörður to the rest of the north, and before roads came nearly everything reached the town by sea.

  • To the east: The two Héðinsfjörður tunnels, 11 kilometers in all, opened in 2010 and bring Ólafsfjörður within about 15 kilometers.
  • To the west: The 800-meter Strákagöng tunnel opened in 1967 and was for decades the town's only year-round road link.
  • Akureyri: The nearest airport with scheduled flights is at Akureyri, about an hour away by car, and bus 78 runs between the two towns.

What to Eat in Siglufjörður

Several places in Siglufjörður serve fish and seafood.

  • Herring Café: The café is next to the Herring Era Museum.
  • Fish and chips: A small shop on Aðalgata serves only fish and chips and fish stew.
  • Seafood: Sunna, the restaurant at Sigló Hótel, serves seafood.

Tipping and Currency in Iceland

Tipping is not practiced in Iceland, and it is never expected.

  • Guides: Some tour guides invite tips, but there is no requirement to give one.
  • Currency: Iceland uses the Icelandic króna (ISK). Siglufjörður has a cash machine but nowhere to change money.

Culture and the Herring Era

Siglufjörður remembers its herring years, when the town was nicknamed the Klondike of Iceland, in its museum and an annual festival. Alongside its museums it is home to centers for Icelandic folk music and poetry.

  • The museum's buildings: Róaldsbrakki, a Norwegian salting station from 1907, covers herring salting and the workers' living quarters. Grána was built for the museum in the image of the old Grána plant and fitted with machinery from abandoned herring factories. In the Boathouse, historic boats lie along rebuilt piers.
  • Awards: The Herring Era Museum won the 2004 European Museum Award for a new industrial museum.
  • Folk music: Bjarni Þorsteinsson, parish priest here from 1888, published his collection of Icelandic folk songs between 1906 and 1909. A folk music festival is held every July.
  • Poetry: The Icelandic Poetry Centre opened in Siglufjörður in 2011.
  • Herring Festival: The town celebrates its past every August, over Iceland's long holiday weekend at the start of the month.
  • On screen: The television series Trapped was filmed almost entirely in Siglufjörður.

The Herring Rush and the Rise and Fall of the North

Siglufjörður was a small trading post and shark-fishing village until Norwegian boats came after herring in 1903. The boom made it one of Iceland's larger towns, and it lost its livelihood when the herring disappeared.

  • 1614: A new church was built at Hvanneyri, on Siglufjörður.
  • 1818: Siglufjörður became a licensed trading post, with eight people living at the trading place.
  • 1903: Norwegian fishermen began the herring fishery off the north coast, and Icelanders soon joined in.
  • 1918: Siglufjörður received town rights.
  • 1919: Avalanches on April 12 killed 18 people in the district and destroyed Iceland's first large fishmeal factory.
  • 1950: With about 3,000 residents, Siglufjörður was Iceland's fifth-largest town, and over the boom years it drew workers by the tens of thousands.
  • 1967: The Strákagöng tunnel gave the town its first year-round road connection.
  • Late 1960s: The herring vanished from Icelandic waters after years of heavy fishing.
  • 1994: The Herring Era Museum opened in the old Róaldsbrakki salting station.
  • 2006 and 2010: Siglufjörður merged with Ólafsfjörður as Fjallabyggð, and the Héðinsfjörður tunnels joined the two towns.
  • To learn more ashore: The Herring Era Museum, at Snorragata 10, tells the whole story of the herring years. Check opening times before you go.

Siglufjörður with Children

Siglufjörður is small enough for children to explore on foot, and its museums show real boats and let visitors play old instruments.

  • Younger children: In the museum's Boathouse, children can walk along rebuilt piers past real fishing boats.
  • School age: At the Folk Music Centre, visitors can try rare old instruments on display.
  • Teenagers: A walk on one of the marked trails, such as the route up to Hvanneyrarskál, takes you above the town. Around midsummer, from June 9 to July 1, the sun does not set at all.

Accessibility in Siglufjörður

Siglufjörður's sights are within a small area, which helps. The main question is how you come ashore, so ask your ship whether it will dock or anchor, and whether its tenders can take a wheelchair.

  • If your ship anchors, passengers are taken by tender to a pier about 0.2 nautical miles from the anchorage.
  • The Herring Era Museum is spread across three main buildings, so expect a little walking between them.
  • Shuttles and excursion buses run only if ordered in advance, so ask your ship what it has arranged.

Landscape and Outdoors Around Siglufjörður

Siglufjörður is surrounded by mountains, and the municipality marks hiking trails around the fjord.

  • Marked trails: Routes include walks onto Hafnarfjall and to Hvanneyrarskál, a route over Hestskarð to the neighboring fjord of Héðinsfjörður, and paths along the avalanche barriers above town.
  • Siglufjarðarskarð: Iceland's highest mountain road crosses this pass at about 630 meters, and in summer hikers and riders use it.
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