Seydisfjordur Places to Eat and Comfort Stops on the Puffin Tour

• Top choice Puffin & Gufufoss tour from US$229 Duration5 hours^[1]Rated4.63 from 270 reviews^[1]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours ahead^[1]GuideLive guide in English^[1] Check availability
• Studlagil Canyon tour from US$229 Duration5 hours^[4]Rated4.46 from 336 reviews^[4]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours ahead^[4]GuideLive guide in English^[4] See this tour
• Vok Baths entry from US$61 Duration1.5 hours^[5]Rated4.69 from 386 reviews^[5]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours ahead^[5]GuideHost or greeter: English, Icelandic^[5] See this tour

Stocking up in Seydisfjordur before you set off

Seydisfjordur sits at the head of a fjord in East Iceland, and almost everything you need for the day comes from this small town before the coach leaves. The Rainbow Street, lined with old historic houses and ending at the Blue Church, is the natural place to walk while you wait, and it is the liveliest corner of a very small place. If you arrive on the Norrona ferry run by Smyril Line, you dock in Seydisfjordur itself, so a last-minute shop or a hot drink is simple.^[7][8]

For Seydisfjordur places to eat, set your expectations to small and specific. This is a compact town on a fjord rather than a city with a food scene, and Seydisfjordur Iceland restaurants suit a slow sit-down meal better than a rushed snack between errands. Eat properly before you board, buy or refill a water bottle, and add a few things to your bag that you can eat with one hand once the coach is moving. A sandwich, a banana and a bar of chocolate will do more for the day than a large hot meal taken in a hurry.

If your ferry or tender comes in close to departure time, shop in the first minutes you have rather than leaving it until the last. Cold water, fruit and something salty are the three things people most often wish they had packed, and none of them needs refrigeration or a knife and fork.

Food and drink on the coach

The tour travels by bus or coach between its stops, with Hafnarholmi, Lindarbakki and Gufu Waterfall among them.^[1] Whatever you carry should be quiet to open, easy to hold and unlikely to end up on the floor at the first bend. A refillable bottle, a flask of coffee, fruit and a few biscuits cover a long morning on the road far better than a box of hot food that goes cold before the first stop.

Ask the guide at the start of the day about eating and drinking on the coach, because practice differs between drivers and vehicles, and follow what you are told. This tour has a live guide who speaks English, so a quick word at the port is easy.^[1] If you are prone to travel sickness, sit near the front, keep the snacking light and watch the horizon rather than your phone.

Coffee and tea are best handled at the stops, where you can stand up and put the cup down. On the coach, water is the friendlier choice: it keeps you comfortable, it does not spill if the lid is good, and it saves you from spending the interesting parts of the drive looking for a bathroom.

The fjord road above Seydisfjordur, where the coach earns its keep.

The first leg out to Hafnarholmi

From the port the coach heads into the Northeastern Region of Iceland and on to Hafnarholmi, then to Lindarbakki and Gufu Waterfall.^[1] Hafnarholmi is the puffin stop of the day: a small working harbour beneath steep ground, with the colony on the slopes and the sea right at the edge of the road. The approach alone is worth the seat, with the fjord behind you and the mountains ahead.

Puffins nest at Hafnarholmi in Borgarfjordur Eystri every year from the middle of April to the beginning of August, so plan your sailing date inside that window if the birds matter to you.^[2] Outside it, the harbour and the sea cliffs still give you the sense of scale that the Eastfjords do best.

This is the first real comfort stop after you leave town, so use it properly. Stretch your legs, use whatever facilities the harbour has, take your photographs early and get back to the coach with time to spare. If you are wearing layers, this is a good place to adjust them, because the wind at the coast is usually stronger than it looks from the coach window.

Hafnarholmi to Lindarbakki: the longest stretch

After Hafnarholmi the coach turns back inland towards Lindarbakki, and this is the part of the day where you sit still and watch the landscape change.^[1] Fjord gives way to open valley, the wind drops behind the hills and the road does the work. It is a good time for a drink of water, a quiet snack and a look at the map on your phone.

The itinerary lists a straight coach run from Hafnarholmi to Lindarbakki, so leave the harbour comfortable rather than hoping for a stop on the way.^[1] A last visit to the bathroom before you board saves a lot of squirming later, and having a bottle within reach makes the miles pass more pleasantly. If you are sharing the back of the coach with children, this is the leg to have snacks and a game ready.

Bakkagerdi village and the southern route option

Lindarbakki is a colourful turf house in the village of Bakkagerdi, and the village stop is where the day turns from coast to countryside.^[9] Turf houses are built with earth and grass, with the roof itself growing a small meadow, and they are the oldest kind of building you will see in Iceland. Photographs rarely do the colour justice on a grey day, so take a moment to look properly.

Other tours from the same port drive the opposite way, south through Jokuldalur valley to Studlagil Canyon, which is a basalt rock formation in East Iceland.^[10] The Studlagil Canyon Shore Excursion from Seydisfjordur runs for 5 hours from US$229 and includes a stop at Gufu Waterfall as well as the canyon.^[4] If you would rather soak than scramble, the Vok Baths entry is a separate listing from US$61 with a duration of 1.5 hours.^[5]

Gufufoss waterfall: the final stop and limited facilities

Gufufoss waterfall stands approximately 88 feet (27 meters) tall, and it comes last in the itinerary before the coach returns to the port.^[1][11] After a day of harbours and villages, the waterfall is a clean, simple finish: dark rock, white water and a great deal of noise. It is the sort of stop where the sound of the water does the talking.

The walk from the car park to the waterfall is no more than 150 meters long and takes a minute or two, because it is completely flat.^[3] That makes it easy for tired legs and for anyone who has spent the day taking photographs from a coach seat. Do not, however, save your comfort breaks for this stop. Plan your meal, your water and your bathroom visits for the town and the village, and arrive at Gufufoss with nothing left to organise.

Planning your comfort strategy for the whole tour

The Puffin & Gufufoss Waterfall Tour from Seydisfjordur Port runs for 5 hours, with a live guide who speaks English, free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and the option to reserve now and pay later.^[1] That is a comfortable half day ashore, but it is long enough that hunger, thirst and a full bladder can shape how much you enjoy the coast.

Build the day backwards from the coach. A full meal in town before you board, water and snacks in your bag, a bathroom stop every time the wheels stop, and layers you can add or remove as the weather changes. In July the average daily temperature in Seydisfjordur ranges from a high of 51°F (11°C) to a low of 43°F (6°C), which is cool enough that a hat and a light waterproof jacket earn their place in your bag.^[6]

If you want breakfast before an early departure, a bakery near Seydisfjordur is worth finding the day before, and a slow hotel breakfast beats a rushed one. Do that, and the day itself becomes simple: eat, drink, use every stop and enjoy the drive.

Your comfort plan

1. Eat before you board

   A proper meal in Seydisfjordur costs you nothing in tour time and keeps the whole morning steady.

2. Carry your own water

   Bring a refillable bottle and drink on the coach legs, not only at the stops.

3. Use every stop

   The tour stops at Hafnarholmi, Lindarbakki and Gufu Waterfall, so treat each one as a comfort break.^[1]

4. Dress for cool air

   Layer up; July averages a high of 51°F (11°C) and a low of 43°F (6°C) in Seydisfjordur.^[6]

5. Keep the day simple

   Snacks you can eat one-handed and a light bag beat a heavy picnic every time.

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