Accommodation
30 spacious rooms, both double and single, accommodating up to 54 guests. All have private bathrooms and TV. Certified access and facilities for the disabled. There is also sleeping bag accommodation at the hotel and a camping site with cooking facilities, toilets, showers and hot tubs. Free Wi-Fi in bedrooms and common rooms.
Board
A fully licenced on-site restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tea or coffee and cakes available all day.
Service and recreation
Horse rental at Staðarborg (1 hour riding tours). Beautiful hiking routes in the area, into valleys and up into the mountains. Diverse birdlife. You can fish for trout at the mouth of river Breiðdalsá, or alternatively go fishing at the pond by the hotel, where there’s trout of up to two pounds (moderately priced fishing permits at the hotel). Goose and ptarmigan hunting (permits available from the relevant landowners in Breiðdalur valley).
There are golf courses in Djúpivogur, Reyðarfjörður, Eskifjörður and close to Egilsstaðir in the Fljótsdalshérað region. The nearest village is Breiðdalsvík (7 km / 4.3 mi), where there’s a swimming pool with a hot tub, a supermarket with basic necessities, a petrol station, garage, bank and post office. Town Egilsstaðir (75 km / 47 mi) has larger supermarkets, a good swimming pool, various general services and a tourist information centre (East Iceland Regional Information Centre). Scheduled flights daily between Reykjavík and Egilsstaðir. Seyðisfjörður ferry harbour, where Norræna stops, is 100 km / 62 mi away. Distance to Reykjavík is 625 km / 388 mi.
Breiðdalur valley – an ideal place for hikers and mountaineers
High mountains embrace this fairly wide valley, many of which have sharp edges and precipitous cliffs. Even though the area is characterised by these strong and enchanting guardians, it is quite green and tranquil in summer, with grassy fields and sheltered hills with widespread bushes. Mountaineers and hikers are spoilt for choice, whether by the black sandy beach by Breiðdalsvík; out by the coast; in deserted valleys or up mountains, where ravines, passes and mountain tops tempt those who want to make the effort to enjoy magnificent nature. Breiðdalur valley offers yielding salmon rivers and fine trout lakes.
Stöðvarfjörður – Petra's Stone Collection – the French museum in Fáskrúðsfjörður
From village Breiðdalsvík the route takes you to Stöðvarfjörður (24 km / 15 mi) on a fine road through the very steep Kambanesskriður below Súlur, spectacular cliffy mountains. Stöðvarfjörður fjord is short and lowland is limited but the village the absolute best mountain view of any town in Iceland. In Stöðvarfjörður you’ll come across Petra's Stone Collection, a diverse collection of rocks and minerals in East Iceland – the world's largest of its kind in a very unique setting. Further north you’ll arrive in Fáskrúðsfjörður (27 km / 17 mi from Stöðvarfjörður). It’s a very friendly village in the innermost part of the eponymous fjord, with a good museum and other relics on the French sailors stationed there over a century ago.
Places of interest in the Fljótsdalshérað region – Borgarfjörður eystri
Route 1, which circumnavigates the whole country, goes on from Breiðdalur valley via Breiðdalsheiði heath to the Fljótsdalshérað region. Hallormsstaðaskógur forest (80 km / 50 mi) and Atlavík bay (bicycle and boat rental) are popular outdoor areas for the whole family with walking trails and play areas. Close to Hallormsstaður (17 km / 10.5 mi) is the Centre of Culture and History at Skriðuklaustur and Snæfellsstofa, Skriðuklaustur's visitor centre, which is an information centre on the east territory of Vatnajökull National Park. Also close to Hallormsstaður (12 km / 7.5 mi) is Hengifoss, Iceland's second-highest waterfall. From town Egilsstaðir there are 67 km / 42 mi to Borgarfjörður eystri, a place which no nature enthusiast should miss when travelling in East Iceland.
Host: Arnór