The Ins and Outs of Ísafjörður: A Guide to its Art and Architecture

(34 reviews)

Ísafjörður audio tour: The Ins and Outs of Ísafjörður: A Guide to its Art and Architecture

This is a 1.9mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Ísafjörður

Iceland

$9.99

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About the Tour

For centuries, Ísafjörður – meaning ‘the fjord of ice’ – has been shaped by its fishing and seafaring past. To this day, the capital of Iceland’s sparsely populated Westfjords region shows how the sea has helped to create livelihoods and high standards of living, in more ways than one.

This walking tour around my beautiful hometown of Ísafjörður starts near the town’s oldest houses in an area called Neðstikaupstaður, and ends at the central town square. Along the way, you’ll see outdoor artworks, including the big bronze Seaman’s Monument and the popular floating zebra crossing, 3D Crosswalk, and walk past a couple of garages where local artists exhibit their work.

I’ll show you historical sites like our picturesque old hospital, Sjúkrahúsið, and point out where the yearly downtown skiing competition is held. In Jónsgarður park, you’ll get a photo opportunity with the famous whale jaw, Whalebone Arch.

Along the way, I’ll answer questions like:

Where is Iceland’s only unicorn? (Hint: it doesn’t belong to the horse family – it’s a highly successful biotech company called Kerecis)
In what ways has cod shaped our history?
How was the church Ísafjarðarkirkja named, and what’s its link to the sun and pancakes?
What’s the connection between our president, the swimming pool in Austurvöllur garden and an infamous volcano?
Why, after having spent all winter clearing the streets of snow, do we dump snow back into the streets right before Easter?
How have avalanches influenced our towns in recent decades?

Whether you are here on a short cruise ship stop, traveling around Iceland, or moving to town to study, by the end of this tour, you’ll have a really good overview of this unusual town. Although Ísafjörður is certainly a small town, I’ll also put things into Icelandic context during our walk, so you’ll see the bigger picture.

Allow at least an hour and a half for the walk, and extra time for stopping or making detours that I recommend along the way.

Tour Producer

Gylfi Ólafsson

1 tour

I've lived most of my life here in Ísafjörður, now with my wife and two children. In the winter I spend my free time cross country skiing, and in the summer offroad running. Follow me along a walking tour around some of my favorite places in this town.

Preview Location

Location 25

Fisherman monument

On your right, you're coming up to a monument of two fishermen. Let's stop here for a moment.

The monument was revealed in 1974 to commemorate all the fisherman who worked hard and often lost their lives sailing to sea. At the end of the day, Ísafjörður is a fishing town. ... On your right, you're coming up to a monument of two fishermen. Let's stop here for a moment.

The monument was revealed in 1974 to commemorate all the fisherman who worked hard and often lost their lives sailing to sea. At the end of the day, Ísafjörður is a fishing town.

Behind the monument is the old hospital, a white building with a green roof. It was built in 1925 and served as such for more than sixty years before being replaced by the big towering building across the street to your left. The old hospital is now a public library and art museum. It is open on weekdays from 12:00–18:00 and on Saturdays from 13:00–16:00.

Now for a very short history lesson: Ísafjörður was settled in the tenth century, just like the rest of Iceland, mainly by Norwegian farmers. Evidence suggests that two farms were in this fjord, of which one left a small mound still evident between the monument and the kindergarten. Iceland became Christian in the year 1000, and soon after that, Ísafjörður got a church. The priest that is most famous, for the lack of a better word, was probably Jón Magnússon, called Jón the thumb. He indicted nearby farmers for witchcraft and got them burned on an open fire in April of 1656.

Now, look towards the mountain.

If you look further up the mountain, you will see big walls made of rock and earth. These are avalanche prevention structures, and these line most of our mountains. These come in different shapes and forms. Some of these structures deflect avalanches, some break them up and decrease their energy, and some are just straight walls to stop the avalanches. Yet another type are snow fences or bridges as you are found above the residential area at the bottom of the fjord. You can't see them from where you are standing now, but you can later. Anyway, these fences are intended to stop avalanches from forming in the first place.

When towns were planned in the years between 1930 and 1990, town planners were a bit too eager and knowledge of the devastating power of avalanches had not reached maturity. Thus, many towns were built in places that were later found to be dangerous, with disastrous effects. In particular, three avalanches in 1994 and 1995 killed 35 people in our surroundings, numerous houses and other structures, including our skiing area. Since then, massive funding has gone into erecting these structures, including the one you see above you. There are stairs and a walking path on top, and I highly recommend walking up there to enjoy a fantastic view of the fjord and the town. You can even do that now, and if you do, you can just return to this tour and keep going from where you left off.

Let's get going again. You can now walk up the street in the same direction as before.

You'll see a blue house in front of you. This was the childhood home of Mr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Iceland's president from 1996 to 2016. The house is now his summer retreat, and when he is not here, scholars from all over the world stay there to do research into all matters related to the Arctic.

In front of the blue house is a monument, by local sculptor Jón Sigurpálsson, made to commemorate a local pioneer in music education in town. The monument is a big rock cut in four parts with pipes rising up from the middle. It's a beautiful monument, but when I see it I am always reminded of the drunk man walking home, and seeing the monument. "What's this monument again“ he asked his fellow. „Oh, it's to commemorate Ragnar the music school principal," was the answer. „That's strange, it doesn't look like him at all!".

Enough funny business. Keep going straight. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður Tourist Information Center
Westfjord History Museum
Kerecis
St. John´s Chapel
Ísafjarðarkirkja
Fishermen's monument
Culture House Eyrartun
Jónsgarður
Krankehaus Isafjord
3D Crosswalk
Austurvöllur garden
Silfurtorg

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
400 Ísafjörður, Iceland
Total distance

3km
Final location
Pollgata 2, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland
Distance back to start location

628.95m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts at the history museum of Neðstikaupstaður, the lowest place of trade. Stand in front of the brown house with the small tower. More precisely, stand next to the whale harpoon in the middle of the small courtyard.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

You can stop wherever you like.

Best time of day

From dusk till dawn. Almost all of the tour is accessible throughout the year. Many of the extra stops have opening hours.

Precautions

No precautions needed.

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“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”