It's possible to reach Iceland by comfortable cruise
ferry for much of the year, although it will take you
several nights each way. Here's how...
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Above: The Smyril Line cruise ferry 'Norrona'
sails weekly from mainland Europe to Iceland...
Photo: Smyril Line... |
The weekly
Smyril Line passenger ferry to Iceland...
A Smyril Line passenger & car ferry sails about once a
week between April & October from
Hanstholm or Esbjerg in Denmark & Torshavn
in the Faeroe Islands to Seydisfjördur in Iceland.
The voyage from Denmark to Iceland aboard the Smyril Line
ferry "Norröna" normally takes 3 nights. Sailing days and
times vary, so see either the
Seat61 Ferry Shop or
www.smyril-line.com for times, fares & online booking.
Note that passengers are not carried to Iceland
in winter, presumably as the weather is so poor
at that time of year. The passenger part of the
36,000 ton "Norröna" is to cruise ship standards, all
cabins have TV, shower and toilet. There is a
swimming pool, sauna, children's playroom, restaurant &
shops.
Travelling to Iceland from the UK, in high summer...
The Smyril
Line ship no longer calls at Lerwick in the Shetland
Islands (it stopped calling there as from 2008), but from mid-June to late August it calls
at Scrabster, near the railway station at Thurso at the
northern tip of Scotland, not far from John O'Groats.
It sails early in the morning, so you'll probably need
to stay in Thurso or Scrabster overnight. See the sailing schedule at
www.smyril-line.com, then see
www.nationalrail.co.uk for UK train times and fares
from your local station to either Thurso for bus or taxi
to Scrabster.
IMPORTANT: Smyril Line has announced that due
to the financial situation, they will NOT be calling at
Scrabster in 2009. All passengers
must therefore travel via Denmark, see below.
Travelling to Iceland from the UK, at other times...
At other times of year,
you'll need to travel to Denmark to board the Smyril Line ship to Iceland.
On some dates the ferry sails from Hanstholm in northern Denmark which has no railway
station, but you can take a train to Thisted from where
it's a 45 minute bus or taxi ride to Hanstholm. To
reach Thisted, either take the ferry from Harwich in the UK to
Esbjerg then a train to Thisted, or take Eurostar and the
Cologne-Odense City Night Line sleeper train, changing at
Odense for trains to Thisted.
See the London to Denmark page
for London-Esbjerg/Odense train times, then use
http://bahn.hafas.de to find train connections from
Esbjerg or Odense to Thisted. On other dates, she
sails from Esbjerg, linked to the UK by direct ferry,
see the London to Denmark page.
Travelling to Iceland from mainland Europe...
If you're
starting in mainland Europe, the best place to pick up
the Iceland ferry is in Denmark. First check ferry
sailings at
www.smyril-line.com. To
find train times from anywhere in Europe to Thisted or
Esbjerg, use
http://bahn.hafas.de (English button upper right).
On arrival in Iceland...
Seydisfjördur is on the east of Iceland, a 7-hour
drive by car or bus from Reykjavik. For long-distance bus services
in Iceland, see
www.bsi.is.
UK to Iceland
by freighter:
Freight ships run by Eimskip certainly used to have a
limited number of passenger places on their regular
weekly sailings from Rotterdam to Reykjavik in Iceland,
calling briefly at Torshavn (Faroe Islands). However,
reports suggest they may no longer carry passengers. See
www.eimskip.com for
sailing dates, times and fares. For connecting
train+ferry or Eurostar services from London to
Rotterdam, see the Netherlands
page.
More
information:
If
anyone has any more information. photos or travel reports that would be useful for
this page, please
e-mail me!
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