It's possible to reach Iceland by comfortable cruise
ferry between April and October each year, though you'll
need to travel to Denmark to board the ferry and it will take you
several nights each way. Here's how...
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Above: The Smyril Line cruise ferry 'Norröna'
sails weekly from mainland Europe to Iceland... |
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The weekly
Smyril Line passenger ferry to Iceland...
A Smyril Line passenger & car ferry called the 'Norröna' sails
roughly once a
week between April & October from
either Hanstholm or Esbjerg in Denmark to Torshavn
in the Faeroe Islands and Seydisfjördur in Iceland.
The voyage from Denmark to Iceland aboard the "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.
The Smyril
Line ship used to call at Lerwick in the Shetland
Islands, but stopped calling there in 2008.
How to travel to Iceland from the UK...
You'll need to travel to Denmark to board the Smyril Line ship to Iceland.
From April to mid-June she sails from Esbjerg, mid-June
to late August she sails from Hanstholm, late August to
early October she sails from Esbjerg again. See
www.smyril-line.com for the sailing schedule.
When the Norröna sails from Esbjerg, you can take a
train from London Liverpool Street to Harwich
International in Essex, then the three-times-a-week DFDS
Seaways (www.dfds.co.uk)
ferry 'Dana Sirena' from Harwich across the North Sea to
Esbjerg.
See the London to Denmark page
for full details.
When the Norröna sails from Hanstholm in northern Denmark,
either take the DFDS ferry to Esbjerg or take Eurostar
to Brussels, Thalys to Cologne and the
Cologne-Copenhagen City Night Line sleeper train as far
as Odense. Then take a train from Esbjerg or
Odense to Thisted. Hanstholm has no railway
station, but it's a 45 minute bus or taxi ride from
Thisted.
See the London to Denmark page
for London-Esbjerg train+ferry info, or London-Odense
Eurostar+sleeper train info, then use the online
timetable at
http://bahn.hafas.de to find train connections from
Esbjerg or Odense to Thisted.
How to travel 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 9-hour
drive by car 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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