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... |
To Iceland
by passenger ferry:
The weekly ferry to Iceland:
A Smyril Line passenger & car ferry
sails once a week or so for much of the year from
Hanstholm in Denmark and Bergen in Norway via Torshavn
in the Faeroe Islands to Seydisfjördur in Iceland.
The voyage from Bergen to Iceland aboard the Smyril Line
ferry "Norröna" takes 2 nights. Sailing days and
times vary, so see either the
Seat61 Ferry Shop or
www.smyril-line.com for times, fares and booking.
Note that passengers are not carried to Iceland between
October and March, 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 from the UK: In 2008, the Smyril
Line ship will no longer call at Lerwick in the Shetland
Islands, but from mid-June to late August it will call
at Scrabster, near the railway station at Thurso at the
northern tip of Scotland, not far from John O'Groats, see the sailing schedule at
www.smyril-line.com. At other times of year,
it will be necessary to take the twice-weekly DFDS
Seaways ship from Newcastle to Bergen (a 1-night voyage)
and change ferries there for the Smyril Line ship to Iceland.
See
www.dfds.co.uk
for Newcastle-Bergen ferry times, dates, fares and
online booking. See
www.nationalrail.co.uk for UK train times and fares
from your local station to either Thurso or Newcastle.
Travelling from mainland Europe: If you're
starting in mainland Europe, the best place to pick up
the Iceland ferry is in Denmark. 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
find train times from anywhere in Europe to Thisted, use
http://bahn.hafas.de (English button upper right).
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 have a
limited number of passenger places on their regular
weekly sailings from Rotterdam to Reykjavik in Iceland,
calling briefly at Torshavn (Faroe Islands) . 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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