Hafnarfjordur

Lava-field harbour town 10km south of Reykjavik, built on and around old lava flows with a working fishing port.

Hafnarfjordur — 'Harbour Fjord' — is what Reykjavik looked like fifty years ago. Timber houses in red, blue and mustard yellow, a working fish harbour, and the whole town squeezed between two lava flows from the Burfell eruption 7,000 years ago. There are actual elves here, or at least a lot of people who take the elf-map seriously and won’t build on certain rocks. The main street, Strandgata, has half a dozen decent restaurants and Fjorukrain, the Viking-themed hotel that leans harder into the theme than it should. By 9pm the harbour goes quiet, gulls on the breakwater the only noise.

It's an easier, cheaper base than Reykjavik if you have a car. Doubles run ISK 14124-ISK 20879, the harbour is genuinely photogenic at any hour, and you’re 15 minutes closer to Keflavik airport and the Blue Lagoon. Skip if you want nightlife — the pubs on Strandgata close by 1am at weekends, midnight midweek. Suits drivers, families, and anyone doing the Reykjanes peninsula lava sights. Without a car you'll rely on the Straeto bus into Reykjavik, which is fine for day trips but thins out after 11pm.

The town's fishing heritage is still visible at the harbour, where trawlers unload alongside pleasure boats and the smell of salt and diesel hangs over the quay. Just south, the Rio Tinto aluminium smelter at Straumsvik employs a chunk of the workforce, a reminder that Hafnarfjordur is a working town first and a postcard second. Each June the Viking Festival takes over the fields by Fjorukrain, with mock battles, fire-eaters and a market stall selling smoked lamb — noisy, touristy, and worth an hour if you're here on the right week.

Compared with Laugavegur in Reykjavik, evenings here are subdued: a handful of locals nursing a beer in one of the Strandgata pubs, families walking the harbour path, nothing that could be called a scene. That suits couples and older travellers who want quiet and a car; it's the wrong call for anyone chasing bars past midnight or a big choice of live music, which is 20 minutes away in the capital. The upside is parking — free, plentiful, right outside your hotel door, which no street in central Reykjavik can offer.

Where to sleep

Anywhere between Strandgata and the harbour puts you in the middle of the old town and a two-minute walk to restaurants. Vesturgata and Linnetsstigur are quiet residential streets with a couple of guesthouses in the ISK 13510-ISK 17195 range. Avoid the industrial edge east of Reykjavikurvegur — it's fine but you’ll walk 20 minutes to eat. Fjorukrain (the Viking hotel) is a novelty; the food is fine, the rooms are dark timber overload. High season (June-August) pushes the guesthouses toward ISK 18000 a night; book by April if you want Vesturgata. Off-season, November to February, the same rooms drop to ISK 12000-14000 and you'll have the harbour path largely to yourself. For a straightforward stay with no theme-park overlay, book a guesthouse on Vesturgata or Linnetsstigur over Fjorukrain.

The essentials

Harbour and lava-field loop (3.5 km)

Start at the harbour on Straumkambur, walk south past the fishing boats to Hellisgerdi lava garden. Cut through the garden, out onto Reykjavikurvegur, then back down Strandgata past Hafnarborg art centre, the timber houses and the church. Finish at Von for coffee or head to the pier for harbour sunsets — best around 9pm in June, 4pm in December.

Getting there & around

Bus 1 from Hlemmur in Reykjavik reaches Hafnarfjordur in 25 minutes, ISK 614. The Flybus from Keflavik airport stops in Hafnarfjordur on request — 30 minutes, ISK 3685. Once in town everything's walkable in 15 minutes. For the Blue Lagoon, drive (25 minutes) or take the Reykjavik Excursions shuttle from the Fjorukrain hotel. A rental car is worth it here; parking is free and you’re on the doorstep of the Reykjanes peninsula. Buy tickets in advance via the Straeto app since drivers don't take cash.