Forks in Our Road: Iceland Day 18 – Heimaey and Vestmannaeyjabær

Friday, September 12, 2025

Iceland Day 18 – Heimaey and Vestmannaeyjabær

Friday September 12 – Heimaey and Vestmannaeyjabær

Besides greatly delaying our ferry, the weather yesterday was not conducive to taking photographs of the island of Heimaey and the city of Vestmannaeyjabær, "west man island town." Before our ferry departed for the mainland this morning, I took the opportunity to walk about the town, in the rain at first and then under clearing skies, to see what I could see. Those photos are in this post, the first of two about today. The next post will talk about our afternoon as we drove to the Golden Circle, very close to the capital. This can only mean that our trip was drawing quickly to a close.

After our spectacular dinner at Slippurinn yesterday, last night's sleep sucked. Awakening after just 3.5 hours of fitful sleep to the sounds of water dripping outside did not make me happy. After yesterday’s crappy weather, I was teased by a forecast indicating no rain into thinking I might be able to shoot some photos of this spectacular island this morning before our ferry departs for the mainland. That forecast sure seemed wrong and the odds of seeing the town before departing on the ferry seemed long.

Searching the internet, Ann and I located a coffehouse/bakery nearby called Vigtin Bakhús. This seems to be a pretty serious bakery; we saw several vans of bread going out for delivery, likely to local restaurants and stores. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of salted jalapeño pretzel and almond pastry, credible efforts both.

Coffee and Pastries at Vigtin Bakhús

After breakfast, I walked Ann back to the house in the misting rain and retrieved my camera for a walk of the the length of the port and back again.

The Bónus Pig, Brightest Thing in Town

Love the Puffin Head Directional Signs

Wandering east through town, the land climbs fairly quickly to a large lava field, the reminder of the 1973 eruption of Eldfell that buried part of the town just above the port before a heroic effort to pump cold seawater onto the new lava created a dam that stopped the lava's forward progress. This old part of town is now buried under 15-20 meters of lava. I climbed rainbow-painted stairs up onto the lava for wonderful views of the port below, despite the light rain.

Kiwanis Memorial
Buried Beneath 16 Meters of Lava in 1973

Our Ferry Making an Early Run to the Mainland

Expand This Photo: Crazy Sheep on Near Vertical Terrain

Lupines in the Rain

After walking around on the 1973 lava and looking at the memorial plaques and signs as well as the harbor from on high, I descended to the harbor and started walking to the east.

Mural Showing the Helgafell Volcano Above Vestmannaeyjabær

Skansinn, "Fort" in Danish
Built in 1586 to Protect the Then Danish Harbor from the English
Parts Were Buried in the 1973 Eldfell Eruption

From the Existing Skansinn Rampart, the Stafkirkjan,
Replica of a 12th Century Stave Church,
Gift from the Danish Government

Cormorant Diving for Fish

As I walked back through town to our rental, the day was clearing bit by bit, perhaps teasing at nicer weather in the afternoon. I had already seen the ferry in operation, so I knew it appeared to be on schedule. Before going to the apartment, I walked though the ferry terminal to understand how to navigate it in the car. On exiting the ferry yesterday, the layout of the terminal looked strange and in fact, cars going onto the ferry lined up parallel to the ferry facing the wrong direction, perhaps a bit confusing to a first-time visitor.

We hung out at the apartment until 1040 before making the three-block drive to catch the 1100 ferry. The ferry departed on time and arrived at the mainland 22 minutes later even though the posted travel time was 40 minutes. With no seas and no wind to speak of, the trip was the antithesis of yesterday's crossing.