A Town of Character, Coffee, and Culture Just Across the Tunnel from Ísafjörður
In Iceland, a town of around 200 people is hardly unusual. But Flateyri has a way of making that number feel significant — residents bring it up with a quiet pride that’s hard to ignore. Whether it’s the local authors (more on them on page 18), the Flateyri Folk School, or the bird murals painted across the town’s walls, something about this place gets under your skin. I came northwest to attend the Flateyri Literature Festival and quickly realised there was too much to squeeze into a single piece. So here’s a proper guide to what Flateyri has to offer.
After weeks of Reykjavík’s unusually mild temperatures, I’d grown soft. The Westfjords reminded me, firmly, that it was still late March and winter hadn’t finished with us yet. My hands chapped up within hours of arriving, and the summer driving habits I’d slipped into on the way out of the capital needed an immediate rethink.
We left Reykjavík before 11:00 and pulled into Flateyri by 17:00, with a few stops along the way. Those stops matter — the Westfjords are notoriously short on public restrooms, and if you care about Iceland’s nature (and you should), you won’t be ducking behind a rock. We found relief at two welcoming spots: Hotel Flókalundur and the kind people at Djúpidalur. Genuine gratitude to both.
Two Coffee Shops, Both Alike in Dignity
For a town this size, Flateyri punches well above its weight on the food and drink front. Gunnukaffi is a coffeehouse, bar, restaurant, and — yes, really — a “Dolls Of The World” museum, all under one roof. We ate the burgers twice during our stay. No regrets. The doll collection lives in the back and is exactly as strange and delightful as it sounds.
Bryggjukaffi does freshly brewed filter coffee in mismatched mugs and serves bagels worth making a return trip for. There’s a local beer on tap that I foolishly skipped. Shelves along the back wall are stacked with knitwear, ceramics, and secondhand clothing. The festival organiser kept urging us to “kaupa, kaupa, kaupa!” — and in a shop like this, you’ll barely need convincing.
For a night out, Vagninn is the place. It’s a proper dive bar — large, lived-in, and full of character. Events, food pop-ups, and concerts all happen here; Bríet and Inspector Spacetime are among the acts lined up for Aldrei weekend. Old photos of regulars cover the walls, and the ceiling is papered with discontinued krónur notes. The outdoor smoking area is roughly the same size as the bar itself, which tells you something about the clientele.
After a couple of drinks at Vagninn, you’ll want somewhere comfortable to land. We had it easy — our accommodation was a minute’s walk away, in the rooms above Flateyri’s beloved The Old Bookstore. Bright yellow kitchen walls, a cabinet full of board games, a deep bathtub, and a guitar that was actually in tune. With just two single rooms and one double, the shared kitchen made the whole thing feel more like staying with friends than renting a flat. Leaving on the last day was genuinely hard.
The People of Flateyri
No visit to an Icelandic town is complete without a swim, and Flateyri delivers: indoor and outdoor hot tubs, an indoor lap pool, and a sauna. The pool deck is decked out with plants and always has coffee on the go. We got talking in the hot tub with a local man who’d moved from Keflavík with his girlfriend to work at a nearby factory — they process sheep horns into dog bones. Everyone here has a story worth hearing.
By the end of the festival, it felt like we’d met the whole town. We helped one resident round up his dog, bought a pair of gloves from an honour-system box outside someone’s house, took in an art exhibition at a former fire station, and laughed through Sindri “Sparkle” Freyr’s set at a literary open mic night at Vagninn.
The whole visit passed under the gaze of Mount Þorfinnur, and it wasn’t nearly long enough. You can walk from one end of Flateyri to the other in a few minutes, but the place keeps revealing things you didn’t expect to find.
Still not convinced? Acclaimed Icelandic artist Shoplifter has hidden a giant installation somewhere in Flateyri. Go and find it.
Special thanks to GO Car Rental for providing our wheels.
