Seyðisfjarðarkirkja
Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is a church in East Iceland, Iceland — about 662 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Seyðisfjarðarkirkja became famous on Instagram mostly due to the rainbow road leading up to the church. The church is located in Eastern Region of Iceland.
As a photography stop, Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is a church in East Iceland, roughly 662 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography. The downloadable Church map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is one waypoint of many — you can load all 10 church and chapel stops before you leave signal.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
The church stands in Seyðisfjörður, at the head of the fjord, hemmed by Mt Bjólfur at 1,085 m to the west and Strandartindur at 1,010 m to the east. The town was badly damaged by mudflows in December 2020.
- Setting
- At the innermost point of Seyðisfjörður
- The walls of the fjord
- Bjólfur 1,085 m to the west, Strandartindur 1,010 m to the east
- December 2020
- Days of heavy rain triggered mudflows that hit the town; 39 houses were affected and 12 destroyed, and the town was evacuated
- Road in
- Route 93, 27 km from Egilsstaðir on the Ring Road, over the Fjarðarheiði pass at 600 m
- Ferry
- The Norröna calls weekly from Hirtshals in Denmark and Tórshavn in the Faroes
Mountains of a thousand metres on both sides of a narrow fjord decide the light here more than the season does: direct sun reaches the valley floor for only part of the day, and in winter barely at all. The way in is the other constraint — a 600 m pass is the first thing to close in bad weather, and the fjord can be cut off while the town itself is clear.
SourcesSeyðisfjörður — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (65.261, -14.011). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 22.2 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.4° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.5 h of daylight (11:06–14:37), but the sun never climbs above 1.5° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is a church in East Iceland, Iceland, approximately 662 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Church map.
The recommended season for Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is Summer. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Seyðisfjarðarkirkja is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.