When we started planning a trip from Rovaniemi to Iceland, almost everyone told us to fly. Budget airlines, fast connections, done in three hours. We understood the logic — and then we found the Smyril Line. Taking the ferry to Iceland via the Faroe Islands turned out to be one of the best travel decisions we’ve made, and also one of the most complicated to figure out in advance.

This guide covers everything we wish we’d known before we booked: the route, the cabins, the cost, the seasickness reality, and whether the Smyril Line Iceland ferry is actually worth it compared to flying.

The Smyril Line route explained

Hirtshals to Seyðisfjörður: the full picture

The Smyril Line operates one ship, the Norröna, on a weekly circular route. The full itinerary in summer (roughly March to November) looks like this:

• Hirtshals, Denmark → departure, usually Thursday evening or early Friday morning.
• Tórshavn, Faroe Islands → arrival after roughly 34 hours at sea; 24–36 hours in port depending on the week.
• Seyðisfjörður, Iceland → arrival late evening, roughly 72–84 hours after leaving Denmark.
• The return leg reverses the route, with departure from Seyðisfjörður back to Tórshavn and then Hirtshals.

In winter (approximately November to March) the Iceland leg is suspended and the ferry only runs between Hirtshals and Tórshavn. If you’re planning a winter crossing to Iceland, you’ll need to fly.

Where to board and where you arrive

Hirtshals is a small port town in northern Jutland, about 45 minutes by car from Aalborg and three hours from Copenhagen. The terminal is well-organised and easy to navigate even with a large vehicle. On the Icelandic end, Seyðisfjörður is a small but genuinely beautiful fjord town in East Iceland — not where most tourists start their Iceland trip. That means you’ll either plan a route that begins in the east, or you’ll drive 2.5 hours west to Egilsstaðir and then continue from there.

The Faroe Islands stop is in Tórshavn, the capital. You can disembark here, explore for a day or two, and reboard a later sailing — this is one of the most popular combinations and it’s how we’d recommend doing it.

Cabin types and what they cost

From airline seats to full suites

The Norröna offers several accommodation tiers. Prices vary significantly by season and how far in advance you book. Below are approximate one-way per-person costs in peak summer (June–August) as of 2026:

Cabin tiers on the Norröna

• Reclining seat (Pullman seat): the cheapest option at roughly €150–200 per person. Fine for one overnight stretch; uncomfortable for 3+ nights. No privacy, limited sleep.
• 4-berth standard cabin: roughly €250–350 per person. Shared with up to three other passengers if you don’t book the whole cabin. Small but functional, with bunk beds.
• 2-berth standard cabin: roughly €350–500 per person. The sweet spot for couples. Fits two people with a reasonable amount of luggage space.
• Commodore cabin: roughly €500–700 per person. Larger, with a proper window and more comfortable beds. Worth the upgrade on a 3-day crossing.
• Suite / Commodore Lux: €700–1,000+ per person. Sea-view windows, more floor space, premium bedding. For those who want the trip to feel like a mini cruise.

Children travel at a discount; infants often free. Check the Smyril Line website directly for current pricing — fares fluctuate by week and book out well in advance for peak season.

What to expect on board

Dining, decks, and daily life at sea

Life on the Norröna during a 3-day crossing settles into an unexpectedly pleasant rhythm. The ship is large enough to feel like a small hotel, not a crowded bus. Here’s what the experience actually looks like:

Food and drink

• The buffet restaurant is the main eating option. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served at fixed times. Quality is decent — not destination-dining, but genuinely good Nordic fare. Expect smoked salmon, herring, lamb, and good bread. Budget around €20–30 per person per meal.
• The pub and cafeteria offer lighter options between meal times: sandwiches, pastries, hot drinks, beer. Much more relaxed and cheaper than the buffet.
• Bringing your own food is allowed and smart for budget travellers. You can stock up in Hirtshals before boarding.

Facilities and entertainment

• A small cinema (usually free screenings).
• Children’s play area — useful for families on the longer crossing.
• Hot tubs on the deck — yes, genuinely. One of the more surreal experiences: sitting in a bubbling hot tub watching the North Atlantic roll past.
• A shop with duty-free alcohol, snacks, and Faroese/Icelandic souvenirs.
• Wi-Fi is available but slow and expensive. Download your entertainment before you board.

What to bring that the guides don’t mention

• Seasickness medication (more on this below).
• A good book and offline content — you will have stretches with genuinely nothing to do.
• Warm layers for the outer decks even in summer — the wind off the North Atlantic is sharp.
• Earplugs for shared cabins.

Seasickness and the North Atlantic crossing

This is not the English Channel

We’re not going to sugar-coat this: the stretch between the Faroe Islands and Iceland crosses some of the roughest open water in Europe. The North Atlantic between the Faroes and Iceland has no landmass to break the swells, and even in summer the sea state can be significant. Here’s the honest breakdown:

What the crossing is actually like

• Denmark to Faroe Islands: usually manageable. The worst section is the first night in open water north of Norway. Moderate swell, typically 2–4 metres.
• Faroe Islands to Iceland: this is the stretch that gets people. Open North Atlantic, swells of 3–6 metres are common in summer, occasionally much more. Many passengers feel queasy even if they don’t normally get seasick on boats.
• Iceland to Faroe Islands (return): can be worse, as prevailing winds often push against the direction of travel.

• Inside cabins are smoother than outer ones — less noise and less motion perception.
• The middle of the ship and lower decks have the least movement.
• Fresh air genuinely helps — as counterintuitive as going to the outer deck feels, it often reduces nausea better than lying down below.
• Eat light before the roughest stretches. The buffet will be less appealing in heavy seas.

Taking a car or campervan on the Smyril Line

The ferry’s main advantage over flying

The single biggest reason to take the Smyril Line Iceland ferry rather than fly is the ability to bring your own vehicle. Iceland is an extraordinary road-trip destination, and having your own car or campervan — one you’ve already packed and configured at home — transforms what you can do there.

Practical car booking notes

• Vehicle spots book out even faster than cabins. Book your car space at the same time as your cabin, especially for summer.
• Measure your vehicle accurately. The booking form asks for length and height, and oversize vehicles cost significantly more. Campervans and roof-tent setups often fall into higher fare brackets.
• You load your car into the hold at Hirtshals; you cannot access it during the crossing. Pack what you need for 2–3 days in your cabin before boarding.
• The car deck is cold and dark. Lock valuables and bring anything you’ll want during the crossing up with you.
• On arrival in Seyðisfjörður, disembarkation takes time — often 1–2 hours. Don’t plan to drive far the same evening unless you’ve booked accommodation nearby.

For overlanders and campervan travellers, this route is almost unbeatable. Drive from anywhere in mainland Europe, load onto the ferry in Denmark, and arrive in Iceland in your own vehicle ready to drive the Ring Road from day one.

Ferry vs flight to Iceland: an honest comparison

It’s not really a choice between two transport options

Framing the Smyril Line as a budget alternative to flying misses the point. They’re genuinely different travel experiences. Here’s how to think about the comparison:

Choose the ferry if

• You want to bring your own car or campervan to Iceland.
• You’re combining Iceland with the Faroe Islands in one trip.
• You find the crossing itself part of the adventure — slow travel, open ocean, no phone signal.
• You’re travelling from mainland Europe and have the time to make it a proper journey.
• You’re travelling with young children who cope better with a ship than a flight.

Choose to fly if

• You have fewer than 10 days and every day in Iceland counts.
• Budget is tight and you’re planning to rent a car in Iceland anyway (rentals are widely available).
• You struggle significantly with seasickness.
• You’re flying from outside Europe — connecting via a Scandinavian hub is usually faster and cheaper.

For us — driving from Rovaniemi across Scandinavia, stopping in the Faroes, and arriving in Iceland by sea — the ferry was the obvious choice. For a couple flying from London with a week’s holiday, a budget flight makes more sense.

Mistakes we made and what we’d do differently

What we learned on the crossing

• We underestimated the seasickness risk. We brought medication but assumed it was mostly for sensitive stomachs. The Faroe–Iceland leg was rougher than either of us expected for mid-summer. Take the medication earlier and more seriously.
• We didn’t stock up on food before boarding. The buffet is fine but pricey over three days. Bringing snacks, fruit, and some real food for between meals would have saved both money and frustration during the rough patch when the restaurant felt like the last place on earth we wanted to be.
• We booked a 2-berth standard cabin and wished we’d upgraded. After 36+ hours in a small room, the commodore cabin would have been worth the extra €100–150 each. Sleep quality matters more than it does on a one-night ferry crossing.
• We didn’t plan Seyðisfjörður properly. We arrived in the evening, tired, and had no accommodation booked in the immediate area. The town is beautiful but very small. Book something within 30 minutes of the port for your first night.
• We forgot about offline entertainment. Satellite Wi-Fi is unreliable and expensive. We burned through our offline playlist by hour 40. Download podcasts, shows, and books before you board, and then download some more.

Frequently asked questions

A final word from Rovaniemi

We drove to the ferry in Hirtshals from Finnish Lapland — which is, objectively, a long way to go to board a boat. But the Smyril Line crossing to Iceland remains one of those travel experiences we think about often. Three days with no schedule, open water in every direction, arriving in Seyðisfjörður as the last light fell across the fjord.

The Smyril Line Iceland ferry isn’t for everyone. It takes time, it requires preparation, and the North Atlantic can be brutal on bad days. But if you’re someone who finds the journey as interesting as the destination — and you want to arrive in Iceland with your own car, via the Faroe Islands, having actually crossed an ocean — there is nothing quite like it.

Pack the seasickness tablets. Download offline entertainment. Upgrade your cabin if you can. And go.