Þorlákshöfn, or Thorlakshofn for non Icelandic keyboards, is a small town on the south west coast of Iceland, within the municipality of Ölfus. The primary function of the town these days is to support the cargo port, and the town that has rapidly grown up around it.

A brief history of Þorlákshöfn (Thorlakshofn)

Elliðahöfn, as Þorlákshöfn was originally named, was purchased from Rekjavíkians in 1937 with the goal of establishing a harbor on the south coast. The idea of creating a harbor that would help those sailing Suðurnes, Vestmannaeyjar and elsewhere, was something that was close to Egill Thorarensen’s heart as a passionate southerner. His spearheading of the effort to have Þorlákshöfn was a blessing and benefit to the south of Iceland when it came to transport, fishing and trade. They built a harbor, fish processing facilities for all parts of the fish and set to building and repairing fishing vessels.

As time went on, there grew an interest in becoming a port. For the project to be funded from various governmental bodies, Þorlákshöfn was to released to the public in order to be able to serve as a port, and from there the town began to form. The land was quickly sold and the project was managed by Þorlákshafnarneft. Added to this development, was the formation of the company, Meitillinn hf, after which the town began to rapidly grow.

In the 1950’s the town had 14 residents registered as occupants, and now the town is over 2,000 strong, with schools, health centres and a library.

Þorlákshöfn’s primary vessel in port are cargo ships, but it is also able to accept some domestic ferries, and serves as the back up harbor for the Westman Island Ferry, Herjólfur, when the weather is bad at their usual harbor. Speaking of which, when the volcano erupted on Vestmannaeyjar in 1973, Þorlákshöfn was where the islanders evacuated to, and some chose to relocate there permanently. 

Þorlákshöfn is also looking to the future, expanding beyond the port and encouraging the development of alternatives in the fishing industry. There is currently development for land farmed salmon.

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Tourism in the Area

Þorlákshöfn (Thorlakshofn) is a working port town, and as such there are not a lot of tourist spots. However, you can find places to stay, restaurants and swimming pools. Nearby are the gorgeous Black Sand Beaches of Hafnarskeið, Lava tunnels of Raufarhólshellir and Arnarker, plus a bunch of volcanoes and craters. 

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At lot of these sources are in Icelandic, so we highly recommend translating the page for a deeper understanding of Þorlákshöfn:
https://web.archive.org/web/20070313214522/http://www.ismennt.is/not/siggud/heimabaer/upphaf.htm
https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Eorl%C3%A1ksh%C3%B6fn
https://www.olfus.is
http://www.thingeyri.is/frettir/Merkir_Islendingar_-_Egill_G_Thorarensen/