The Westfjords

Birna and I just spent the past week in the Westfjords of Iceland. The Westfjords are set adrift from the rest of the country, and even Iceland´s Ring Road bypasses it altogether. As the Lonely Planet puts it so well… “It’s one of Iceland´s most spectacular regions. Sparsely populated, fantastically rugged, and isolated by its remote location and limited roads, the Westfjords is an outdoor adventurer’s dream destination. The landscape is truly humbling, ranging from soaring mountains and unfathomably deep silent fjords to a torturous coastline dotted with tiny fishing villages clinging doggedly to a traditional way of life.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

This is roughly the track we followed...


We hired a camper van in Stykkishólmur and tugged it behind Big Boy. We spent the first two nights in Hólmavik and used that as our base while exploring the eastern coast of the Westfjords. So many beautiful fjords! We continued right up until Norðurfjördur, the furthest point you can go on the eastern side, and even took a dip in an open-air geothermal swimming pool at Krossnes, which was located on a black pebbled beach.


We spent the next two nights in Ísafjörður, considered the capital of the west of Iceland, with a population of 3500. We camped at Tungudalur, under a beautiful waterfall (although the sound of the water made us want to pee most of the time). From there we ventured out to a little town called Flateyri, where we went sea kayaking. We could not have picked a better time to go… the weather was so calm that we could see our reflection mirrored in the water.


From Ísafjörður, we drove down the western side of the Westfjords. We visited Dynjandi waterfall, the most well-known and dramatic waterfall in the Westfjords. We drove to a place called Breiðavik, which truly felt like you were at the end of the earth – so remote. There we camped by the beach. Yes that’s right… I found a beach in Iceland with white sand! We walked along the beach and then watched the sunset over the water from our campsite at 11:30pm.


From Breiðavik we drove to the Látrabjarg Peninsula, famous for its 12km long coastline with dramatic cliffs ranging from 40m to 400m high, and its abundant bird life. From there we stood at Europe’s westernmost point. What an amazingly beautiful place! The cliffs were awesome and we saw thousands of birds (including puffins) as well as Snorri the Seal and all his mates swimming along the coast. We also visited Rauðisandur beach which was beautiful with its pink and red sand.


1800km later, feeling very dusty but well rested, we were home. The weather could not have been better – it was unbelievably calm, still, warm with clear skies pretty much the whole time. The camper van was surprisingly comfortable and cosy too. A special mention to Big Boy, who did so well to get us where he did, weaving in and out of the fjords and over unpaved mountain passes pitted with giant potholes. Well done Big Boy! He has some minor injuries, including a busted eye (aka headlight) and a hip joint out of wack (aka bumper bar that is barely holding on). But all good! No pain, no gain!

More photos of the trip.