Iceland
Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Iceland without the coach tours: fjord after empty fjord, Dynjandi, puffin cliffs and a reserve with no roads at all.
The Westfjords are the claw of land on Iceland's northwest corner: flat-topped mountains dropping into long fjords, a handful of fishing towns and very few people. Dynjandi, a broad waterfall fanning down a mountainside in stepped tiers, is the draw most visitors come for, with the puffin cliffs of Latrabjarg and the roadless trails of Hornstrandir close behind. Isafjordur, the region's only real town, is where most trips are based, and the roads between fjords are long, slow and the point.
Suggested stay
4–7 days
Language
Icelandic
Currency
ISK
Timezone
UTC
Why you'll love Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Dynjandi a wide veil of water spilling down a mountainside in tiers, with smaller falls stacked below it on the walk up
Latrabjarg miles of seabird cliff at Iceland's western tip, where puffins sit a few steps from the edge in summer
Hornstrandir an abandoned peninsula reached only by boat, with arctic foxes, wildflowers and days of trail and no roads
The drive every fjord is a long loop in and out again, and hardly anyone else is on the road
Best time to visit
Jul-Aug
Cold climate · 10-10° days
66.073° N, 23.119° W
UTC · Atlantic/Reykjavik
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Weather & when to go to Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Jul-Aug
Hiking prime Jul-Aug
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Only July and August rate well; the rest of the year is cold, wet or dark, and that is the record. Access tightens it further: Hornstrandir boats run only in high summer, puffins leave Latrabjarg by late summer, and in winter snow can shut the high passes between fjords for days.
Top things to do in Westfjords (Isafjordur)
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Dynjandi - the tiered waterfall of Arnarfjordur
scenic 👍 PopularThe Westfjords' signature sight: a broad fall fanning down a rock staircase at the head of Arnarfjordur. A short, steep path climbs past a chain of smaller named falls to the foot of the main one, with the fjord opening out behind you.
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Latrabjarg - puffins on Iceland's westernmost cliffs
nature wildlife ⭐ Highly recommendedA seabird cliff running for kilometres along the western tip of Iceland, packed with puffins, razorbills and guillemots in the nesting season. The puffins are famously unbothered by people; lie flat near the edge and keep well back from the overhangs.
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Hornstrandir - trek the roadless north
hiking adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedA nature reserve on the peninsula north of Isafjardardjup, emptied of its farms in the mid 20th century and now reached only by boat. Walkers come for multi-day routes between bays and old farmsteads, arctic foxes, and complete self-sufficiency: no shops, no signal, weather that turns fast.
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Raudasandur - the red-gold beach
scenic 👍 PopularA long, wide sweep of pinkish-gold sand below the cliffs near Latrabjarg, reached by a steep gravel road with a hairpin descent. Seals haul out at the far end, and on a clear day Snaefellsjokull shows across the bay.
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Nedstikaupstadur - Isafjordur's old trading post
history culture arts 👍 PopularA cluster of 18th-century timber merchant houses on the spit at the harbour, among the oldest buildings in Iceland, now home to the Westfjords Heritage Museum and its fishing boats, tools and accordions.
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Vigur - the eider island in Isafjardardjup
nature wildlifeA small farmed island out in the big fjord, where one family still collects eider down, puffins and terns nest around the paths, and an old windmill stands by the farmhouse. Reached by boat from Isafjordur in summer.
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Arctic Fox Centre - Sudavik
nature wildlifeAn exhibition and research base in an old farmhouse devoted to Iceland's only native land mammal, with orphaned foxes often in residence outside. A good primer before a Hornstrandir trip, where the wild ones live.
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Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft - Holmavik
history culture artsA small, strange museum in the Strandir fishing village on the 17th-century witch trials that fell hardest on this corner of the country, with grimoire staves, charms and one notorious pair of 'necropants'.
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Bolafjall - the mountaintop above Bolungarvik
scenicA summer-only road climbs to the plateau beside an old radar station, looking straight down the cliffs to the open sea and across to Hornstrandir. Pair it with the reconstructed fishing hut at Osvor on the way back.
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Hot pots of the south fjords - Hellulaug and Pollurinn
wellnessNatural and simple geothermal pools rather than spas: Hellulaug is a rock pool right on the shore near Flokalundur, Pollurinn a set of tubs above the fjord at Talknafjordur. Both are the reward at the end of a long gravel day.
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Fish towns - eat what comes off the boats
foodCod, haddock, halibut and wolffish landed that morning, plokkfiskur fish stew, and hardfiskur dried on racks. Isafjordur has the widest choice; in the villages the one open kitchen is often in the guesthouse or the fuel station.
Best areas to stay in Westfjords (Isafjordur)
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Isafjordur
First-time visitors $$The region's only real town, on a spit
Explore hotels in Isafjordur →
Patreksfjordur
Latrabjarg and Raudasandur $$Fishing town base for the southwest
Explore hotels in Patreksfjordur →
Thingeyri
Road-trippers $$Quiet village on Dyrafjordur
Explore hotels in Thingeyri →
Holmavik
Breaking the drive $$Strandir village on the way in
Explore hotels in Holmavik →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Getting to & around Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Getting there
Fly from Reykjavik's domestic airport to Isafjordur (IFJ), or drive five-plus hours from Reykjavik; Keflavik is too far to count as the local airport
Flight
Isafjordur Airport (IFJ)
Domestic flights from Reykjavik's city airport, not Keflavik, make a famously tight approach down the fjord between mountains. The strip sits across the bay from town, a few minutes' drive by taxi; low cloud cancels flights often, so keep a buffer day.
Drive
Isafjordur
The paved route from Reykjavik runs north via Holmavik and around the Isafjardardjup fjords, roughly five to six hours; international arrivals add the run in from Keflavik.
Ferry
Brjanslaekur
The Baldur car ferry crosses Breidafjordur from Stykkisholmur on Snaefellsnes via Flatey island, landing in the south Westfjords and saving a long drive.
Coach
Holmavik
Scheduled buses are sparse and largely summer-only; plan on a car or the flight.
Getting around
Rental car
Close to essential: long fjord roads, gravel stretches and passes that close in winter. Hire in Isafjordur or bring one from Reykjavik.
TBC
Boat
Scheduled summer boats from Isafjordur and Bolungarvik reach Hornstrandir and Vigur; they are the only way into the reserve.
TBC
Local bus
A thin local network links Isafjordur with Bolungarvik, Sudavik, Flateyri and Thingeyri, timed around school and work.
TBC
Walking
Isafjordur is small enough to cross on foot, harbour to hillside.
Free
Day trips from Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Vigur island
Half dayEider and puffin island
A working family island out in Isafjardardjup: eider ducks nesting around the paths, puffins on the shore, arctic terns that dive at your head, and coffee in the farmhouse before the boat back.
Getting there
ferry | tour
About 30 min by boat from Isafjordur
Hesteyri, Hornstrandir
Full dayAbandoned fjord village
The easiest taste of Hornstrandir: a boat drops you at a village emptied in the 1950s, with a few summer houses, the ruins of a herring factory and trails up into the hills before the return sailing.
Getting there
ferry | tour | walk
About 1 hr by boat from Isafjordur
Dynjandi and Thingeyri
Full dayWaterfall road trip
South through the fjords and the Dyrafjordur tunnel to Thingeyri, then over the high moor to the stepped falls of Dynjandi. Stop at Hrafnseyri, birthplace of Jon Sigurdsson, on the way.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1.5-2 hr each way by car from Isafjordur
Latrabjarg and Raudasandur
Full dayBird cliffs and beach
Iceland's western tip and its most approachable puffins, then back along the coast and down the hairpins to the pale sweep of Raudasandur. Far from Isafjordur, so base in Patreksfjordur for this one.
Getting there
car
About 1 hr each way by car from Patreksfjordur
A little history of Westfjords (Isafjordur)
Norse settlers took the Westfjords' narrow strips of flat land in the late ninth century, and several sagas are set here; Gisla saga, the outlaw tale, plays out around Dyrafjordur. Life was hard and oriented to the sea, and the region earned a reputation as Iceland's most remote and stubborn corner. The 17th-century witch trials fell heaviest here and in Strandir, and Hrafnseyri on Arnarfjordur produced Jon Sigurdsson, who led the 19th-century campaign for Icelandic self-rule and whose birthday is the national day.
Isafjordur grew as a Danish trading post and then boomed on saltfish and herring. The 20th century emptied the far north: Hornstrandir's last farmers left by the early 1950s, and the peninsula became a nature reserve. In 1995 avalanches struck Sudavik and Flateyri, and the great earth barriers above those villages date from then. Tunnels have since stitched the northern towns together, but the region remains the least visited part of the country.
Norse settlers claim land along the fjords
Iceland's witch trials concentrate in the Westfjords and Strandir
Merchant houses built at Nedstikaupstadur, Isafjordur's trading post
Jon Sigurdsson, leader of the independence movement, born at Hrafnseyri
The last farming families leave Hornstrandir
Hornstrandir becomes a nature reserve
Avalanches strike Sudavik and Flateyri, leading to the barriers above both villages
Tunnel links Isafjordur with Flateyri and Sudureyri
Dyrafjordur tunnel opens, replacing a high winter pass on the road south
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+354
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Westfjords (Isafjordur)
▸ When is the best time to visit the Westfjords?
July and August, clearly. They are the only months the weather rates well, the Hornstrandir boats and summer bus routes are running, gravel roads are dry and puffins are still on the cliffs. June is when roads and services start opening but it is still cool. From autumn to spring the region is cold and dark, passes close in snow and many guesthouses shut.
▸ How many days do you need in the Westfjords?
Four days is the minimum to do more than drive: two around Isafjordur for Vigur and a Hornstrandir boat, two in the south for Dynjandi, Latrabjarg and Raudasandur. A week lets you slow down, add a multi-day Hornstrandir trek or the Strandir coast, and absorb the inevitable weather day.
▸ Do I need a car?
Realistically, yes. Public buses are few and mostly local, and the sights are spread across fjords that each take an hour or more to drive around. The exception is a trip built entirely on Isafjordur, its boats and tours, arriving by plane.
▸ Is Hornstrandir safe to hike alone?
Only for experienced, self-sufficient walkers. There are no roads, shops, reliable signal or rescue nearby, rivers and tides must be timed, and fog comes in quickly. Register your plan, carry everything, and confirm the pick-up boat before you go; day trips to Hesteyri are the gentle way in.
▸ Are the roads difficult?
Slow rather than hard in summer: long stretches of gravel, single-lane bridges, steep passes and blind corners, with fjord after fjord adding distance. In winter conditions are serious and passes can close; check the Icelandic road authority's status before every leg.
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