Wow! I mean like WOW!
If anyone I know wants to visit Iceland in the future and asks me for what I consider to be the real wild Iceland (without renting a 4x4) I will be telling them all about the Westfjords.
The Plan
The route. 1,052km/654miles.
We planned to drive a loop of the Westfjords (1,052km) over a long weekend. We would drive a few hours every day, and do some hiking along the way to break the driving up. The plan and route was as follows:
Friday: Pick Aimee up from work and drive up to Hólmavík (Population 375) and stay overnight at a hostel.
Saturday: Drive from Hólmavík to Ísafjörður (Population 2,559) with a stop somewhere to stretch our legs on a hike. We had booked into a self catering accommodation in the center of the town.
Sunday: Drive from Ísafjörður to Tálknafjörður (Population 306) with a stop planned at the amazing Dynjandi Foss. This time we would spend the night in our tent at the local camp site at Tálknafjörður.
Monday: Drive from Tálknafjörður to Reykhólar (Population 120) with another hike along the way. We would be spending our last night in the tent, but it would be right next to an outdoor swimming pool with hot pool. Not to bad really.
Tuesday: Drive from Reykhólar to Reykjavik (Population 123,246), so that Aimee could get back to work.
A lot of driving, but it was well worth it and we will be going back, it is just to good not too!
Friday and Saturday: Hiking in the rain and big waterfalls.
After a few hours drive from Reykjavik we arrived at Hólmavík late on Friday evening. It is a very small village in the Westfjords. It was wet and grey when we arrived, but it cleared up by on Saturday morning. We stayed in a hostel right on the seafront near an amazing harbour and church. It was so quiet and idyllic you almost forgot you were in Iceland.
Hólmavík Church early Saturday morning,
Arctic Tern.
Fishing net floats.
We left Hólmavík and traveled onto Ísafjörður. It rained most of the way which was a shame because we really wanted to go for a hike. We could not find anything on the map that might be a hiking route, until we rounded the end of a fjord and discovered a hiking sign.
Happy wet hikers.
The rain was so bad that I didn't take my DSLR with me, but I wish I had, as after a small walk of 2km we found Valagil waterfall. It was tucked away and fell from the very top of the mountain to the valley floor. It was a great site to behold in the rain.
Valagil waterfall with Aimee.
Tjöruhúsið Restaurant.
We arrived in Ísafjörður late that evening just as the weather cleared up and walked around the largest town in the Westfjords. The clouds and the light were amazing. We were lucky to get dinner at a seafood restaurant that serves an all you can eat seafood buffet. The food was outstanding and I would highly recommend going, but make sure you make a reservation, as it is only open for dinner from 7pm until 10pm and it is very busy. They don't have a website but you can find information on their Facebook page.
Clouds over the mountains near Ísafjörður.
Sunday: Hiking up a lonely mountain and the best outdoor swimming pool ever!
We woke an amzing day with sunshine, blue skies and fluffy clouds. So after breakfast, we packed the car and headed for Tálknafjörður from Ísafjörður. We had found an an area just south of Ísafjörður to go for a hike and hopefully get some nice views.
Morning reflections across Ísafjörður harbour.
We drove from Ísafjörður into a long tunnel that cut straight through the hillside to the next fjord.
Reflections in the water after the tunnel.
The scenery along the road was stunning. Great sharp mountains that rose almost vertically up from near sea level to way above our heads. The road guided us around these giants onto our destination of Þingeyri were we would start our hike up Arnarnupur (558m).
Arnarnupur Mountain on the right.
It was a short, sharp hike and we made the plateau very quickly and reached the top in time for lunch. My favorite time!
Looking back from the top of Arnarnupur to Þingeyri
Coffee time!
The view from the top was spectacular and right on the edge of a massive cliff to the sea. What a great spot for lunch! But time waits for no man or woman...so we descended back along the same path and back to the car to have a cup of coffee, before setting off across the fjords to Tálknafjörður.
High roads in June, In Iceland! Awesome.
After the spectacular hike we drove onto our next overnight location. This was an interesting drive as a lot of the roads are dirt track, and there is still snow in places in May. We deseneded down into the next fjords and drove along the rough track to the head of the fjord. As we reached the end of the fjords we came across an amazing site...an outdoor swimming pool!
Me in the outdoor swimming pool.
Aimee in the outdoor swimming pool.
We shared this amazing experience with one other couple and left just as four other cars full of people arrived. It was so relaxing we almost camped there for the night, but we had one more place that I wanted to stop and visit.
Dynjandi waterfall is a site to behold. A massive waterfall of over 100m high and you can walk right up to it, and stand directly below it. The waterfall is magnificent and quite difficult to get a scaled photograph. I did try but it was late in the evening now, and it was very busy with other tourists like us.
Dynjandi waterfall. Notice the people near the top for scale.
Dynjandi waterfall.
We left this waterfall behind us to go to our camp site in Tálknafjörður and slept well after a very packed day of adventuring.
Monday: Waking up to go to the best hot pool ever and then a hike.
Pollurinn (The Puddle) Hot pool.
The last day of our trip and what is the best way to start the day...outdoor hot pool! We had it all to ourselves for the first half an hour and it was so tranquil. There are three pools; one hot and deep with benches to sit on, one shallow and cold, and one shallow and warm, so you can rotate around all three and be at the perfect temperature.
Once bathed and relaxed we headed back to the camp site, packed, had breakfast and got back on the road again to our final destination. Reykhólar . We did stop on the way for a quick hike to stretch our legs and got some great views.
Hiking views over Westfjords.
After the hike we pushed onto our campsite at Reykhólar, where there was another outdoor swimming pool and hot pool. This one is run by the council so no pictures, but it was great to get another relaxing soak in at the end of the day.
In the kicthen making dinner...it was very windy.
Table for two...I was taking the picture.
Tuesday: Reykjavik - Early morning start and home.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. We woke up super early, packed the tent and left to get back to Reykjavik. But I will be back, as there is so much more to explore!
Thanks for reading this really long blog. I will try keeping it shorter in the future, but there was so much fun to be had over the weekend I just couldn't help writing about it!
Cheers,
Kev
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Hiking in the Westfjords.