Westfjords

The Westfjords is where Iceland’s dramatic landscapes come to a riveting climax and where mass tourism disappears – only about 14% of Iceland’s visitors ever see the region.

The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of fjords surrounded by steep hills. These indentations make roads very circuitous and communications by land difficult. In addition many of the roads are closed by ice and snow for several months of the year. The Vestfjarðagöng road tunnel from 1996 has improved that situation. The cliffs at Látrabjarg comprise the longest bird cliff in the northern Atlantic Ocean and are at the westernmost point in Iceland. The Drangajökull glacier is located in the north of the peninsula and is the fifth-largest of the country, but the only glacier of the region.

Highlights

  • Very mountainous
  • Látrabjarg
  • Drangajökull glacier

Map