Westfjords, Iceland

The Westfjords is the name of a large peninsula in north west Iceland and it is situated on the Denmark Strait facing the east coast of Greenland to the north west. It is connected to the rest of Iceland by a 5 mile wide isthmus between Gilsfjörður and Bitrufjörður. The Westfjords are one of the most breathtakingly beautiful and least visited corners of Iceland with only a small number of foreign tourist visitors. This peninsula of almost 5500 square miles stretching out into the icy waters of the Denmark Strait is characterised by dramatic fjords which have resulted from intense glacial activity. Everything here is extreme from the table mountains that dominate the landscape and which plunge precipitously into the sea to the ferocious storms that have gnawed the coastline into countless craggy inlets.

After crossing the Steingrímsfjarðarheiði mountain pass west of Hólmavík, road 61 becomes a convoluted and circuitous route which winds it’s way in and around no fewer than 7 deeply indented fjords in the northern part of the Westfjords before reaching the regional capital of Ísafjörður.

Date: 5th June 2015

Location: view from road 61 between Súðavík and Ísafjörður