Westfjords Road Trip: Route, Stops, Distances and Map (2027)

A Westfjords road trip takes you to the part of Iceland the Ring Road skips entirely: a ragged peninsula of steep fjords, bird cliffs and tiny fishing villages in the north-west. Plan four to five days from Reykjavík, travel between June and September, and expect slow roads with some gravel. The highlights are Dynjandi waterfall, the Látrabjarg cliffs, Rauðisandur beach and the town of Ísafjörður.

Is a Westfjords road trip worth it?

Yes, if you like quiet roads and wild coast more than famous sights. The Westfjords cover 8,842 km² but have only about 7,300 people, so outside Ísafjörður you can drive for an hour and meet a few cars. There are no glacier lagoons or big tour crowds. Instead you get fjord after fjord, seabirds, Arctic foxes and hot pools by the sea.

The cost is time. Roads follow every fjord and cross mountain passes, so distances on the map take longer than you expect. The Westfjords tourist board warns that driving times are often longer than distances suggest.

How do you get to the Westfjords from Reykjavík?

You can drive all the way or take the Baldur car ferry across Breiðafjörður. Both routes start by leaving the Ring Road north of Borgarnes.

• By road via Dynjandi: about 410 km from Reykjavík to Ísafjörður, through the south of the peninsula on Route 60.
• By road via Hólmavík: about 455 km to Ísafjörður on Route 61, following the long Ísafjarðardjúp fjord.
• By ferry: the Baldur sails from Stykkishólmur on Snæfellsnes to Brjánslækur in the southern Westfjords in about 2.5 hours, sometimes stopping at Flatey island. It carries cars, runs year-round with fewer sailings outside summer, and should be booked ahead.
• By air: flights from Reykjavík to Ísafjörður and Bíldudalur take about 40–50 minutes. You can rent a car on arrival.

A good loop is to drive in on one route and out on the other, or take the ferry one way and combine the trip with Snæfellsnes and a stop at Kirkjufell near Grundarfjörður.

What does a 5-day Westfjords road trip look like?

What are the best stops in the Westfjords?

Látrabjarg and Rauðisandur

Látrabjarg is the westernmost point of Iceland: a line of bird cliffs 14 km long and up to about 440 metres high. Millions of seabirds nest here in summer, including puffins, guillemots and razorbills. Stay back from the edge, which is undercut and crumbly. The last stretch of road is gravel.

Rauðisandur is a wide red-gold beach, about 25 km from Patreksfjörður. The access road drops steeply in tight gravel switchbacks, so drive slowly. On the shore of Patreksfjörður, the rusting Garðar BA 64, launched as a whaling ship in 1912, is described as Iceland's oldest steel ship.

Dynjandi

Dynjandi, in Arnarfjörður, is the most famous waterfall in the Westfjords. It spreads over a rock face with a total height of 100 metres, with five smaller falls below it. The walk from the car park up beside the lower falls takes about 15 minutes. From Dynjandi, the road continues past the historic farm of Hrafnseyri and through the Dýrafjarðargöng tunnel. Opened on 25 October 2020, it replaced the Hrafnseyrarheiði mountain road and shortened the trip between Ísafjörður and Reykjavík by 27 km.

Ísafjörður and around

Ísafjörður, with about 2,700 people, is the region's main town and the best base for a few nights. Go north to Bolungarvík and the old fishing station at Ósvör, or south to Súðavík for the Arctic Fox Centre, a research centre with an exhibition and café. Boats run from Ísafjörður to the Hornstrandir nature reserve between June and September; there are no roads there.

Strandir and Hólmavík

On the way home, stop in Hólmavík for the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. With an extra day, follow Route 643 north along the Strandir coast to Djúpavík, where a herring factory built in 1934–35 closed in 1954, and on to Krossneslaug, a geothermal pool on the beach. Route 643 is narrow, slow gravel and is not cleared of snow in winter.

What are the roads like in the Westfjords?

The main routes into the Westfjords are paved, but many side roads and the roads to Látrabjarg and Rauðisandur are gravel. A normal car is fine in summer if you drive slowly; you do not need a 4x4 unless you plan to use F-roads. Expect steep passes, single-lane stretches and sheep on the road.

Fuel stations are few. There are stations in Ísafjörður, Patreksfjörður and Hólmavík, and smaller ones in places such as Bíldudalur, Þingeyri and Reykhólar. Never pass a station with less than half a tank.

Before every drive: check road.is for passes such as Dynjandisheiði and Steingrímsfjarðarheiði, and vedur.is for wind. Mountain roads here can be snowy even in early summer.

When is the best time for a Westfjords road trip?

June to August is the best time. The days are long, the seabirds are nesting and boats to Hornstrandir run. September is quieter and still usually fine. From October to May, snow, ice and short days make many roads difficult, and some, like Route 643 north of Bjarnarfjörður, are not cleared at all. The main roads into the region are serviced in winter, but this is a summer trip for most visitors.

How many days do you need for the Westfjords?

Plan at least four days, and five if you can. Lonely Planet suggests three to five days based in Ísafjörður for the main highlights, and a week or more if you want to hike Hornstrandir or kayak the fjords. The drive from Reykjavík alone is five to six hours each way, so a two-day visit leaves little time at the sights. Distances inside the region are slow too: Ísafjörður to Dynjandi is about 100 km, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours, and Dynjandi to Látrabjarg about 90 km, another two hours.

How does the Westfjords fit with the Ring Road?

The Westfjords are a detour from the Ring Road, not a part of it. They fit best into a trip of two weeks or more: drive the full loop, then turn north at Borgarnes or after Holtavörðuheiði for four or five extra days. With less time, choose: a 10-day Ring Road trip or a slower week split between Snæfellsnes and the Westfjords.

For planning the main loop, start with our complete Ring Road guide. For more wild places beyond Route 1, see our Iceland highlights. Our printed Summer Guide has a Westfjords chapter for the road.

Facts checked October 2026. Road surfaces, ferry timetables and fuel opening hours change by season; check road.is, vedur.is and ferry and airline schedules before you travel.