Westfjords

The Westfjords have Iceland's most challenging roads - narrow, winding, and often gravel. Dynjandi waterfall and Látrabjarg cliffs reward the drive. Many roads close in winter. Check conditions carefully.

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Kp 2.33 todayOct 29, 11:00 UTC

Driving the Westfjords: what to plan around

The Westfjords are a summer driving destination first. Route 60, the main road into the peninsula, stays open through winter as far as Ísafjörður, but most of the smaller roads branching off it, including the gravel stretch out to Látrabjarg, close for winter and reopen only once conditions allow, the same way an F-road does. Hornstrandir, in the far north, has no roads at all - it's reached by boat or on foot, never by car.

Two ways in from the south: drive Route 60 through Dýrafjarðargöng, a tunnel that replaced the old Hrafnseyrarheiði mountain pass and keeps more of the drive open through the year, or take the Baldur ferry from Stykkishólmur to Brjánslækur and cut hours off the drive from Reykjavík. Past Þingeyri, the Vestfjarðagöng tunnel carries the road on to Ísafjörður, Súgandafjörður, and Önundarfjörður without climbing a mountain pass.

Parts of Route 60 are still unpaved, and paving work in the region tends to happen a few kilometres at a time rather than all at once, so check current conditions rather than assuming last year's map still holds. The two reward stops, Dynjandi waterfall and the Látrabjarg bird cliffs, both sit off short gravel access roads of their own.

Do you need a 4x4? (rental guide) →Winter driving guide →