West Iceland

The west of Iceland impresses with its diverse scenery and historical sites.  

The land around the fjord of Borgarfjörður has been inhabited since the time of the Icelandic settlement. It has also been the setting of Icelandic sagas, such as that of Egill Skallagrímsson and if you want to know more about it, we recommend a visit to the Settlement Centre in Borgarnes.

Visit Hraunfossar, a series of waterfalls that pour into the Hvitá river after seeping through the porous rock of a lava field. There is another waterfall called Barnafoss, the children's waterfall, which received its name from an ancient family story that is said to have been taken place there.

Driving further west, the Snæfellsnes peninsula waits with its dramatic landscapes and all the best that Iceland has to offer in a nutshell. There are the 4000-year old lava fields of Berserkjahraun with moss-covered rocks and pointy spikes of hardened lava. Go and try some rotten shark at the nearby shark museum of Bjarnarhöfn that shows you how it is made.

Join a boat tour from the picturesque town of Stykkishólmur into the Breiðafjörður Fjord, and visit the small fishing villages of Grundarfjörður, Ólafsvík, Rif and Hellnar on the northern shore of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Test your strength in a rock lifting competition at the sandy beach of Djúpalónssandur, as fishermen did in the old days. Take a break in Arnarstapi, a small fishing village with a natural harbour in the southern part, and admire the extraordinary basalt columns and cliff formation.

The majestic Snæfellsjökull Glacier at the tip of the peninsula is the setting of the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, and the area around it is part of one of the four National Parks of Iceland.