Westfjords · Where to stay
Checked 1 September 2026 · 3 official sources
PICK YOUR BASE
Four bases, hours apart on fjord and gravel roads — where you sleep decides which half of the Westfjords you actually see.
Ísafjörður — the only real town
Under three thousand people, but the region's only cluster of restaurants and bars, a swimming hall, and an airport with two Reykjavík flights a day. Best base for the Hornstrandir boats, Vigur and the northern fjords; still two to three hours from the Látrabjarg end.
📍 Map · $$
Patreksfjörður and Tálknafjörður — the southern base
The right end of the region for Látrabjarg, Rauðasandur and the Hnjótur museum, all reached on gravel spurs. A handful of guesthouses, one seasonal café-restaurant, and the Baldur ferry landing at Brjánslækur about an hour away.
📍 Map · $$
Hólmavík and the Strandir coast — the way in from the east
233 kilometres from Reykjavík and the first place in the Westfjords most people stop. Quiet, cheap by local standards, and the base for Route 643 north towards Djúpavík and Norðurfjörður. A very long way from Ísafjörður.
📍 Map · $
Book before you leave home
About seven thousand people live in the whole region and beds are counted in dozens per village. Everything fills for the Easter music festival and the August bank-holiday weekend, and a good share of guesthouses simply close from October to May.