Get Out of Reykjavik and Go Explore the Westfjords
We arrived in Reykjavik at 5am on Wednesday, June 14th. We were tired but excited! This would be my 2nd time in Iceland, and John’s 3rd. Despite only getting 4hrs of sleep, our plan was to immediately hit up the Blue Lagoon and ride out the jet lag. Except, WOW air lost our luggage. All of it. Two of our big suitcases and all of our camping gear. How do you lose luggage on a direct flight? And then not be able to even locate where it is?
Save yourself the headache and fly Icelandair
We made the quiet decision to never fly WOW air again. It’s seems significantly cheaper than Icelandair, but WOW air itemizes your luggage individually. We learned that after all of the added luggage fees you pay separately, the prices for Icelandair and WOW air become approximately the same.
The next flight from Boston to Reykjavik was the next day so we would have to live without our luggage for at least a day. Off to Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik!
Blue Lagoon
You’ll hear people tell you that going to the Blue Lagoon isn’t worth it because it’s man-made. Those people are depressed people and misery loves company as they say. Blue Lagoon is awesome. I’ve been to a few geothermal baths now – a actual hole in the ground in the West Fjords on our last trip to Iceland, one up in Norðurfjörður, and I’ve been to a geothermal bath in the Açores – and let me tell you, the Blue Lagoon rules. Don’t let the haters dull your sparkle, Blue Lagoon.
Tips:
You need to pre-book by buying tickets in advance!
The earlier, the better – unless you like crowds! We booked for 8am and it was quiet and relaxing.
Book either the Comfort or the Premium package. The added comfort of having a towel/bathrobe/slippers is worth it.
my 3rd face mask: the lava scrub
Natural hot spring from our trip last year above!
Hot springs from the Azores below!
After 3 hours and 3 different face masks we went to get some coffee in Reykjavik.
Our Airbnb was adorable, affordable, and walkable to downtown Reykjavik. This is where we stayed, in case you’re interested. We dropped our stuff off and walked to the first place we saw – which happened to be a super cute, trendy vegan place called prepp.
We woke up in Reykjavik and it was time to head up northwest to Ísafjörður! You can take a 45 minute flight up to Ísafjörður, which is our recommendation for getting up to Westfjords in a timely fashion. It’s a minimum of a 5 and a half hour drive – which isn’t optimal if you’re not in Iceland for very long. We flew Air Iceland and it was fantastic!
Some Inspiration at the Reykjavik Airport
Once we landed in Ísafjörður, we rented a car and drove to Þingeyri. Our biggest recommendation for visiting Iceland? Rent a car and get as far away from Reykjavik and Ring Road as possible. Get out, get lost, and take a road less traveled!
Þingeyri
Tip: Rent mountain bikes from Simbahollin Cafe and ride along Iceland’s mystical “Dream Road.” Dream Road is also known as The Svalvogar Circuit. We didn’t do the full Svalvogar Circuit, we rode to the lighthouse—which is about halfway—and back.
Simbahöllin is a cozy little café, set in a beautifully renovated old Norwegian house from 1915. We had the best Belgian waffles there, highly recommend eating there after your bike ride!
“There’s snow on the mountain pass so I’m not sure you want to do the full loop.” The girl from the Simbahöllin cafe told us “to the lighthouse and back is only 48 kilometers.”
“Sure, cool—we’ll do that!” We had no idea what the conversion from 48 kilometers to miles translates to, but it didn’t sound so bad.
Well, it ended up being 30 miles of steep cliff riding where the road drops straight into the ocean. It was a gorgeous and incredible ride, but I think we would have enjoyed it more if we weren’t still wearing the same clothes from a few days ago (thanks, WOW air). Regardless, we had a blast. I really thanked all of the work I put in at Crossfit building up my quad muscles! When we got arrived at the lighthouse, we ate some supermarket pizza overlooking the Atlantic. Romance at its finest
Flateyri
The night after bike riding we got a call that our luggage had miraculously arrived at the Ísafjörður airport so we happily drove there to pick it up. The next day, wearing clean clothes, we drove a few fjords away to Flateryi.
Flateyri is a cute little fishing town in the Westfjords.
Things to see in Flateyri: International Doll Museum and Nonsense Museum. Grab a waffle from the International Doll Museum. We averaged about eating a waffle a day this trip. Clearly, I was not concerned with counting macros.
Bolungarvík:
Bolungarvík is another fishing town in the Westfjords (do you see a theme here?). It was worth the quick fjord drive from Isafjordur.
Things to see in Bolungarvík: The Ósvör museum and the natural history museum.
The Ósvör museum was really cool. It’s a replica of an old fishing outpost where the museum curator greets visitors wearing a skin suit similar to the one Icelandic sailors wore in the 19th century. We also got to visit the museum curator’s dog, Tumi
Suðureyri:
Suðureyri is another quaint fishing village in the Westfjords. We also got engaged here last year! It was our second time staying at the Fisherman’s Hotel, we can’t recommend it enough! It’s very cute with great food. They’re environmentally friendly and practice sustainable fishing, their fish is often caught that day and served to you at the restaurant. You can’t get fresher than that.
(We didn’t get a chance to talk with the owner and manager of the hotel, but we wanted to thank him for helping us with the engagement surprise last year—and the excellent footage we had of John proposing).
Ísafjörður
Ísafjörður is known as the capital of the Westfjords. It’s the city beyond the Wall. Watch for Wildings. They usually drive pick-up trucks and stare at you while they eat pizza at Hamraborg ehf. GOT fans get at me. All jokes aside, it is the largest city in the Westfjords and a lot of people use it as a “home base”while they travel around the area. It’s about a 6-hour drive or a 45-minute flight from Reykjavik. If you’re on a time constraint, we highly recommend flying to Ísafjörður and renting a car at the airport. With the ever-rising costs of car rentals (which have increased significantly even from last year) and petroleum in Iceland, smaller, regional airfare is becoming more and more key to exploring Iceland’s less-inhabited and less-touristic regions.
We stayed at a great Airbnb right in the heart of the city and it was less expensive than Hotel Ísafjörður. This is where we stayed.
While in Ísafjörður, you have to eat at Tjöruhúsið. It’s a family-owned restaurant that has no menu and only serves the “catch of the day.”
Tips for Eating at Tjöruhúsið:
Make a reservation in advance. They’re small and very popular!
Have lunch there instead of dinner. It’s less expensive to go at lunch and the crowds aren’t as bad. Plus side, you have the rest of the day to walk off all the bread and fish stew!
Get the fish stew! It’s a traditional Icelandic langoustine and tomato based fish stew
They have vegetarian options, if you ask. While traditionally they don’t have any vegetarian options, if you ask, especially in advance, they will prepare something delicious for you. The curried barley and vegetable soup are to die for.
If you’ve already been through the typical Icelandic historical/heritage museum, you can totally skip the Westfjords Heritage Museum. If you haven’t…stop by! it’s roughly $10 USD for three full floors of things ranging from a taxadermied polar bear, to information on eider down collecting (which apparently is a very risky business), to whaling and Iceland’s face-off with the UK in the Cold Cod Wars of c. 1958–1976.
However, definitely visit Sköbúðin, Museum of Everyday Life. It’s right downtown and easy to find. They sell products from local artists, display stories from Westfjordians, and have movie screenings in the back. We absolutely loved this little museum!
They served us delcious homemade cake and coffee! (If your mouth isn’t already watering, that ganache is marzipan).
There’s a lot more to do in Ísafjörður than these two things, but these are our top recommendations!