Ísafjörður Things to Do

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If you're in Ísafjörður, I hightly recommend taking the guided boat tour to the island of Vigur. The boat trip is ~30 minutes each way. Guided trips (in English) depart daily from the Ísafjörður docks at 2pm. You can arrange a trip through the Ísafjörður Tourist Info Center or via West Tours, and West Tours also has the schedule of departure times here: http://www.vesturferdir.is/index.php?flokkur=700&lang=enska

Vigur is extremely cool - a tiny little island surrounded by looming fjords. One family lives on Vigur and they are known for collecting Eider duck feathers and preparing them for sale/export as pillow stuffing.

On Vigur, you will see all sorts of bird species - puffin, eider ducks, fulmars, guillemots, oystercatchers, terns, skuas, razorbills... our wonderful guide Ester said that seals sometimes hang out on the shore and whales/dolphins are also spotted.

The family that calls Vigur their home is extremely kind and generous and treat you to coffee and cakes. -- really a wonderful experience. The family also runs a little post office smallest in the world?) where you can mail postcards from.

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Wow. The flight into Ísafjörður is absolutely INCREDIBLE and worth it even if you just do an about-face and fly back out! I flew Air Iceland from Reykjavik to Ísafjörður (and back). It was a brilliant sunny day - not a cloud in the sky. What an amazing flight. Sit on the left of the plane (to Ísafjörður) and you have breathtaking views of Snaelfellnes/Snaelfelljokull. Look out onto Faxafloi Bay and you'll see thousands of little white splashes in the ocean - they are the splashes from whales and dolphins surfacing! Sit on the right of the plane (to Ísafjörður) and you have magnificant views of inner iceland, the Glama tundra, volcano cones, and the silent Eldborg Caldera.

It gets better: the approach into Ísafjörður airport is ridiculous! Instead of flying over Ísafjörður then doubling back over the water to cruise calmly in from the fjord opening, our pilot (a woman!) took us straight north into Ísafjörður, dropping us into the fjord from Glama, skimming us right along the fjord walls, and then bringing us down to a magnificant decent as the fjord walls towered over us. WOW. My camera never stopped the entire time!

Just south of Ísafjörður is, (off of Route 60), is Dynjandi. It´s about an hour and a half drive south but it´s worth the drive.
This beautiful waterfall placed at the back of a beautiful fjörd is like heaven on Earth. There are very few people there because of the remoteness of the Western Fjords.

The fjords of Iceland are spectacular. We visitied the western fjords. Well they're actually in the north-west of Iceland. The landscape was in a word, breathtaking. Driving around these parts was not easy, but we were there to enjoy the beauty of the fjords and we were always distracted by the gorgeous views. If you're travelling to Iceland, include a trip to the western fjords. You will regret it if you don't!

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Be sure to visit the Westfjords Maritime Museum in Ísafjörður. It's in a beautiful old 3-story house and contains all sorts of nautical and fishing historical displays.