Day 6: Drangsnes – Litlibær – The Arctic Fox Centre – Ísafjörður – Simbahöllin – Dynjandi
Drangsnes
After having a great night sleep on our first night at the West Fjords (bourbon the night before has definitely helped…), we headed to heated pots near Drangsnes – another brilliant Instagram find. These are three small hot pots located on the side of a road looking over the sea and they differ by temperature. When we arrived there were 3 more people already soaking and enjoying the views, after having a shower across the street (which was amazing by the way, brilliant facilities, and we left some money in the honesty box too) we spent the next hour soaking and chatting to the rest of tourists, which was actually really nice and we ended up helping each other with taking a couple of photos!
Later I wanted to stop at Iceland Sorcery & Witchcraft museum, but again it was still shut because we were there so early, hence we decided to drive past it, as we had a lot of driving to do on this day. The next few hours we spent driving along the West Fjords – it was absolutely breathtaking! The weather was a bit moody too, so the landscape looked truly magical.
Litlibær
We stopped for lunch just off the road to have some soup and sandwiches. And I do wish we didn’t fill ourselves up…next stop was another random star on google maps. I completely forgot why I’ve saved it and it turned out to be absolutely amazing family run waffle house – Litlibær! So we obviously had to have some coffee and waffles there, it felt like we were in someone’s kitchen yet surrounded by a few tourists – so cool. Also they had a very friendly dog.
West Fjords – random lunch stop
The Arctic Fox Centre
Continuing with the animal theme (completely random) our next stop was The Arctic Fox Centre in Súðavík. The Arctic Fox Centre is a non-profit research and exhibition center, focusing on the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) – the only native terrestrial mammal in Iceland. There is a great exhibition about the history of arctic fox which we both found fascinating, and the absolute highlight is of course the fact that they keep few foxes running around and you can say hello to them.
Ísafjörður
After admiring arctic foxes for a bit we headed to Ísafjörður, which is a little town and interestingly enough translates as ice fjord or fjord of ice. Initially we stopped there to get some petrol but ended up staying for a bit as we stumbled upon a football game. So random!
Simbahöllin
I must admit that this day ended up being a day of treats as our next stop was another amazing coffeehouse Simbahöllin, this time in Thingeyri. It was wonderful! Coffee was great, cakes were great and so was the atmosphere. It felt we were in trendy London rather than at the edge of the world.
Dynjandi
We finished yet another treat and headed to our last stop for the day, which was another spectacular waterfall – Dynjandi. It is the biggest waterfall in West Fjords and probably one of the most impressive ones in Iceland…I know it is a big statement, but the cascading water falling down 100 meters from the edge of the cliff is truly magnificent. There is a good car park at the bottom but you do have to climb for about 15 min but it is totally worth it! And the views of the fjords from the top are insane.
Our stop for a night ended up being a tiny parking lot on the side of the road, but there was barely any traffic and we were the only people staying overnight. Again, we left nothing behind and departed really early so didn’t disturb anyone at all.
West Fjords is definitely a fantastic place to see but I think we appreciated it even more, because it was significantly quieter in comparison to the rest of the Iceland.
Only two more days left of our Icelandic saga
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