Day 7: Reykjafjardarlaug Hot Pool – Garðar BA 64 shipwreck – Látrabjarg Bird cliffs – The Minjasafn Egils Ólafssonar Museum – Rauðisandur Beach – Laugar Saelingsda
Our last day on West Fjords we were planning to drive to the most western point in Iceland, and of course we had a few stops planned on the way – Garðar BA 64 shipwreck, Látrabjarg Bird cliffs and Rauðisandur Beach. As you can imagine we were pretty tired by this point as we have spent the last week driving around Iceland, so the amount of stops and photos decreased dramatically by this point.
Reykjafjardarlaug Hot Pool
The weather was brilliant the entire day and we started the day by visiting yet another heated pool/hot pot – Reykjafjardarlaug Hot Pool – this one was my absolute favourite!! We arrived before 9am and we were the only people there for a while. Water was just perfect for swimming. This is a communal pool which I’m guessing someone looks after as the changing rooms were great! There are also little natural hot pots nearby but there were a bit too warm for us, but I can imagine in winter they would be perfect for a little soak. There is an honesty box for donations where we left some money as this place was great.
Garðar BA 64 shipwreck
After driving for a few hours we stopped to switch and also visit an abandoned steel shipwreck Garðar BA 64. Apparently this is the very first steel ship in Iceland built in 1912 and now it has been left on a beach as a monument to islands whaling traditions. Definitely a good stop to stretch legs and take a few photos.
Látrabjarg Bird cliffs
Our main stop on the 7th day was the bird cliffs/the most western part in Iceland. The drive there was crazy! Calum drove the whole way there and back as I was too scared…it is a pretty much one way road that snakes around Fjords and hangs over cliffs and huge drops.
Aside from the drive, Látrabjarg bird cliffs are fantastic! Being the westernmost point of Iceland (and arguably Europe) it is the main tourist attraction in West Fjords, it is really a line of several cliffs, 14 kilometres long and up to 441 m high. Because foxes can’t reach it, birds are safe and pretty much fearless, which means great photos, as you can really get close to them. Of course puffins steal the show! I think photos talk for themselves – but it is safe to say that Bird Cliffs are one of our brightest memories from Iceland.
The Minjasafn Egils Ólafssonar Museum
As we had to drive for quite a while, we stopped at the Minjasafn Egils Ólafssonar Museum and enjoyed an apple cake with some coffee. Definitely a worthwhile stop!
Rauðisandur Beach
This was our next stop and a lunch break. The sand in this beach is meant to be changing its colour depending on the weather conditions, going from white to red, and shining like thousands of diamonds. Being completely honest, we were a little bit disappointed by this…but hear me out. Rauðisandur reminded us so much of Western Scotland! But I can see how some people absolutely love it. We strolled around for a bit, made soup for lunch and enjoyed the sunshine before our log drive back to the mainland Iceland.
Laugar Saelingsda
Our last stop was actually the campsite. Being reasonably close to Reykjavik now, we couldn’t find any remote stops so chose a campsite next to the Hotel Edda Laugar in Saelingsdal. There is a huge hotel and a lovely campsite, with brilliant facilities. I’m glad we stayed somewhere nice for our last night in a camper van. The area actually holds a great historical value and is surrounded by a lot of legends.
And just like that it was our last day driving around Iceland…one more post to come!
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