The Westfjords cost you two extra days and give back Dynjandi and Ísafjörður
Why the Westfjords detour is worth it, what Dynjandi and Ísafjörður are like, and the three-day tour versus port excursions if you're not driving.
The Westfjords are the claw of land in the north-west that the Ring Road ignores. Ísafjörður, the main town, is about six hours from Reykjavík by car, or 40 minutes by domestic flight. Most people skip the region because the route is fjord after fjord and there’s no way to hurry it. That’s also why the people who go tend to call it the best part.
Dynjandi
Dynjandi is the reason to go. It’s a set of waterfalls stacked down a mountainside: the top one fans out from narrow to wide as it falls roughly 100 metres, with six smaller falls below it along the path up. The walk from the car park to the main fall takes 15 to 20 minutes and is steep enough to notice. From Ísafjörður it’s a little over an hour each way since the Dýrafjörður tunnel opened in 2020. There’s a toilet at the car park and nothing else. Bring your own coffee.
Ísafjörður
A town of around 2,700 built on a sand spit in Skutulsfjörður, with a row of tarred timber houses from the 18th century by the harbour, one good bakery, and mountains that go straight up on three sides. It’s a working town, not a resort. Cruise ships call in summer, which is why the short tours below exist and why the main street is busy between ten and four on ship days.
If you’re not driving
Arctic Adventures run a 3 Day Westfjords Highlights Adventure from Reykjavík, €923, all year. Three days is the honest minimum for the region; it covers Dynjandi and Ísafjörður with a guide who handles the roads. Downside: €923 is a real number, and the group moves at group pace.
If you arrive by ship or you’re already in town, two half-day tours run from Ísafjörður port to Dynjandi with a farm visit: Nordur Travel Services at €130 and BusTravel Iceland at €128, both three and a half hours. Same route, same waterfall. Book by availability. BusTravel also run a Seal Watching & Avalanche Memorial Tour, €128, three and a half hours — seals are likely, not certain, and the memorials to the 1995 avalanches make for a quieter, more local afternoon than the waterfall. Do this one if you’ve already seen Dynjandi.
Downside of the half-days: three and a half hours means Dynjandi gets about 45 minutes. That’s enough to walk up and back. It’s not enough to sit.
Our honest take
Go if you have eight days or more in Iceland. Two of them go to the Westfjords: one to get in and see Dynjandi, one for Ísafjörður and the drive out. With a car, that’s the trip. Without one, fly to Ísafjörður and book the Dynjandi half-day, or take the three-day tour and let someone else drive the fjords. Don’t attempt it with fewer than eight days total — you’ll spend the whole detour in the car and see the waterfall for 40 minutes. The tradeoff is the tradeoff: the Westfjords are slow, and slow is the point.
