The Westfjords Way — Bikepacking Iceland's most remote coastline

Bike Touring Collection by Lael

Tours

49:53 h

667 mi

36,100 ft

The Westfjords Way will be Iceland's first official bike touring route: a combination of dirt and pavement and best suited for a gravel bike. The Westfjords are the most remote area of Iceland, with only 7,000 people living in the entire region.

The route generally stays by the water, traversing mountain passes to connect fjords. This area is a seasonal home to puffins and well known for waterfalls, hot springs and vibrant terrain. The wind is the greatest challenge — the coast is very exposed and Iceland sees some pretty serious storms.

Visit Westfjords and Chris Burkard partnered to design this route and invited a group of five riders, two photographers and a videographer to document the Westfjords Way. We spent eight days scouting and documenting the route, with a goal of encouraging others to come and ride it.

We are also working on organizing a self-supported ultra distance stage race on the route for late June 2022. The route will be broken into four stages, each to be completed within about 24 hours before the next one begins. Each stage will finish near accommodation, food and a chance to soak in a hot spring. More information to come!

A huge thank you to Iceland Air and Inspired By Iceland for their support of this project.

On The Map

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The Westfjords Way full Tour

657 mi

44,700 ft

Last updated: April 26, 2022

Tours & Highlights

Day 1: Ísafjörður to Heydalur — The Westfjords Way
06:18
91.8 mi
14.6 mph
2,700 ft
2,725 ft
The Westfjords Way starts and finishes in Ísafjörður. With just under 3,000 people, it is the largest town in the area and has an airport with commercial flights to and from Reykjavík.

The first stretch of the route is all on pavement. We made a slight detour to soak in a remote hot spring and stay at…
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Day 2: Heydalur to Laugrholl — The Westfjords Way
06:01
89.4 mi
14.9 mph
3,850 ft
4,075 ft
This stretch leads to the first mountain pass on the Westfjords Way, a good initiation to the what will come on the route.

Near the end of our day, we stopped at a hot spring just before Drangsnes. It's maintained by the town with hot showers across the street. There's a small store in Drangsnes, a good…
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Day 3: Laugrholl to Vogur Country Lodge, headwind! — The Westfjords Way
10:11
135 mi
13.2 mph
We faced strong wind and spitting rain: a tough day on the bike! I drafted off Chris, Nichole drafted off Payson and we stopped 100 miles in the supermarket to warm up and resupply.

One of the employees, Rebecca, welcomed us in with open arms. She has a farm, 50 animals and three children near by. She…
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Day 4: Vogur Country Lodge to Myrartunga — The Westfjords Way
02:57
41.2 mi
14.0 mph
2,375 ft
2,450 ft
With a strong storm rolling in, we rode a half day to stay out of it. High winds and rain dominated the day. Fortunately, at times, we benefitted from a tailwind and were able to stay upright through the crosswind (although I almost rode off the road).

We stopped midway through the ride for soup and cake…
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Day 5: Myrartunga to Birkimelur — The Westfjords Way
06:40
93.0 mi
14.0 mph
7,075 ft
7,125 ft
Two big and gorgeous climbs and a lot of wind. We stopped at a restaurant for hot lasagne, pizza, soup and salad after getting beaten by the rain.

This stretch ends at a hot spring and pool, funded by the singer Björk and her "Water Friends".

I highly recommend the Mora Guesthouse. The owner brought us…
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Day 6: Birkimelur to Patreksfjörður — The Westfjords Way
06:16
82.3 mi
13.1 mph
7,100 ft
7,225 ft
We rode an out and back to the westernmost point in Iceland on day 6. This might not make it into the official Westfjords Way, but is well worth the detour.

Puffins nest seasonally here at the westernmost point. In early September, they were already gone for the season.

There are white sandy beaches and…
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Day 7: Patreksfjörður to Þingeyri — The Westfjords Way
08:42
101 mi
11.7 mph
9,750 ft
9,800 ft
The most adventurous day of the tour with the best weather! The first mountain pass is paved, the second is dirt. The final ride around the peninsula is rough: the road doesn't officially connect through. The story is that a farmer in the area used his tractor to carve out the cliff, and it's only passable…
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Day 8: Dingeyri to Isafjordur — The Westfjords Way
02:48
33.1 mi
11.8 mph
3,225 ft
3,375 ft
The last bit includes two climbs: the second follows the old and closed mountain road above the new tunnel to Ísafjörður. Though the climbing is pretty mellow, it looks really rugged on top and includes a little hike-a-bike stretch.

Ísafjörður is a very welcoming haven. To officially finish the route…
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