The Westfjords - Population 7400
Watertravel and wellness at the end of the world
The Westfjords region has sometimes been dubbed "the most famous
unknown place in Iceland". Well, throw in the prestigious "European
Destination of Excellence" awards and add to that the fact that the
Lonely Planet travel guide put the area on its top 10 list of
regions in the world to visit in 2011, and you will see that the
Westfjords are becoming increasingly famous - or perhaps less
unknown.
Lonely Planet, the respected travel guide publisher, placed the
Westfjords in its top 10 regions of the world to visit in 2011,
saying that the "oddly shaped" peninsula is "as isolated as it is
spectacular". Luckily, "isolated" does not mean inaccessible. With
only 7400 inhabitants in the area, each person has around 1,2 km2
of personal space, so there is ample room for any visitors as
well.
Although the locals are great, it is, by and large, the nature
that attracts visitors. For understandable reasons as well: it is
untouched and almost uninhabited. The cliffs and valleys are packed
with birds, the uninhabited fjords offer a moment of silence and
tranquillity, and the Arctic fox proudly roams the mountains and
inlets. The waterfalls are high and the streams pure. The distances
are long and the fjords are deep. And then there are places where
there are no roads at all.
The Westfjords are a great place to watch the Northern Lights
(Aurora Borealis) during the winter and equally fantastic to
experience the midnight sun during the summer. One of Pink
Iceland's favourite things are the seemingly endless amounts of
Natural springs perfect for watertravel in the wildest nature under
the stars.
Visiting the Westfjords is surely a different experience. It is
Iceland, but yet a different Iceland altogether. Some of Pink
Iceland's guests have described it as "The end of the world".