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Official travel guide to West Iceland

How to get there and around

West Iceland can be split into five regions

Where to stay, wine and dine

Guides and recommendations from the locals

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Saga & Heritage

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Saga & Heritage

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Trollpark in Fossatún

Fossatún Troll park

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The Settlement Center

The Settlement Center is located in Borgarnes. The Settlement Center consists of a restaurant and a museum. The museum has two exhibitions, one is about the settlement of Iceland and the other one is about a famous viking called Egill Skalla-Grímssón and his life.

Travel gift

Eiríksstaðir - Living Museum

A unique historical place, where you can step back to the Viking Era and immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and scents of Eriks the Red's farm which is also the birthplace of Leif the Lucky who is

Akranes Folk Museum

Akranes Folk Museum offers a unique insight into past times in Akranes and surrounding area. The museum's exhibition is in several houses, some of which were moved from other parts of town. The perman

Ólafsdalur í Gilsfirði

Ólafsdalur by Gilsfjörður, history of 1000 years Ólafsdalur is a small valley, surrounded by high mountains, where the first agricultural school in Iceland was established in 1880. The beautiful s

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Travel Tunes Iceland

Discover the charm of Icelandic folks songs with Travel Tunes Iceland in Akranes. Would you like to meet local musicians and have a fun, unique experience? Travel Tunes Iceland offer you their wonderf

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Snorrastofa Reykholt

Snorrastofa is a cultural and medieval center located in Reykholt in Borgarfjörður.

Others

Storyteller´s Lodge

Sæból 13
350 Grundarfjörður
893-7714

Dagbjört Dúna Rúnarsdóttir

Böðvarsholt
356 Snæfellsbær
867-4451

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West Iceland

Towns & Villages

The population centres in West Iceland are as varied as they are many. Ten places have over 50 residents and Akranes is the most densely populated with 6,500 inhabitants.

All of the larger communities put ever-increasing emphasis on dynamic tourism where a wide selection of recreation and services are offered.

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West Iceland Marketing office
Bjarnarbraut 8
310 Borgarnesi
Info@west.is
Phone: (+354) 433 8820

Safe travel in Iceland

To make travel in Iceland safer - for your safe return
Safetravel.is is run by ICE-SAR and is part of a bigger project, simply named Safetravel. In that project a number of companies, public institutions and individuals join hands and the goal is to lower the rate of accidents in travel and tourism in Iceland.

The 112 Iceland app can be used for two things, both for added safety on your Iceland trip.
First of all you can call for help by pressing the red Emergency button. Your location will be sent by text message to the 112 response center. Remember that even though your phone shows no signal there is a possibility that you can send text message.

The green Check In button is for you to leave your location with us so if something happens we have more information to work with. Only the 5 last locations are stored and we recommend you use this – don’t worry – you are not disturbing anyone – except for our big computer who wants to be disturbed.

On Safetravel.is you can find extensive amount of information which can help you plan your travel to and around Iceland in more safe and secure way.

Local time and weather

Aurora forecast

When to see the Northern Lights in Iceland?
The best time is between 21:00-03:00 although they can often be seen early evening or during the night. The official Northern Lights season in Iceland is from October till March. The more activity the more likely it is that you will see the northern lights but that is not all. There is never a guarantee of spotting the northern lights, but northern lights forecast by vedur.is are good. Clear skies are necessary, when we have clear skies in Iceland It is usually cold. So be sure to wear the right clothing.
Northern Lights Forecast
The Icelandic Met Office does Northern Lights Forecast which is good to use.
Visit the Icelandic Met Office www.vedur.is, for more info.

Driving in Iceland

Always check the road conditions
The weather is not the same in different regions of Iceland. Here below are good websites to use when traveling in Iceland in winter. Vedur.is is the official website for weather in Iceland. But it doesn’t always give the right picture road.is, the website for the Icelandic Road Administration, is the best website to use if you use it right.If you are unsure then you can call 1777 and ask for the conditions (open 06:30-22:00) or 1778 an automatic telephone service open all day.

Driving in Iceland can be tricky - but if you listen carefully to Elfis you should be fine.

Vakinn

Vakinn is the official quality and environmental certification run by the Icelandic Tourist Board. The aim of Vakinn is to strengthen quality, safety and environmental awareness within Icelandic tourism and support and promote social responsibility of tourist service providers

Vakinn certification is a confirmation that companies operate in a professional and responsible manner, with quality and environmental focus.

Only tourism businesses that maintain high standards in all aspects of business practices and meet Vakinn´s comprehensive assessment criteria have earned the right to carry the Vakinn logo.

Certified companies are listed on our website vakinn.is