Must see Westfjords – Holmavik to Krossneslaug – Iceland Photography trip

Fourth blog post about my Iceland trip: this time the places I liked most and that I think you must see while you are in the Westfjords of Iceland. Check my other post for Reykjavík and Western Iceland. I’ll probably miss some great places so if I missed your favourite place, let me know in the comments!

The Westfjords are one of the most remote parts of Iceland (with the Highlands), and there are fewer tourists than elsewhere. But the scenery and the roads are definitely worth your time!

Must see in the Wesfjords – Eastern Part

The eastern part (route 645 and 643) Hólmavík, Drangsnes, Djúpavík to Norðurfjörður and Krossneslaug is a “one-way” trip as you will need to come back almost to Holmavik to get to the western part of the Westfjords.

Must see – Hólmavík

Starting in Hólmavík, a small town where you should stock up on groceries and fuel is also known for its Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. Iceland and especially the Westfjords has a long history of witchcraft and witch-hunting and witch-burning.  If you want to learn more about witchcraft or creep yourself out, you should go to the museum. It’s quite small but very well done and certainly worth the visit if only to see the Nábrók, the necropants, a pair of pants made from the skin of a dead person that if worn will give the wearer money.

Must see in Iceland - Holmavik whales
If you are lucky, you might also see whales right from the town.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/222233941]

From Hólmavík you should take the coastal road (645) to Drangsnes a tiny village whose main attraction is the hot tubs just beside the road with a view of the ocean and Grimsey island.
From there the road gets more scenic by the minute and houses are fewer and farther. Take road 643 and enjoy the drive!

Must see in Iceland - Westfjords roads
Westfjords roads

Must see – Djúpavík

You should certainly stop in Djúpavík, consisting of a couple of houses, a hotel (!) and an old abandoned factory and some rusty boats. The herring transformation plant is now used as a gallery, and the experience of climbing up into it was great.
There are a couple of abandoned factories in the Westfjords, and they were built when the herring fishing was booming, and there was plenty of fish, but many were closed after only a couple of years as overfishing was huge and had made some fish almost extinct, which lead to strict quotas for the whole region.

Must see – Norðurfjörður

After Djúpavík, the next “bigger” settlement is Norðurfjörður which is almost the end of the road. There is a small restaurant, a camp ground and your best place to stay before going back south.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/182556490]

Must see – Krossneslaug

But don’t stop yet as just a couple more kilometres on the road, which is slowly transforming into a track, is one of the remotest hotpots / hot springs there is: Krossneslaug. You’ll have a great view of the ocean while soaking in the warm water. When I arrived I had the pool all alone for myself and as the end of the day approached a couple of locals, and a handful of tourists joined me.

Must see in Iceland – Krossneslaug, Westfjords
Krossneslaug, Westfjords

For a list and map of all the hotpots go here.

 

In the next post, I’ll list the places on the way to and around Ísafjörður.

Don’t hesitate to let me know if I forgot something on my list.
Share this post if you liked it or if you know somebody that is going to Iceland soon.

Drone video – what I learnt and am still learning – 6 tips

I just recently bought a drone, a Dji Mavic Pro and am still very much learning to use it and shoot great video with it.

Here is my first decent result (at least I think so):

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/227858046]

And here is my list of what I learnt from my first couple of flights and what I need to watch out for: Continue reading “Drone video – what I learnt and am still learning – 6 tips”

Must see Reykjavík and Western Iceland – Iceland Photography trip

In this third blog post about my Iceland trip, I will list the places I liked most and that I think you must see while you are in Iceland. In this post, I will concentrate on Reykjavík and Western Iceland because there is a lot to see. I’ll probably miss some great places so if I missed your favourite place, let me know in the comments!

Must see in Reykjavík

A capital city where rush hour is like an off hour in any other town (and I’m from Switzerland where there isn’t that much traffic).
Reykjavík isn’t big and very laid back, you can explore the town centre in a couple of hours. I participated in an excellent walking tour from iHeartReykjavik which took two hours and our guide managed to tell us a lot about the city without it feeling too “stuffy”. She also showed us some of the hidden gems the city has to offer, and she brought us to the amazing street art that is all over the city. Continue reading “Must see Reykjavík and Western Iceland – Iceland Photography trip”

Packing list – Iceland Photography trip

This is the second post about my trip to Iceland, it’s a packing list of the essentials you should make sure to take with you. You can find the first post about what you should know before going here. A third post about what not to miss is still in the works.

Packing list for a photo trip to Iceland

I’m not going to list everything, but just the essentials you might forget or the things that are specific for Iceland makes.

Háifoss
Háifoss

Continue reading “Packing list – Iceland Photography trip”

Iceland Photography trip – What to know before going

I travelled to Iceland last August for a solo photography trip, and this is the first of a series of blog posts about what you should know when planning a trip to Iceland.
The second blog post will concentrate more on what to take and what you can safely leave at home.  The other posts will be about the must-see and must-dos while in Iceland.

Summer (July – September) is the main tourist season in Iceland, and last year a lot of tourists were there at the same time as me. Luckily most of the tourist stay on or close to the “Ring Road” but be prepared to get up very early or have a lot of people in your pictures. Continue reading “Iceland Photography trip – What to know before going”

My trip to Nepal in 2014

Wrap up of my trip to Nepal in 2014. Here it is finally! The blog post I promised would be coming a long time ago about my trip to Nepal is finally done.

I travelled to Nepal for work and was lucky enough to have enough spare time to combine my stay with a photography workshop from Within The Frame, time to visit the south of Nepal and trek Langtang. Continue reading “My trip to Nepal in 2014”