The Journey from Isafjordjup to Holmavik
We had been in Iceland a week by then and had planned to head to the eastern coast of the Vestfirðir for one last day in the fjords. We decided to take our time and make stops along the way as we had a three-hour drive ahead of us to reach our accommodation in Hólmavík that evening.
It was always surprising to see how drastically the weather could change from one fjord to the next, stormy rainclouds and clear blue skies just a few kilometers apart. Countless seals could be seen lounging on the shores as we drove along the Ísafjarðardjúp fjord.
A Wealth of Hot Springs
As mentioned earlier, the Westfjords region probably has the most hot pots in all of Iceland. To give you a better idea of just how common they are, on our drive that day we could have stopped to bathe in five different hot pots:
- Hörgshlíðarlaug
- Drangsnes
- Gvendarlaug
- Nauteyrarlaug
- Galtahryggjarlaug (Heydalur)
We drove right by the Hörgshlíðarlaug spring but its concrete pool didn’t really appeal to us, and we felt the same about Drangsnes, where we stopped for lunch around noon. The hot pots there offered a beautiful view of the sea, which was a great feature, but ultimately we chose to bathe at Gvendarlaug, which is located very close to Drangsnes (see photo).
The hot pot could fit two or three people and was located just below a heated pool. The natural hot pot was definitely more pleasant than its man-made counterpart.
The Witchcraft Museum in Holmavík
By mid-afternoon, we arrived in Hólmavík, where we dropped off our things at the guesthouse before heading to the Witchcraft Museum, one of the main local attractions.
We found this small museum deeply fascinating, with all its artefacts related to magic and witchcraft in Iceland, most dating to the 17th century. The Westfjords are known for their rich history of magic, in fact most of the stories featuring Icelandic witches originate in these mystical lands. We spent about an hour exploring the museum before returning to our guesthouse for dinner and some well-deserved rest.
