Arctic Foxes & Avalanches

Take in the natural beauty of the Westfjords peninsula, a rugged mountainous terrain prone to avalanches and teeming with wildlife such as the cherished arctic fox.

After departing from the pier, you will enjoy an immensely scenic drive with a backdrop of mountains on one side and the fjord on the other. In time, you will arrive in Súðavík, a small community founded in the late 19th century around whaling. You may notice that Súðavík has been divided into two distinct areas. The newer section was built following an avalanche in 1995 that destroyed much of the original town.

Nearby, you will find the Arctic Fox Center, a research facility and museum dedicated to the only indigenous land mammal in Iceland. While browsing the exhibits, you will discover that arctic foxes remained on the island after the last ice age and how they have become a protected species, no longer hunted for their fur. You may even see injured fox pups being rehabilitated in hopes of releasing them back into the wild.

You will next visit a small wooden church that was built in Norway in the late 19th century as a gift for the Icelandic village of Hesteyri. When the village was abandoned in 1952, the church was moved to its present location. After listening to a stirring performance of traditional Icelandic music at the church, you will continue to drive along the fjord, pausing at a memorial to the victims of the avalanche that struck Súðavík.