Nature

  • Ocean, Valleys and Highland

    The landscape around Vopnafjordur is very diverse. On the far right, the village stands on Tangi peninsula.

  • The Water Carves Its Way

    Right off the highway is a river where waterfalls and rapids have carved the rocks for millenia.

  • Gvendarbrunnur

    This open spring, hidden among endless hills, gives the most refreshing water on Earth.

  • Double Rainbow

    The best thing about a wet day is the chance of a beautiful rainbow. To get two is a bonus!

  • On a Black Beach

    The ocean waves bring a white foam onshore, in complete contrast with the black sand.

  • Blue Fields

    Nootka Lupin blooms in the nature of Vopnafjordur.

  • River Canyon

    A great number of rivers run through the lowlands around Vopnafjordur.


Vopnafjörður is a broad bay between Bakkaflóa and Héraðsflóa. In mid-fjord is a peninsula, Kolbeinstangi, where the village of Vopnafjörður stands. North of Kolbeinstangi is a small inner fjord, Nýpsfjörður and inland lies Nýpslón. Vopnafjörður’s nature is especially varied and alternates between the rich, fertile lowlands and the rocky cliffs along the coastline.


A formidable mountain range rises across the fjord from “Tangi”. The Krossavík mountains are the most conspicuous, and to the south rises Smjörfjöll, or Butter Mountains which are the highest mountains in the fjord.


Inland from Vopnafjörður are three main valleys and wide-spread lowlands. Hofsárdalur is southernmost, next is Vesturárdalur and Selárdalur is northernmost. Well-known salmon rivers flow through the valleys. Inland are vast highlands with many farms which were occupied from the early 19th into the 20th centuries.
Vopnafjörður’s coastlines are characterised by small skerries, seacliffs, rock pillars and steep cliffs. Inmost in the fjord lies a long, sandy beach – Sandvík.


In many places around Vopnafjörður one may see how the glacier which formed the fjord has abraded, carried other materials and scraped marks in the land on its way to the sea.







Photos: River by Julia Fritzdottir (CC BY-SA)

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