Patreksfjörður
Patreksfjörður is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, Iceland — about 392 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
Patreksfjörður is an Icelandic village in Westfjords with 687 inhabitants.
As a photography stop, Patreksfjörður is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, roughly 392 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot during the summer window, when light, road status, and crowd levels line up for photography. The downloadable Landscape map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Planning more than one stop? Open the Iceland landscape photo map to put Patreksfjörður on the same offline layer as everything nearby.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
The westernmost settlement in Iceland, in the southern Westfjords, named after Bishop Patrick of the Hebrides. About 720 people live here, down from around 1,000 in 1981.
- Position
- The westernmost settlement in Iceland, in the south of the Westfjords
- Population
- About 720 (January 2022), from about 1,000 in 1981
- The name
- For Bishop Patrick of the Hebrides, spiritual guide to the area’s first settler Örlygur Hrappson
- Nearest airport
- Bíldudalur, 36 km away
- Within reach
- Látrabjarg, Rauðisandur and Dynjandi, plus natural hot springs and an outdoor pool
The value of this one is positional rather than scenic: Látrabjarg, Rauðisandur and Dynjandi are all within reach of it, and in a region where the driving is slow that makes it the base a Westfjords trip is built around rather than a stop on the way through. A population down by a quarter in forty years is also visible in the place itself.
SourcesPatreksfjörður — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (65.597, -23.999). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- 22.8 h of daylight in June and the sun barely sets, dipping only 1.1° below the horizon — effectively continuous golden light through the small hours.
- Winter
- December: only 3.3 h of daylight (11:53–15:09), but the sun never climbs above 1.1° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Patreksfjörður is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, Iceland, approximately 392 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Patreksfjörður is Summer. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Patreksfjörður is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.