Súðavík
Súðavík is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, Iceland — about 434 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
A small fishing village in the Westfjords Peninsula.
As a photography stop, Súðavík is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, roughly 434 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 Súðavík on the same offline layer as everything nearby.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
A village of 229 on the west coast of Álftafjörður. An avalanche on 16 January 1995 killed 14 people, eight of them children, and the village was subsequently rebuilt on safer ground. It holds the Arctic Fox Center.
- Population
- 229 (August 2024)
- Setting
- West coast of Álftafjörður, Westfjords
- 16 January 1995
- An avalanche struck about 06:25, destroying buildings and killing 14 people including 8 children, with 12 injured; one survivor was found after 12 hours under the snow
- The rebuild
- A public meeting on 23 January 1995 decided to rebuild on safer ground; by the winter of 1996–97, 51 new houses had been built and eight more moved from the old residential area
- The Arctic Fox Center
- A museum and research centre devoted to the arctic fox
The village visible today is largely younger than 1997 and sits deliberately away from the old ground — so what looks like an ordinary Westfjords settlement is the result of a specific disaster, and the empty former site is part of what is being photographed. The Arctic Fox Center also pairs naturally with Hornstrandir, where a fox sighting is likely rather than lucky.
SourcesSúðavík — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (66.040, -22.943). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- Midnight sun in June — the sun does not set, so golden light runs for hours either side of midnight.
- Winter
- December: only 2.9 h of daylight (12:00–14:54), but the sun never climbs above 0.7° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 13.1 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
Súðavík is a landscape in Westfjords & Remote, Iceland, approximately 434 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Landscape map.
The recommended season for Súðavík 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.
Súðavík is best visited during Summer. Outside that window, expect limited access, weather closures, or significantly different photographic conditions.