Patreksfjordur Westfjords Iceland
61
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Aurora Expeditions (1 Cruises)
Crystal Cruises (6 Cruises)
Crystal Serenity
6 Cruises
HX Expeditions (1 Cruises)
Scenic Cruises (10 Cruises)
Scenic Eclipse
5 Cruises
Scenic Eclipse II
5 Cruises
Seabourn Cruise Line (43 Cruises)
Seabourn Pursuit
18 Cruises
Seabourn Venture
25 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
Ships usually anchor in the roadstead and tenders land passengers at the small harbour, a step from the houses. There is no terminal: the village has around 700 residents and its streets take only minutes to walk.
The harbour and its boats, the church, a few shops, a bakery and the heated municipal pool, whose outdoor basins face the mountain. You can also walk the shoreline or climb to the first terraces, where the whole fjord opens up — steel-grey water, isolated farms and cloud caught on flat summits.
It is the headline excursion of this call, at Iceland's western tip, about an hour's drive along a winding and spectacular road. Over 14 km the cliff rises to 441 m above the Atlantic and holds one of the largest seabird colonies in Europe.
Yes, from mid-May to mid-August, when they nest along the clifftop. Used to people, they allow an approach of a few metres, to photographers' delight. Care at the edge is essential: this cliff does not forgive.
Some ten kilometres of sand shifting from gold to coppery pink, made of shells ground down by the ocean. In a country of black beaches, the vast tidal flat, the lagoons and the light make a landscape with no equivalent. Seals haul out there regularly.
By a narrow mountain road. Organised excursions remain the calmest way to enjoy it: this is not a road to improvise in a rental car between two ship departure times.
The Garðar BA 64, on the south shore of the fjord a few kilometres from the village. This whaler launched in Norway in 1912, said to be Iceland's oldest steel ship, was deliberately beached in 1981 after a long career. Photogenic at any hour, it has become an emblem of the Westfjords.
Fishing gear and objects that explain the reputation for courage of the people here, notably during shipwrecks at the foot of Látrabjarg itself, when farmers abseiled down the cliffs to haul sailors up.
Yes, at the heated municipal pool a few minutes' walk from the landing. Slipping into warm water while the sea wind passes over the mountains is an Icelandic ritual the village practises daily.
Because they lie far from the ring road and its coaches: the region receives a fraction of the country's visitors. That is exactly what makes it valuable — those who go speak afterwards of another Iceland, rawer and quieter. Patreksfjörður is one of its few sea gateways.
