Most people who rent a campervan in Iceland drive the Ring Road and call it a day. We understand why — it is paved, it is famous and the campsites are on the map. But if you have a week or more and a taste for empty roads, a Westfjords campervan trip is the one we would put first on the list for summer 2027.

The Westfjords are the big hand-shaped peninsula in the north-west, joined to the rest of Iceland by a thin neck of land. Out there you get towering sea cliffs, a waterfall that falls like a bridal veil, a beach that glows red in the evening and a lot of gravel. We have road-tripped every Nordic country from our home in Rovaniemi, and the Westfjords are the place where we most wished we had a proper van with a kitchen rather than a hotel booking.

This guide is honest about the awkward parts — the gravel, the sparse campsites, the fuel gaps — because they decide which van you should book. And since November to February is when summer 2027 trips get booked, we have also put the early-booking maths in. Our CampervanPlanet link is the one we use for comparing vans, and code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY20 takes €20 off at checkout.

Why the Westfjords suit a campervan

The honest reason to go is the emptiness. CampervanPlanet’s own Iceland page puts it neatly: only around 10% of visitors venture into the Westfjords, and you feel it. You can drive for an hour and pass a handful of cars. The sights are the kind that people fly to Iceland for — Dynjandi, the stepped waterfall that fans out down a mountainside, the Látrabjarg bird cliffs at the western tip with their summer puffins, and the huge golden-red sweep of Rauðasandur beach.

A campervan suits this corner of Iceland because the distances between villages are long and the weather can change the plan. Having your bed and kitchen with you means a delayed ferry or a closed pass is an inconvenience, not a ruined hotel booking. The trade-off is that roads are slower than they look on a map. Budget two to three times the driving time you would expect on the Ring Road and you will be fine.

Who should skip it? If you are a first-timer with only five days and want the big glacier and waterfall hits, stay on the south coast — we cover that in our Iceland Ring Road campervan itinerary. The Westfjords reward people with more time and more patience.

Do you need a 4×4 in the Westfjords?

This is the question everybody asks, so let us be direct. A regular 2WD campervan is fine on the paved Ring Road. CampervanPlanet’s guidance for the Westfjords is that they have some gravel roads and a 4×4 is recommended. We would take that seriously. The main routes have been improved over the years, but the famous spots — Látrabjarg and Rauðasandur in particular — sit at the end of long gravel stretches, and the gravel can be loose and corrugated after rain.

Here is how the fleet looks on their Iceland page, with the lowest “from” prices they list (the real price depends on your dates):

• Budget Camper — sleeps 2, from €40/day. Fine for the Ring Road; we would not choose it for the gravel.
• Comfort Camper — sleeps up to 3, with heater and kitchen, from €129/day.
• 4×4 Highland Camper — sleeps up to 4, from €189/day. The sensible Westfjords pick.
• Family Motorhome — sleeps 4–6, bathroom, from €219/day. Not a 4×4, so keep to the main roads.

Two practical notes. First, ask the rental company whether gravel and sand-and-ash damage is covered by the insurance on your specific offer — it is the claim people are most often surprised by, and we cover the basics in our Iceland campervan insurance guide. Second, 4×4 vans are the first to go in July, so for summer 2027 do not leave the 4×4 decision until spring.

A realistic eight-night route

Here is the shape of trip we would plan. It assumes you pick up at Keflavík Airport or in Reykjavík, which are the two pick-up options on CampervanPlanet’s Iceland page, and that you have eight nights.

An eight-night Westfjords loop

• Night 1 — Snæfellsnes or Stykkishólmur. Shake off the flight and drive north-west. Stykkishólmur is where the car ferry across Breiðafjörður leaves from.
• Night 2 — Patreksfjörður area. Cross by ferry (check the current timetable and book a vehicle space — summer sailings fill) and base yourself near Patreksfjörður.
• Night 3 — Látrabjarg and Rauðasandur. A long day on gravel. Puffins nest here from roughly June to August. Walk the cliffs early; the wind is real.
• Night 4 — Dynjandi. Drive north over the mountain road to the big waterfall and camp nearby if the weather allows.
• Nights 5–6 — Ísafjörður. The only proper town. Restock, do laundry, take a boat trip or a walk, and give the van a rest day.
• Night 7 — Strandir coast or Hólmavík. The quieter eastern side, with geothermal hot tubs at Drangsnes if you want a soak.
• Night 8 — back towards Reykjavík. Aim to arrive the evening before your return, not on the morning of your flight.

Reykjavík to Ísafjörður is roughly 450 km by road and a long day at a relaxed pace — double-check the route and any seasonal closures on road.is before you set off. If you only have six days, drop the Strandir coast and do the Patreksfjörður–Dynjandi–Ísafjörður line out and back.

Gravel, fuel gaps and the ferry

Three things about driving the Westfjords catch first-timers out.

The gravel. Drop your speed, give oncoming vehicles room and avoid braking hard on loose surfaces. Most rental conditions limit what roads you may take, so read them — F-roads (the highland tracks) are a separate matter and need a high-clearance 4×4 and are only open in summer.

The fuel gaps. Petrol stations in remote Icelandic regions can be a long way apart, and the Westfjords are one of those regions. We fill the tank whenever it drops under half and whenever we see a pump in a village, and we do not trust the range display on an unfamiliar van. Many pumps are card-only and unmanned, so make sure you have a chip-and-PIN card that works.

The ferry. The Breiðafjörður crossing saves a lot of driving and it is a pleasant break, but it runs to a timetable. Book your vehicle space in summer, and tell the rental company you plan to take the van on the ferry — some contracts care.

Winter tyres are standard on rental campers between November and mid-April, but for a summer Westfjords trip that is not your concern. What you should check instead is the daylight: in June and July it barely gets dark, which is lovely for driving late and terrible for sleeping without a blackout curtain. Pack an eye mask.

Where you sleep: no wild camping, limited sites

Wild camping is not allowed in Iceland, and the Westfjords are not an exception. CampervanPlanet’s page says to use official campsites or designated camping areas and mentions 170+ campsites across the country, typically ISK 2,000–5,000 per person per night (roughly €13–33). In the Westfjords, though, the page itself notes that campsites are limited and you should plan ahead — and our experience in remote Nordic regions backs that up: small villages have one site, and in July it can fill.

What we do on a remote loop like this is write down our sleeping village for every night before we leave Reykjavík, then keep a fallback one hour further along the route. If your plan has you finishing a gravel day at Látrabjarg, check where the nearest official campsite is before you start the drive, not after.

Many rental companies provide a camping card that gives discounts at a network of sites. Ask which one comes with your van; if you will camp most nights it can pay for itself.

Comfort-level vans with a heater and a kitchen make the evenings far more pleasant in the Westfjords, where even July nights can be around single digits to low teens in °C on the exposed coast. A good heater is the difference between enjoying your dinner and eating it in your jacket.

What a Westfjords trip costs in summer 2027

Here is the number everyone wants. CampervanPlanet’s October 2026 price index for Iceland says the typical camper costs €147 a day in November, €260 in May and €400 in July — and those are medians across all vehicle types for a 7-night rental, so the van you want may sit above or below them.

Run it for an eight-night Westfjords trip on those typical prices: at €260 a day (May-type pricing) that is about €2,080, and at €400 a day (July-type pricing) it is about €3,200. The €1,120 gap is why the shoulder season keeps coming up. The catch for the Westfjords is that the best of it — puffins at Látrabjarg, all roads open, long evenings — is June to August, so if you want the cliffs at their liveliest you will pay summer prices. Late May or early September cost less but you will miss some of the wildlife and may meet closed seasonal services.

On top of the rental, budget for fuel (CampervanPlanet suggests campervans use roughly 9–13 L/100 km, which matters on long gravel days), campsite fees, the ferry, and food. Groceries in Ísafjörður are fine but pricey; stock up in Reykjavík at the start. If you want to see how the numbers compare with a car-and-guesthouse trip, our Iceland September cost breakdown is a good reality check.

One small saving: code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY20 takes €20 off at checkout on CampervanPlanet. It is a fixed amount, so it does not change with the booking size, but it is better than nothing — and it pays for a couple of campsite nights.

Final word from Rovaniemi

We are writing this in late October, and November to February is when many people book for the next summer. We cannot promise that booking early is cheaper — prices move with demand and we have not tracked this in a way we would stake a promise on. What we can say from experience is that the vans people actually want, especially 4x4s, go first in July, and the Westfjords is a destination where a 2WD van is the wrong tool.

So our plan for a summer 2027 Westfjords trip is simple. Decide on the 4×4 now. Compare offers on CampervanPlanet for your dates, read what each offer includes (insurance, mileage, equipment) and what is paid locally, and check the cancellation terms. Book the Breiðafjörður ferry as soon as the summer timetable opens. Then write your campsite list. If you want the wider picture first, our campervan rental guide covers how renting works across the Nordics, from deposits to pick-up.

The Westfjords will not be on everyone’s list, and that is exactly the point. Pick the right van, respect the gravel, book the nights and go slowly. If you do, we think it will be the part of your Iceland trip you talk about longest — and code HUNGRYTRAVELFAMILY20 will have taken €20 off along the way.