Gemlufall Farm Travel Guide

Route 60 descending to Dýrafjörður. Photo: Hornstrandir1, CC BY-SA 4.0

Gemlufall is a sheep farm, café and guesthouse on the north shore of Dýrafjörður in the Westfjords, directly across the fjord from the village of Þingeyri. It stands where Route 60 comes down off the Gemlufallsheiði pass, at the mouth of the small valley Gemlufallsdalur.

The farm has been worked since the Middle Ages, appears in Gísla saga Súrssonar, and today welcomes visitors for coffee, home baking and a look at the farm, including as the "working farm" stop on the Dynjandi tour from Ísafjörður.

Key Takeaways About Gemlufall

• Gemlufall is a working sheep farm, café and guesthouse on the north shore of Dýrafjörður, 30 km south of Ísafjörður on paved Route 60.
• It is the "working farm" stop on the Dynjandi tour from Ísafjörður port: a hot drink, hjónabandssæla cake and a look at a working farm.
• The farm is first recorded in 1538 and the heath above it features in Gísla saga; the name is linked to a troll woman, Gemla.
• Þingeyri, with fuel and a shop, is about 2.5 km across the water but about 19 km (20 minutes) by road via the Dýrafjörður bridge.
• A private farm: contact the farm ahead through gemlufall.is if you are not on a tour.

Why visit Gemlufall

Most Westfjords sightseeing is about empty landscape. Gemlufall is a chance to see how people actually live in it.

The farm winters around 250 sheep, which spend the summer grazing the valley and mountain slopes behind the house, and sells its lamb directly under Iceland's Beint frá býli ("straight from the farm") scheme.

The farm also raises beef cattle and keeps chickens, and in spring and early summer there are lambs in the fields.

The farm is run by Elsa María and Jón Skúlason, who took it over in 1994, and looks over the fjord to the flat-topped mountains on the far shore. Visitors on the Ísafjörður tour are served a hot drink and hjónabandssæla, "happy marriage cake", an Icelandic oat and rhubarb-jam bake.

The place has history to match the view.

Gemlufall is first recorded in a property deed of 1538, when the lawman Ari Jónsson sold it.

The saga puts a ferry across the fjord here, and the heath above it, Gemlufallsheiði, is where Vésteinn in Gísla saga, caught up by Gísli's messengers and warned to turn back, answers with the famous line "Nú falla vötn öll til Dýrafjarðar" ("now all waters fall toward Dýrafjörður") and rides on to his death.

The name itself is debated. One tradition says it comes from a troll woman called Gemla or Gimla who lived in the mountains between Önundarfjörður and Dýrafjörður and preyed on travellers until local farmers killed her and buried her at Gemluhóll.

Another explanation is the old word gemla, a yearling or old ewe, or an old tooth, and the name Gemla is also carried by the 724 m peak above the farm, whose crag is said to resemble a tooth.

Landslides and an 1834 avalanche from the gully above damaged the old homestead more than once, and the present farm sites date from a move shortly after 1880, when a debris flow came too close to the old houses.

How to get to Gemlufall

Gemlufall is on Route 60 (Vestfjarðavegur), the main road through the central Westfjords, and is about 30 km south of Ísafjörður.

From Ísafjörður drive through the Vestfjarðagöng tunnel to Önundarfjörður, then climb Gemlufallsheiði; the farm is at the bottom of the descent on the Dýrafjörður side, right beside the road.

Coming from the south, Route 60 crosses Dýrafjörður on the bridge about 7 km east of Þingeyri and reaches Gemlufall roughly 10 km later. Þingeyri is about 2.5 km away across the water but about 19 km and 20 minutes by road via the bridge and Route 622.

Dynjandi waterfall is about 30 km south by road, reached by continuing on Route 60 through the Dýrafjarðargöng tunnel to Arnarfjörður.

Route 60 here is paved and normally kept open in winter, though Gemlufallsheiði (283 m) can close briefly in storms. No 4x4 is needed. Parking is at the farm; the café and animals are a few steps from the car.

From Reykjavík it is a full day's drive to Dýrafjörður by any route, so most visitors come from Ísafjörður or as part of a Westfjords circuit.

Best time to visit

Café service and farm visits run in the summer season (confirm dates and times with the farm), and the Ísafjörður tour that stops here operates from April to September.

May and June are lambing and bottle-lamb time, July and August give the greenest valley and the most reliable road and weather, and September brings the réttir, when the sheep are gathered down from the mountains.

The guesthouse is open year-round for self-catering stays, and the farm has a sandy fjord beach about 3 km away.

Safety and practical tips

• This is a private working farm, not a public park. Ask before entering barns or paddocks, close gates behind you and keep dogs in the car.
• Café hours change with the season and the farm's workload, so check with the farm through gemlufall.is before you come if you are not on a tour.
• There is no fee to stop and look; café items and accommodation are paid.
• Animals may be approached or fed only under the farmer's direction. Hand sanitiser is sensible after touching animals.
• Icelandic sheep roam the roads in summer; drive slowly on Route 60 around the farm.
• Toilets are available to café guests. The nearest fuel and shop are in Þingeyri.