Sveinseyri Beach Travel Guide

Tálknafjörður village and Sveinseyri spit. Photo: Steinninn, CC BY 4.0

Sveinseyri beach is a low sand-and-gravel spit with a pale shore on the north side of Tálknafjörður, in the southern Westfjords, immediately west of the village of Tálknafjörður. The name means "Sveinn's spit" (eyri is the Icelandic word for a gravel or sand spit running into the sea).

Sveinseyri was an old farm and the original name of the village itself, which was called Sveinseyri or Tunga before it grew into today's fishing community. The spit runs out into the fjord from the shore road, and its beach is one of the easiest places in the Westfjords to walk on light-coloured sand with seabirds for company.

Key Takeaways About Sveinseyri

• Low sand-and-gravel spit with a pale beach on the north shore of Tálknafjörður, about 1.5 km west of the village along Route 617
• The village itself was once called Sveinseyri or Tunga; the farm was noted in 1887 for its unusually large, level homefield
• Easy flat walk from the village (15–20 minutes); no facilities at the beach, no 4x4 needed
• Combine with the free Pollurinn hot pools 3 km further along the shore road
• Birdwatching is best in May and June; the shore road beyond to Sellátrar is gravel and summer-only

Why visit Sveinseyri

Most of the Westfjords coast is steep and rocky, so a stretch of soft, pale sand is unusual.

Sveinseyri's beach runs along the fjord west of the village, with patches of pebbles and seaweed-covered rock between the sandy sections.

It faces across the water to the long flat-topped mountains on the south side of Tálknafjörður, The regional tourist office lists the "white stretch of shore outside Tálknafjörður" at Sveinseyri among the village's sights, together with birdwatching: seabirds, ducks and waders feed along the shore and on the flats at low tide.

The farm itself was noted for its fields. Hermann Jónasson, who surveyed farming in the district in 1887, singled out Sveinseyri for having a "beautiful and large homefield, much of it level and stoneless", while the fields on every other farm in the parish were stony and uneven. Fishing stations operated along this shore for centuries.

Dutch traders and fishermen frequented Tálknafjörður from the 17th to the 19th century and gave the fjord their own name, Lus-Bay, on their charts. Along the north shore west of Sveinseyri, below Arnarstapi, lay the main fishing station of the fjord for centuries, and the remains of the fishermen's huts, used until about 1930, can still be seen.

Sellátrar, the outermost farm on this shore and the end of the road, is no longer farmed, and Arnarstapi beyond it has a small grove of trees that the local tour operator describes as the westernmost in Europe.

The village behind the spit has a 25-metre geothermal outdoor pool with hot tubs and a sauna, and on the hillside just above the road west of the village are the Pollurinn hot pools, concrete tubs fed by natural hot water with a view over the fjord.

Geothermal water from a borehole drilled on this hillside in 1977 heats the village pool, the sports hall and the school.

How to get to Sveinseyri

Tálknafjörður village is about 400 kilometres from Reykjavík by road and roughly 6 hours' drive, or shorter if you take the Baldur ferry from Stykkishólmur to Brjánslækur and drive the last 70 kilometres.

From Patreksfjörður, the largest town in the southern Westfjords, it is 16 kilometres on Route 63 (Bíldudalsvegur), which crosses the hills through Mikladalur; Bíldudalur is 18 kilometres in the other direction over the Hálfdán mountain road. Both are normally easy drives, though they can close briefly in winter storms.

From the village centre, follow the shore road (Route 617, Tálknafjarðarvegur) west for about 1.5 kilometres. Sveinseyri lies between the village and the Pollurinn hot pools.

There is room to pull off the road near the old farm, but spaces are few, and the easier option is to park in the village and walk out along the shore in 15 to 20 minutes. The beach is flat and the walk out onto the spit is easy.

The gravel road continues west along the north shore to Sellátrar, where it ends; it is passable in an ordinary car in summer but narrow, with no services.

Tálknafjörður from the fjord head. Photo: Steinninn, CC BY 4.0

Best time to visit

May to September is the best period. Birdlife along the shore is richest in late spring and early summer, the shore road to Sellátrar is reliably open, and the long evenings mean the fjord is often still late at night.

The local operator runs its cycling tour along this shore from May to the start of October. In winter the beach is still accessible from the village, but daylight is short and the shore road beyond Sveinseyri may be snowed in.

Sunset over Tálknafjörður. Photo: Barry Marsh, public domain

Safety and practical tips

• There are no toilets, shops or lifeguards at the beach. The nearest facilities are in the village: a grocery store, café, campsite, guesthouses and the swimming pool.
• The water in the fjord is cold year round; bathing is for the hot pools, not the sea.
• Watch the tide if you walk far out on the sand flats; the water comes back quickly over level sand.
• Weather in Tálknafjörður changes fast, and wind off the fjord is cold even in July. Bring a windproof layer and gloves.
• The Pollurinn hot pools are free, have a simple changing hut and no toilets. Leave them as you found them.