The Hvalfjörður Scenic Route: Skipping the Tunnel to Borgarfjörður

Almost everyone driving north from Reykjavík toward Borgarfjörður takes the Hvalfjörður tunnel: 5.7 km of dark, sea-floor road, opened in 1998 and toll-free since 2018. It saves roughly 45 km and about 50 minutes. It also skips one of the more rewarding short detours in West Iceland. The old road around the fjord, Route 47, gives you a reward at nearly every bend. Here is the case for taking it at least one way on your trip to The Hvítá Inn.

Why go around instead of under

Hvalfjörður means “whale fjord.” It runs about 30 km inland and stays narrow, so the water is usually calm and the mountain walls close on both sides. Traffic is light now that the tunnel carries the through-drivers, which makes Route 47 one of the gentler stretches for anyone still getting used to Icelandic roads. The old road was the Ring Road before the tunnel existed, so it is fully paved and well graded the whole way around.

What you pass along the way

Coming from the south, your first easy stop is Staupasteinn (also called Steðji), a goblet-shaped rock about 3 m tall standing just off the road. It was protected as a natural monument in 1974 for its shape, and there is a small pull-off and short path; you may walk up to it but not alter it.

Further in, the fjord holds a layer of wartime history. During the Second World War, Hvalfjörður was an Allied staging point for Arctic convoys. The British naval base HMS Baldur stood at Hvítanes, a low point of land jutting into the fjord; concrete footings and remains are still visible near the roadside. The United States Navy built piers and a fuel depot around Miðsandur, and one of those piers is still used today by the whaling company. The whaling station at Miðsandur, dating to 1948, is the only one in Iceland and sits plainly in view from Route 47.

At the head of the fjord, Botnsdalur is the trailhead for Glymur, long counted among Iceland’s tallest waterfalls (that hike deserves its own half-day). From the north side, Route 47 rejoins Ring Road 1, and you continue toward Borgarnes and the inn.

Practical details

• Getting there: Leave Ring Road 1 for Route 47 just before the tunnel’s south portal; rejoin Route 1 on the north shore. Do the tunnel one way and the fjord the other.
• Extra time: The loop adds roughly 45–60 km and about 50 minutes over the tunnel, before any stops. Budget 1.5–2 hours with a couple of short walks.
• When to go: Best in daylight, spring through autumn; the roadside pull-offs and remains are easiest to find and photograph when it is light and dry.
• What to bring: Waterproof shoes for the boggy ground near Hvítanes, a full tank (no services around the fjord), and a paper map or offline route, as phone signal is patchy along the walls.

Where to Stay

End the drive at The Hvítá Inn, a countryside inn on the bank of the Hvítá river at Hvítárbakki, about 75 minutes from Reykjavík by the tunnel and a little more by the fjord. Its position just off Ring Road 1 near Borgarnes makes it the natural first night after the Hvalfjörður loop, and the ideal base for the rest of the Borgarfjörður circuit the next morning. Rooms have private bathrooms. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Hansueli Krapf via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.