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I have fond memories of beaches from my youth. I would spend much of my boyhood years scampering about a cove near my home, and the beach there was a typical Icelandic one, with black sand, smooth gravel, and rocks. Apparently, such beaches are not so common on planet Earth, and when Clint Eastwood wanted to recreate the Battle of Iwo Jima, where the sand on the beaches is black, he needed to go all the way to Iceland to find them, as Iwo Jima is closed to filmmakers.
But in the unlikely event that you have visited Iceland and are looking for a perfect out-of-this-world beach with golden sand, you need to travel to the remote Westfjords. At the southern edge of the Westfjords, you will find two perfect beaches with golden sand that shouldn´t really be in Iceland at all.
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The fabled and remote beach at Rauðisandur (or Red Sand) is a bit hard to reach, but in the summer it is well worth the travel. It stretches forever with golden shell sand. It is close to the massive cliffs of Látrabjarg (it is quite something to behold from the beach), the isolated farm of Brautarholt in the valley of Selárdalur, which a lonely farmer turned into a surreal artistic fantasy land on his own. Nearby is the now deserted farm of Sjöundaá, an infamous scene of murders from in the early nineteenth century where a farmer and his mistress decided to rid themselves of their respective spouses.
Another beach famous for golden shell sands is Barðarströnd, on the southern edge of the Westfjords. Icelanders sometimes jokingly refer to it as “Costa del Barda” or Barði´s beach. I spent a week a few years ago in a small cottage nearby, and running on that beach was the perfect “Chariots of Fire” moment, although it must be said that Rauðisandur is a lot more impressive place. Anyway, you could run there for about 4 km on nothing but golden sand, and even if you had to turn around to reach the desired 10 km, it was the perfect place to run indeed. The only problem was the aggressive Arctic Tern, which defended its territory vigorously. But don´t worry, the worst thing it will do to you is to peck your head a bit and hit you with its, well, missiles. I survived both.
How to get to Rauðisandur
From the town of Patreksfjörður (Vesturbyggð) drive on road no. 62, turn onto road number 614. Park your car right next to the café Kirkjuhvammur and walk towards the beach. I recommend the waffles at the café BTW.
How to get to Barðaströnd
Drive on the road number. 62 from the town of Patreksfjörður (Vesturbyggð). More information on Wikipedia.
