Rauðisandur

Beach

Rauðisandur

Beach

Iceland

Highlights

Reddish-sand beach with cliffs, known for long walks & photos

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@afar

"Rauðasandur Rauðasandur means "red sand," an apt name for this unusual rust-colored beachlocated on the southwesterly peninsula of the Westfjords, around seven miles from the Látrabjarg bird cliffs. The road leading to Rauðasandur is a steep and winding gravel road, but the scenic rewards for the drive are quite spectacular: The distinctively colored beach (thesand is composed mostly ofpulverized scallop shells) contrasts strongly with theblack cliffs behind it and the blue ocean beyond. Apart from an abandoned farm or two en route, the only other thing you’re likely to see are arctic skuas nesting near the beach, the occasional seal enjoying the sunshine on the beach, and—if visibility is good—the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and its glacier."

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Federica Bongioanni

Google

This beach is amazing! We came here on the 3rd of April early in the morning to see the sunset. We were alone. The road to come here is unpaved, from the beginning there's no asphalt. Definitely a 4x4 vehicle is your best option for this kind of roads but going slow and being careful we managed to do it also with a normal minivan. I uploaded some videos go give you an idea of the road's conditions. The place is definitely worth it!

Gerry van Roosmalen

Google

An amazing beach, with amazing views. I went to look for a pilar, I found years ago. First time I came here I could not reach it because of the tide. I went back in the afternoon. The beach is nice, and at the best when the sun is shining. A place to relax. The road that leads to the beach can be very challenging. Only do this when you have some experience driving on steep small gravelroads.

Laura De Jaegher

Google

3 stars because the journey here is honestly not worth the end result but ultimately it is still nature and therefore does have beauty. The road is quite literally effed with a deep loose gravel section (steep) followed by a reddish dirt switchback (very steep) down the other side at 20km/hr. We had thick fog on the way back making it impossible to see beyond 20m ahead of us at the top. Some locals (I’m assuming) drove too fast coming down the switchback as well which sucked because it is just senseless behaviour. There are plenty of equally if not more beautiful easily accessible beaches along the way on the other side of the mountain that we wished we would have stopped at instead. Go somewhere else.

Jana N.

Google

The Google location is wrong, the stunning yellow beach is in the opposite direction (drive to melanes campsite). At the black church, u can park, but on the beach here nothing much. My kids played and liked it, but otherwise definitely not worth the scary drive (seriously steep, winding, narrow, unpaved..).

Daniel Weber

Google

Cold windy and rainy day when we visited in May 2024. Some light slipped through the clouds allowing for some photos.

Olesja Wecker

Google

THE WAY THERE IS VERY DANGEROUS (if the weather is bad or you are an inexperienced driver). Don't drive there if you're afraid of hights, I'm serious. It's steep, there is no protection, the road is uneven, and it can be muddy. The curves are crazy as well. The beach itself is pretty but not worth the shoxk because you can't go back once you start down the mountainside.

Heather Morelli

Google

If the visibility ceiling is low, as in there's fog or light rain/mist, I don't recommend driving over. We did this and it was not the best experience. We drove well past the black church expecting to see some kind of red sand beach. It was not majestic, vast or awe inspiring for us. I'm wearing light pink shoes and the sand just looks like a sand color. When we drove back up, we could see a bit of the reddish hues, but it was thick with fog and we just didn't see much. There's no signage to direct us anywhere without any visual queues.

Andreas Willer

Google

Not the kind of beach you'd expect to find this far north, but other than that it's not that special really. Supposedly one can also watch seals here, but we didn't encounter any (admittedly we were here at the wrong time of year for this, though). Given that one has to take a gravel road over the mountain, I think I would have forgone coming here if I had known in advance what to expect.