{"id":81410,"date":"2020-02-08T13:12:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T13:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icelandaurora.com\/phototours\/?p=81410"},"modified":"2023-11-19T13:38:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T13:38:59","slug":"raudisandur-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icelandaurora.com\/archive-phototours\/raudisandur-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Rau\u00f0isandur Beach – Westfjords Iceland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rau\u00f0isandur beach is on the South side of Iceland\u2019s Westfjords\u00a0Info Link<\/a>\u00a0and is south facing.\u00a0 Rau\u00f0isandur is also spelled Rau\u00f0asandur and features \u201cRed Sand\u201d. \u00a0 The redish-coloured sand is significant and celebrated by the Icelanders because the black sand is very common and can be found on the majority of Iceland\u2019s beaches. Like many Icelandic place names, Rau\u00f0isandur could be named after an early Viking settler called \u00c1rm\u00f3\u00f0ur the Red (\u00c1rm\u00f3\u00f0ur rau\u00f0i \u00deorbjarnarson).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vestfir\u00f0ir Strandir<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

West coast beaches<\/em>
On a clear day, you can see across Brei\u00f0afj\u00f6r\u00f0ur to the mountains of Snaefellsnes Peninsular. It is not far from Patreksfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur and it is just a few minutes driving from Latrabjarg puffin cliffs. People come for the colour of the sand because everywhere else in Iceland has black-sand beaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving down to Rau\u00f0isandur beach can be horrible for passengers without a fearless sense of death. There is a very steep, winding road from the mountain pass down to the beach, and it is quite narrow. From the bottom of this road, there is about a 10-minute drive to the car park.\u00a0 This is past the black church.\u00a0 Then there is about a 20-minute walk to the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rau\u00f0isandur
The sand is pink in places.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Legend of the red head and the wizard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1243 there lived a red haired lady beneath the mountains near where the Rau\u00f0isandur church stands today.\u00a0 She used to feed fish to a cat that belonged to the local wizard.\u00a0 Legend has it that the cat and the lady were so close that they were able to shape-shift, so that the cat could become the woman and make a Skonsatunfisk (an Icelandic tuna pizza).\u00a0 Like-wise, the red-haired woman could become a cat and chase the mice along the red sands of Rau\u00f0isandur beach.\u00a0 And this is what gave the sand its red colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The red-pink colour is actually because the sand is crushed scallop shells.\u00a0 The Westfjords is one of the oldest parts of Iceland and hasn\u2019t had any volcanic activity in recent times.\u00a0 You might see black sand here in layers, according to the times and chaos of the waves.\u00a0 This could be from Sn\u00e6fellsj\u00f6kull Volcano whose last eruption was over 2000 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More local info\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Tips<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The beach is around 7 miles in length, and all my photos here were taken roughly from the middle.\u00a0 You can improve on them by walking to either end and maybe getting some elevation and foreground in the mountains or rocks. I like to shoot towards the west because the mountains are a bit more interesting in the distance.\u00a0 Either direction can look good with low clouds, moonlight, or some evening colours in the sky.\u00a0 This is a place you would typically visit in the summer because I wouldn\u2019t want to attempt the mountain track in icy conditions, and I have lots of experience both with this road and icy conditions.\u00a0 It\u2019s just not worth it for a fairly plain, albeit colourful beach.\u00a0 In mid-summer, the mid-night sun is going on in the north and can\u2019t be seen from Rau\u00f0isandur beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rau\u00f0isandur
Long exposure abstract photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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