Ask an Icelander which single day gets you closest to the whole country, and a surprising number of them will point west. Not to the Golden Circle, not to the South Coast, but to a peninsula about ninety kilometres long that most visitors drive straight past on their way somewhere else.
Snæfellsnes has a glacier, a volcano, lava fields, black-pebble beaches, sea cliffs full of birds, seals sunning themselves on rocks, and working fishing villages where the boats still go out in the morning. All of it within a couple of hours of Reykjavík. That is why people call it Iceland in miniature, and it is why North Fantasy built one of our four signature day tours around it.
Snæfellsjökull sits at the far tip, a 1,446-metre volcano with a glacier on top of it. On a clear day you can see it from Reykjavík, a hundred and twenty kilometres away across the bay. Jules Verne chose it as the entrance to the centre of the earth in his novel, and standing at the bottom of it you can see why the idea occurred to him.
Further along the north coast is Kirkjufell, the most photographed mountain in the country. It rises straight out of the shoreline near Grundarfjörður with a small waterfall in front of it, and photographs never quite prepare you for how abruptly it appears. It is also a famous landmark that you may recognise from popular TV shows such as Game of Thrones, where it is known as “Arrowhead Mountain.”
Then there is Djúpalónssandur, a beach of smooth black pebbles reached through a gap in the lava. Four heavy stones still sit above the shore, the ones fishermen once had to lift to prove they were strong enough for a place on a boat. Rusted pieces of a British trawler wrecked here in 1948 are scattered across the sand, left where they lie as a memorial. Discover the ghostly legends and fascinating stories hidden in the beach’s history. Join us on our tour and hear the tales that have been passed down through generations!
Snæfellsnes is also home to some wonderful quaint little villages that can make you feel as you have stepped into another world. One of our favourites is Stykkishólmur, located on the northern side of the peninsula. The village became famous for its appearance in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with its colourful wooden houses, charming harbour and unique church. One of the most fascinating places to visit is the Library of Water, a very unusual art installation created by American artist Roni Horn. Housed in a former library on top of a hill overlooking the ocean, the installation is composed of 24 tall glass columns filled with water collected from glaciers across Iceland. Stykkishólmur is also the gateway to two very different adventures: the mysterious Westfjords and the tiny island of Flatey. Once home to a thriving community, Flatey now has only a handful of permanent residents, with around five or six people living there throughout the year. And yes, it is possible to visit Flatey, particularly during the summer months, and even spend the night there. Staying overnight allows you to have a full on experience of the island, it is very small, so it is very easy to walk around it for a couple of hours. Regular tours do not usually include a stop on the island, but a visit can be arranged privately for those who would like to experience this very special place. If that sounds like something you would love to do, drop us an email at [email protected] and we will be happy to provide more information.
Further along the coast are Arnarstapi and Hellnar, two small villages surrounded by dramatic cliffs, sea stacks and beautiful coastal scenery. This area is also a favourite spot of orca families. If you are lucky and spend enough time watching the sea, you might even spot them from the harbour, sometimes coming surprisingly close to investigate what is happening along the coast. Orcas are incredibly curious animals, and seeing one of these magnificent families in their natural environment is an unforgettable experience.
Lastly, there is Ytri-Tunga beach, permanent home to some seal families, seals are naturally very curious animals as well, they love jumping into the water and stare at their visitors. The beach is also very close to the famous Black church also known as Búðakirkja sitting beside the Búðahraun lava field, with the dramatic Snæfellsnes landscape surrounding it.
Snæfellsnes is home to petrified trolls, whales and seals, quaint little towns, famous glaciers and long, powerful beaches and stretches of coast road with nobody else on them. A place you will always remember.
Here is the honest bit. Every operator running Snæfellsnes stops at more or less the same places. The peninsula doesn’t change. What changes is how much of it reaches you.
North Fantasy caps every day tour with eight guests. Eight people means the guide can pull over when the light does something worth stopping for. It means twenty minutes walking the beach at Djúpalónssandur instead of photographing it from the car park. It means you can ask a question and get an actual answer, from someone who grew up here and has an opinion about which stop is the best one.
It is the difference between passing through a place and spending a day in it. That is the whole reason we have run our day tours this way since 2003.
Snæfellsnes works year-round. Summer gives you long light, nesting seabirds and easy road conditions. Autumn and winter bring dramatic weather, fewer people and, on clear nights, the aurora over a coastline with almost no light pollution. Spring is quiet and green. There is no wrong month, only different versions of the same peninsula.
If a day among glaciers, lava fields, fishing villages and the open Atlantic sounds like your kind of Iceland, our small-group Snæfellsnes tour is where to start. Eight guests, one local guide, and no reason to rush.
