Snæfellsnes in one loop, ending under the aurora at Kirkjufell
Reykjavík, Búðir, Arnarstapi, Hellnar, Hellissandur, Grundarfjörður
8 stops · 7:30 am – 11:30 pm · kept in October 202413 playbooks shared · added to 31 trips
- 7:30 am1Reykjavík to Búðir under HvalfjörðurReykjavík
About 170 km. Take the Hvalfjörður tunnel — it has been toll-free since 2018 and saves 45 minutes over the fjord road, though the old fjord road is the prettier drive if you have the time. Doing the peninsula clockwise (south coast first) means the afternoon light is behind you at Djúpalónssandur and the aurora spot at Kirkjufell is on the way home, not a backtrack. Fuel up in Borgarnes; there is very little on the south shore.
- 10 am2Búðakirkja, the black church on the lavaBúðir
A small tarred timber church alone in an 8,000-year-old lava field, with the graveyard wall and nothing else for kilometres. Free, but it is an active church and a burial ground: stay outside the wall unless it is open, and do not fly a drone over it. The lava path behind it toward the beach is ten minutes and worth it.
- 11 am3Arnarstapi to Hellnar along the cliff pathArnarstapi
2.5 km each way over a protected lava shore, mostly level, about 45 minutes one way. Gatklettur — the circular stone arch — is 10 minutes from the Arnarstapi car park, along with blowholes and ravines full of nesting kittiwakes and fulmars from May to August. The cliff edges are undercut and unfenced; the grass ends before the rock does. Walk out and back rather than shuttling cars.
- 12:25 pm4Coffee and cake at Fjöruhúsið, HellnarHellnar
A tiny wooden house right on the cove at the Hellnar end of the walk — fish soup, rhubarb pie, twelve seats and a view of the surf. Cash-free, summer season only (roughly May to September); out of season, eat in Hellissandur or Ólafsvík instead.
13 min by train or taxi · 8.2 km - 1:40 pm5Down into Vatnshellir lava tubeHellissandur
About 5,400 ISK. A guided 45 minutes down a spiral staircase 35 m below the surface into an 8,000-year-old lava tube, 200 m in — helmet and torch provided, and it is the only way in, the gate is locked otherwise. Tours run on the hour; in summer buy the next slot on arrival, in winter check the day's departures first. Constant 5°C inside, so keep the jacket, and it is not for anyone unhappy in the dark or on stairs.
8 min by train or taxi · 4.1 km - 2:50 pm6Djúpalónssandur and the lifting stonesHellissandur
Black pebbles rather than sand, reached by a path down through lava pinnacles. Four stones sit on the beach — Fullsterkur at 154 kg down to Amlóði at 23 kg — the old test for a place in a fishing crew; lift them if you like, they are not roped off. The rusted iron scattered over the beach is the wreck of the English trawler Epine, lost in 1948 with 14 men, and it is a protected memorial: look, photograph, leave every piece where it is. Big Atlantic swell, no lifeguard, stay high on the beach.
36 min by train or taxi · 36 km - 6 pm7Dinner at Bjargarsteinn, with Kirkjufell in the windowGrundarfjörður
The best restaurant on the peninsula, in a house that was physically moved 140 km from Akranes to this spot on the water. Book weeks ahead and ask for a window table: it looks straight across the fjord at Kirkjufell. Around 7,800 ISK a head for two courses. The drive up from Djúpalónssandur via Ólafsvík takes an hour, so this gap is real, not padding — stop at Svöðufoss on the way if you have twenty spare minutes.
- 9 pm8Aurora over KirkjufellsfossGrundarfjörður
Held, because nobody can plan an aurora. The conditions to check by 19:00 are on en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora: you need clear sky to the north far more than a high KP number, and this coast clouds over fast. The car park at the falls is paid (about 1000 ISK) and floodlit at the road end — walk past the lights. Two tripod facts worth knowing: the classic composition puts the falls in the foreground and the mountain behind, and it needs a wide lens and roughly 8 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 1600. Do not attempt to climb Kirkjufell in the dark; the standard route has killed hikers and needs a guide and a rope even in daylight.