Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Many visitors make Reykjavík their first stop, but the Snæfellsnes Peninsula was our first stop in Iceland- and for us it was the perfect decision. I knew I wanted to see Snæfellsnes, and I thought going to the northern end of our route and working our way south would be the most efficent way to see things. And although Reykjavík is lovely, it wasn’t terribly high on my list of things to see. I came to Iceland for mountains and waterfalls and horses and glaciers- things you don’t see in the city. So off to Grundarfjörður we went! Here’s how we spent our time on Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Just a note, all photos on this post were taken by me or my husband Cody- using either a Canon PowerShot SX730, iPhone X, or a Samsung Galaxy S9.
Grundarfjörður
The small village of Grundarfjörður was our base for exploring the peninsula. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the largest town on the peninsula, that would be Stykkishólmur, but it had everything that we needed- a few restaurants, a small grocery store, a gas station, and close proximity to things we wanted to see. When we travel we usually stay in AirBnbs- so once I have a general idea of the areas I want to visit I hop on the AirBnb site and start browsing. If I find an AirBnb that I just love I tend to build my intinerary around it, and that’s exactly what happened here. I didn’t know where on the peninsula I wanted to stay, but I found an incredible cabin just outside of the village and then built my itinerary out from there.
Dining
I’m not going to lie, there aren’t many options in Grundarfjörður. When you google it only 5 establishments pop up, and a couple of those are cafes. Luckily we don’t eat out every single meal when we travel. Since we stay in AirBnbs or hostels we pretty much always have a kitchen- so we stock up on a few snacks and breakfast foods, and we have breakfast “at home” every morning. So our first day in Iceland we stopped at the grocery store in Grundarfjörður and stocked up. We ate at two restaurants in the village: Láki Hafnarkaffi and Bjargarsteinn. The cafe was really good, and had sandwhiches, pizza, coffee, etc. Bjargarsteinn was recommended by our AirBnb host- who said it was the nicest restaurant in town- and was wonderful. It’s in a beautifully decorated older house that has incredible views of Kirkjufell mountain. It was sweet and cozy and a little romantic. One of the best meals of the whole trip- and we had several really wonderful meals.
Things to Do
There’s no shortage of things to see and do on the Snæfellsness peninsula. It’s a gorgeous place- with mountains, waterfalls, hot springs, and lava fields and all the lovely things Iceland is known for. We spent about a day and a half driving around and exploring the peninsula, and there are plenty of things we didn’t get to see- guess that’s a good excuse to go back! Here’s what we did during this part of our trip.
Sheep’s Waterfall
I’m not going to lie, we just lucked out and stumbled across this picturesque waterfall on our way to Grudarfjörður (Cody stopped to take a nap and I went exploring). It’s right off of route 56 that crosses the peninsula, which is a really beautiful drive and worth doing for the scenery anyway. There’s a carpark with a few picnic tables and lovely views across the lake Selvallavatn and the mountains. Once in the carpark you’ll see a path going towards the lake- follow that path and you’ll end up at Sheeps Waterfall. It’s not particularly huge or spectacular, especially when you compare it other waterfalls in Iceland, but it’s very pretty and the views from the falls are lovely. Definitely a good spot to stop and strech your legs!
Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss
Anyone who has seen HBO’s Game of Thrones will probably recognize Kirkjufell and its neighbor Kirkjufellsfoss. They are the main attractions in the Grudarfjörður area, and are pretty easy to view/visit from the main road (route 54). There’s a pretty big carpark right by Kirkjufellsfoss, and Kirkjufell itself can be easily seen from the village and the waterfall. It doesn’t take long to walk the paths around the waterfall- I’d image for most people it’s a 10-15 minute stop at most. It was fairly crowded when we were there, but it’s a beautiful spot and well worth a visit.
Arnarstapi Coastal Walk
On the south side of Snæfellsness peninsula, the Arnarstapi coastal walk is a popular trail along the coast that connects the small villages of Arnarstapi and Hellnar. The walk is about 3.8 miles roundtrip and rated easy, but we just walked the portion of the trail in Arnarstapi as it started raining while we were there. That portion of the trail is beautiful though, and there’s plenty to see! There are sea arches, basalt columns, and spectacular views. Absolutely worth a stop.
Horseback Riding near Grundarfjörður
Iceland is a horselover’s dream. There are horse farms everywhere, and tons of options for taking guided riding tours. I’m a horse girl- I’ve been riding for over 20 years. So finding time to ride when I’m abroad, especially if I can ride a native breed of horse, is super high on my list of things to do. So of course I had to ride an Icelandic horse in Iceland. Spoiler alert- it was magical! We stayed at an AirBnb on a horse farm just outside of Grundarfjörður, and I got to go ride with our host. She doesn’t run a commerical horse riding/trekking operation- but she does mention in her AirBnb lisitings that she offers rides on the farm for guests. This ride was one of the highlights of our trip for me- from the incredible views (that’s the back of Kirkjufell in the photo), to riding the tölt (the special gait of the Icelandic horse)- it was really wonderful. I had such a good time that I wish I had ridden more, but I guess I’ll just have to go back!
