Iceland has endless spots for where to stop along it’s western Snaefellsnes Peninsula. We completed a drive along the entire Snaefellsnes Peninsula in one day. Having to narrow down what we thought would be the best places and sights to stop along our route was tough, but we were so happy with our itinerary at the end of the day, we saw so much! Here I included all of our stops along with a map!

We started our day very early as we were driving from Hveragerði where we stayed in our campervan the night before. It was about a 2 hour drive until we hit out first stop at the Gerduberg Cliffs. We actually stopped at the
Landbrotalaug Hot Pot first, but found it to be a little crowded so decided to come back towards the end of the day as we were completing a loop anyways. This was in our plans since we knew it was just a tiny hot spring for two.

Here is a map of the entire route. The driving times do not account for stops for hikes for time to view the sights. It is easily do-able if you move semi-quickly, especially with Iceland’s long summer days.

Also check out our Complete 9 Day Iceland Schedule.

The Route

Gerduberg Cliffs

Map

The Gerduberg Cliffs is a stop right off of the road. There is a small section to park, for free. The road coming in is pretty bumpy, we didn’t have 4 wheel drive but if you take it slow and try to avoid the pot holes it should be fine. It is a flat road. This is a pretty quick stop, it is interesting to see the shaped rock columns and formations. These basalt columns create a wall where some of the columns reach up to 14 meters. We climbed around a little to get a closer look and left shortly after.

Sheep’s Waterfall & Selvallavatn Lake

Map

This stop was not a planned stop for us. But when driving by I thought it looked intriguing and asked to pull over. I am glad we did. It brought us to view of Selvallavatn Lake and a short walk over to the left was Sheep’s Waterfall.

Kirkjufell Mountain & Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall

Map

Kirkjufell Mountain and Waterfalls is most well known attraction along the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, and maybe even Iceland its self. Before going to Iceland I saw countless photos of this mountain captured at all different types of seasons. There is a small parking lot that is also free, we didn’t pay for any parking lots while on our drive. The mountain will be on the right but the famous waterfalls are actually on your left. If you want to capture and see that iconic sight you will have to walk up and around the falls to the viewing areas. It was starting to rain pretty good when we got to this sight so it made it a little less enjoyable as it was super foggy. But all still worth it, such an interesting land formation.

You can choose to hike around the mountain, we thought of possibly doing this but we running late on time.

Ingjaldshólskirkja Church

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The churches in Iceland have the most unbelievable back drops ever. Often in the middle of no where, these are pretty cool to see. The Ingjaldsholskirkja Church had an incredible mountain surrounding which made this visit so serene.

Trod Forest Lava Fields

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This stop was not on our our list, but we found these lava fields to be so intriguing while we drove by that we just had to stop. It ended up being one of my favorite stops of the day!

We pulled into the parking lot of what seemed to be a restaurant and visitor center but later found a more official parking lot (use the map link above to find the lot). In the lava fields there are lots of paths to walk around and explore on.

These lava fields are found all over Iceland, but the mountains in the back and stormy sky made this a peaceful and beautiful sight to see.

Svortuloft Lighthouse

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This bright orange lighthouse looks like something out of a Wes Anderson movie. To get here we got off Útnesvegur road at 579 Ondverdarnes (there will be a very small sign off the main road). We then drove past Skarðsvík Beach, which we stopped at later, and finally found ourselves at a T in the road. Here many people were stopping to pull off the side of the road and park. Looking ahead the road did look quite rocky and filled with pot holes so we decided to do the same. I am glad we did as the walk along the cliffs where incredible.

We took the time to walk along the edge, it reminded me a lot of the Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland. Huge cliff edges and beautifully blue water crashing into the cliffs.

Eventually we made out way to the Svortuloft lighthouse. Iceland is full of such vivid colors and this lighthouse added to it. I would highly recommend this stop.

Skarðsvík Beach

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We saw the Skardsvik beach while heading in and knew we would want to stop here. So we pulled in the small parking lot here, made use sandwiches and ate them at the picnic table with an incredible view.

After lunch we eventually went down and walked a long the sand, I find it so cool that this sand was so light and yet later that day not too far from here we were on a black sand beach! This place again reminded me of the beaches in the Ireland along the Dingle Peninsula, such light sand and cliff edges all around.

Saxholl Crater

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This nest stop for us was the Saxholl Crater, which is a stop for many along their drive around the peninsula. And a pretty quick one as well. You will need to be able to climb up stairs for about 5-10 minutes before you can see to this collapsed core of this once was volcano. The crater is about 100 meters high.

Once at the top you can walk along the craters edge and peak in. The rocks and dirt are so red! But I believe the most impressive views were actually of the surrounding areas. From up here you can see for miles and miles.

Dritvik Djúpalónssandur

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Our stop here was definitely a highlight of our stops that day. This stop is kind of two stops in one. Dritvik Djúpalónssandur translates to Black Lava Pearl Beach. From the parking lot you can choose to go two ways. One taking you through a rocky path to the black sand beach, and the two being going above the beach for a more aerial view and view of the cliffs. This is about a 1.5 mile round trip walk.

We heading to the beach first. You will walk down the Nautastígur path – the Path of the Bull. This will be a short walk through a lava field, where you can view some interesting rock formations. Once through the lava field you will see some natural lagoons and then one to the beach.

Once approaching the beach here is also where you will find pieces of orange iron that are the remains of a shipwreck that happened in 1948. The beach here is incredible, filled will ‘pearl’ like black pebbles. It was a rainy day so the waves were really crashing into the beach.

Eventually we headed towards they right, facing the land, to take the trail up above.

From here you will have an aerial view of this beautiful black sand beach.

Londrangar Cliffs

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Our next stop around the peninsula was at Londrangar Cliffs. This is another popular stop along the route, many people just go to the viewing platforms provided. But if you have a good set of shoes I would suggest heading down the walking paths for a better and more personal view.

These cliffs were formed by a crater, where now the sea has engulfed and eroded. We took the path for about a 30 minute leisurely walk to the Londrangar pillars. Totally worth is. I loved seeing spring start to pop up in Iceland with all these little flowers in the moss.

The town for Ararstapi is near by if looking to stop for a bite to eat.

Raudfeldsgja Gorge

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The Raudfeldsgja Gorge is a small cut out in the Botnsfjall mountain. In the winter it is hard to go into as it is often packed with snow and ice. But in the summer months you can hike right into the gorge. We seems to have come just a little too early, the first week in June. The snow and ice were still melting which made it hard and what seemed to me dangerous to hike into the gorge. Many people tried it but it did not look safe or much of a sight once in the gorge.

I will say the view from this looking back was pretty cool. Not many places can you see a mountain, snow, a gorge and then in the distance a sandy beach and the ocean. All in one sight, Iceland is so diverse. It will take you about 10 minutes from the parking lot to hike up to the gorge entrance.

Búðakirkja Church

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If you want to see one of those iconic black churches in Iceland this is a perfect quick stop. The Budakirkja church was built in the 19th century and sits in a lava field, which you will see a lot of in this loop. It also has a historic grave yard beside it. Many people come here for their shots of the northern lights in the winter as well.

This stop hit all the Iceland checklist items, we saw the Icelandic horses here in a field as well.

Bjarnarfoss

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We had the Bjarnarfoss waterfall on our list for if we had time, but the night was starting to get late. Hungry and ready to hopefully soak in a hot spring sounded good. So we skipped out on this stop, but you can actually see it from the road. There is a small parking lot and many people were hiking up to the fall but we didn’t feel like it was worth our time.

The hike to the waterfall will take about 20 minutes one way. It seemed like a pretty flat hike as well.

Landbrotalaug Hot Pot

The Landbrotalaug Hot Pot was a perfect last stop after a full day of exploring and driving. We brought some local brews and made dinner at this hot spring for two! I can’t get over how cool this hot spring was. We stayed for about an hour here but I could have stayed much longer soaking in this natural hot spring. I will say it is kinda tricky to find so check out my article here for exactly how to find it and more info.

After finishing our trip around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula we headed to the Bjarteyjarsandur campground to stay for the night. It was a long drive but we wanted to be close to the start of the Glymur Waterfall. Always good to get an early start to avoid the crowds.

Other ways for explore the Snaefellsnes Peninsula

We completed this loop by self driving in our campervan, this is way I would highly suggest renting a car or campervan. There is so much to see in Iceland and this really lets you move at your own pace and pick out what you want to see and enjoy. For an example it might be hard to find a tour to experience the two person hot pot with a large group.

If renting a vehicle is not an option here are some tours that will also take you to many of these stops along the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. I know many people who had traveled Iceland with tours and had a great time as well!

Extreme Iceland has tours that range from one day to multiple day tours.

Get Your Guide has a great one day tour around the peninsula, starting from Reykjavik.

Guide to Iceland also has 1 day and 2 day tours along Western Iceland.

Arctic Adventurers has a great one day tour hitting some of the same spots that I listed above.