Iceland · The west
They call Snæfellsnes "Iceland in miniature," and once you round its first headland you understand why. In the space of a single peninsula you find a glacier-capped volcano, black-sand beaches, sea cliffs alive with birds, lava fields and tiny fishing villages, all of it crowned by the most photographed mountain in the country.
The drive west from Reykjavik takes about two hours, and from there the road simply curls around the coast. You pass Kirkjufell, the perfect arrowhead that rises beside its little waterfall, then carry on toward Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-topped volcano that Jules Verne chose as the gateway to the center of the earth. Along the way the cliffs at Arnarstapi drop straight into the surf and the black pebbles of Djúpalónssandur crunch underfoot.
It is the kind of place we love to give a little room. You can loop the whole peninsula in one long, satisfying day, but we often build in an overnight so you can catch Kirkjufell in soft morning light, linger over a harbor lunch, and let the wild western edge of Iceland unfold at its own unhurried pace.
