10 Best Things to Do in West Iceland

In this post, we’ll show you the 10 best things to see and do in West Iceland. We’re covering the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and the Reykjanes Peninsula. If you’re looking for information on the Westfjords, check out our post about that.

The Snæfellsnes Peninsula is about two hours northwest of Reykjavík. It’s known as Iceland in miniature because you can experience many of Iceland’s diverse landscapes in a smaller locale. If you don’t have time to drive the Ring Road, this is a good place to explore in a shorter timeframe.

The tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula is about an hour southwest of Reykjavik. It is what I would call the most volatile area of the whole island. It is home to continual geothermal activity and several volcanic eruptions in the last few years, which are representative and “on schedule” with eruptions that occurred thousands of years prior.

Head to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula

First, let’s explore what there is to see on this peninsula. We’ll start with Grundarfjörður. This town has a port that many cruise ships use to stop and drop off passengers so that they can walk to the ever-popular Kirkjufell mountain. It’s a 2.5 km, 30-minute walk. We noticed that it’s incredibly busy in the morning. But later in the day, most everyone has disappeared. So, you might want to drive through and check out whether there’s parking at the lot next to the waterfall from which you can photograph Kirkjufell mountain. There’s a lovely market in Grundarfjörður where you can get provisions for lunch if you need them. This is also the place to use the public WC. Definitely take advantage of that before you go anywhere else.

Check the Crowds at Kirkjufell Mountain, then go to Arnarstapi

Since it was busy when we arrived, we skipped Kirkjufell and visited it on the way back from skirting the rest of the peninsula. So, we’ll come back to it later. Next stop is Arnarstapi. Just a heads-up: the public WCs in Arnastapi are a ripoff. They’re set up such that you pay to use the stalls. And even if you pay, that doesn’t open the stall. It did when I was there, but more recent reviews indicate that they no longer work. So, steer clear and be prepared. The closest WC is at the Visitor’s Center for Lóndrangar. There are also WCs at the Snæfellsnes Visitor Center, and there’s a public WC on the other side of the peninsula from Arnastapi, here.

In Arnarstapi, you will find a fabulous trail along the cliffs above the beach. You can park at any of the three free lots. This is where you’ll find the cliff trail parking lot. And this one is the main car park. And this one is the trailhead parking lot.

Take a Moment at the Monument to the Bard of Snæfellsnes Peninsula – 1

If you park in the main car park or the cliff trail parking lot, likely the first thing you’ll encounter is the Monument to the Bard of Snæfellsás, which is the half-man, half-troll protector of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

See the Gatklettur Arch – 2

Continue on the trail headed toward the beach, and you will find Gatklettur, a basalt arch created through years of waves and wind. It’s one of many basalt structures you will find on the trail between Arnastapi and Hellnar. This is what it looks like.

Hike the Trail Toward Hellnar

Drive to Lóndrangar View Point – 3

The above directions go to the Svalthufa Parking lot, which is a free parking lot nearest the trail that takes you along the cliffs to see the beautiful basalt formations along the coast. There is another parking lot called Malarrif Parking, which has a longer trail that takes you to the Lóndrangar View Point, but it’s a paid Parka lot. It also has WCs in its Visitors’ Center, though, so that might be worth the 700 ISK. Many birds perch on the cliffs here. These are a few of the photos I took there.

Journey to Djúpalónssandur Black Sand Beach – 4

There are a lot of places to explore at this beach. Walking amongst the rock formations almost feels like you’re in an episode of Game of Thrones, especially at the far north end of the beach, where the rock formations hover over your every move. Some people found the beach to be the best place to nap, maybe the sun made the rocky beach warm. The sound on the beach was loud as the waves rolled in, churned up the rocks, and pulled them back into the sea. Check out the video below to hear the sound.

And here are some of the cool places on the beach where you can take photos and meander through the giant rock formations.

Head to the Stellar Svöðufoss – 5

We got to Svöðufoss around 7 PM, and it was pretty quiet there. We parked in the free parking lot and walked the 1 kilometer to the viewing platform. Before we got there, I got probably the best photograph of the waterfall from out in the middle of the field on the trail.

Rick also put his drone up and got the video below.

Amble over to Kirkjufell – 6

At the point we got to the parking lot, which is a pay lot, non-Parka, it was about 7:30 PM. There’s a sign to guide you through paying at the entrance to the trail to the waterfalls, although I have to say we did run into people who were confused about the instructions on the sign. The volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula three days earlier continued to plague our photos. Here, the volcanic ash shrouded Kirkjufell mountain.

This is also the place where a woman asked me when the clouds would clear over the mountain. First time I’ve ever been mistaken for a meteorologist. I explained that they weren’t just clouds, that it’s volcanic ash hanging in the atmosphere, and if there’s no wind, it’ll continue to hang there. She then asked if the volcanic ash was hazardous, and I told her, yes, it is. She quickly gathered all of her family and friends and hustled out like wildfire.

There were still a fair number of people here and some persistent stragglers who wanted to plant themselves in the middle of the waterfalls. Photoshop to the rescue. Here’s what it looked like, minus the people I took out.

Visit the Reykjanes Peninsula

Here are some of the sights to see on the Reykjanes Peninsula

Bridge Between Continents – 7

Of all places in Iceland, this is the place you want to look at the road.is and SafeTravels.is sites before walking around any of them. For example, right now it’s showing large crevasses having opened up at the Bridge Between Continents, and advises people to stick to the path. There are lots of areas to play in the sand there, so when we went, we had no idea that there was a sinkhole warning, so we had been walking all around the sand area! You can find out more about the Bridge Between Continents on the VisitReykjanes site. Here’s what it looked like while we were there.

The Reykjanes Lighthouse – 8

This place has public restrooms, but to use them, you must pay for parking. You can use the Parka app. This is one of the places that records your license plate as you drive in. Find out more about the Reykjanes Lighthouse on the VisitReykjanes site. Here’s what the lighthouse looked like while we were there.

Brimketill Lava Rock Pool – 9

The wind was whipping, and the waves were wild while we were there. It reminded me of Queen’s Bath in Kauai and Devil’s Cupper in Sint Maarten. You can find out more about the Brimketill Lava Rock Pool on the Guide to Iceland site. Here’s what it looked like while we were there.

Reykjanes Peninsula Volcanoes (if eruptions have occurred recently) – 10

When we were there, the Sundhnukur Volcano (or volcanic chain) erupted the week before we got to the Peninsula. It was difficult to apply a review to the correct volcano because that particular volcano doesn’t show up on most Iceland volcano maps. I eventually was able to apply it correctly after viewing the activity on the Icelandic Meteorological Office website. As I look at the site now, it’s showing an increased likelihood of an eruption in that same area due to magma buildup. So, it’s also a good place to check before you head to the Reykjanes Peninsula.

The Perlan also has an excellent overview of the volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

Here are a few pics of what we saw when we went out to view the still spewing volcano. It had erupted on July 16th, and these pictures were taken on July 20th. We took these from a rugged parking area that we got to by taking a dirt road turnout off of highway 43, roughly halfway between highway 41 and Grindavik. I’ve added a picture of our location from one of the photos.

Conclusion: Your West Coast Adventure Awaits

In this post, we’ve shown you the top 10 places to visit on the two peninsulas nearest Reykjavik, which are on the West Coast of Iceland. If you don’t have time to drive the Ring Road, these are two places within an easy drive from Reykjavik where you can see some of the wonders of Iceland. But we highly recommend taking the entire Ring Road journey.