Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes

As I write it’s already May 5th – Day 4 of our tour of the Western Fjords and the North of Iceland – and we’ve already spent 24 hours in Patreksfjordur, so have already moved on from Snaelfellnes…. but I have to share some of the sights and experiences we enjoyed there during Days 2 and 3 before boarding the ferry to come over to the Western Fjords.

We packed a fair bit into our morning in Reykjavik. Our planned breakfast location was not open so we walked up the main road a little to one of the hotels where we enjoyed a really good continental style buffet breakfast for 3000 Icelandic Krone – about £18 – being told to eat and drink as much as we needed.

By 10am we were going our separate ways either shopping, sightseeing or sorting out things that needed to be done before we hit the road.

Check out was at 11am and that was when we began to make our way up the road to the church, knowing that we would be able to go inside. It was quieter than when we had visited in October and much easier to photograph, imposing in its simplicity.

The organ was being played as we walked in and visitors were sitting listening and enjoying the music. And all the different sections of the church drew our attention before we moved off to the shop to buy tickets for the lift to the top of the bell tower: unfortunately a couple of the group were left with bells ringing in their ears as they were at the top when the bells were rung!

The view from the top seemed a bit more vibrant on this occasion looking down on the activity of toy town below.

As we gathered to start our journey to Snaefellsnes a load of buses pulled up and out poured what seemed like a whole school of young people, the girls in national costume, the boys in evening suits. A couple of ladies standing nearby seemed to know what was going on, so I asked if they could tell us what was happening: it was the equivalent of a school prom. Their children were there and they explained that next year they would graduate. They were proud parents and their son and daughter were happy to be photographed.

And through this encounter we achieved our first conversation with real Icelanders! It’s almost easier to strike up a conversation with an Eastern European than with a local. Young people from all over Europe are employed seasonally in the hospitality sector.

Off to the van and we were on our way to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. The drive wasn’t that long, especially as it was punctuated with stops as we began to appreciate the rural scenery.

The snow lying in the undergrowth looked like buds of cotton ready for picking as we drove along the quiet road. The mountains were amazing -close yet weirdly unreachable.

Not so the famous black church at Budir where we spent a very pleasant hour or so before heading to the hotel at nearby Langaholt to check in.

So to the hotel – simple but good, with great views from the bedrooms and ate minute trek along a dirt track to the beach where the wind was fierce but the surf was high. So we had a productive evening!

The next day we aimed to do everything that can take at least 24 hours on Snaefellsnes in about 6 hours as we had to be at the ferry terminal by 2pm…

That didn’t stop us drawing to a halt at the roadside if something looked as if it was waiting to be photographed!

First stop, the lava field, with dire warnings about treading on moss and losing your footing.

Next came the coastal arch

The distant red roof of a church took our attention, making us wonder about the community it served: there was precious little sign of habitation!

But the big ‘draw’ of the peninsula is Kirkjufell and the Kirkjufellfoss waterfalls

And then it was a fast drive to a fascinating ferry crossing!! We made it!