Beautiful and dramatic lava rock coastlines, lava fields and black beaches, the iconic Kirkjufell, and very good fish and chips.
We left Siglufjordur early, after an excellent breakfast, as we had a long drive to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. It was raining as we set off north to Saudanes then turned south. The road in this extreme north of Iceland passed through another of the one-way tunnels we'd encountered on our way to Siglufjordur, this one was actually curved so it was impossible to see if anyone was coming in the opposite direction until headlights lit up the wall. The road was intermittently gravel, though in very good condition so not a problem. The northern fjords are dramatic, lined with snow-capped mountains.
We stopped for lunch in Bogarnes, an excellent home-made tomato soup, bread, salads and fresh fruit at the Settlement Centre, and reached the Hotel Budir at 2:25pm. We had a room with a great view of the mountains and coast.
We decided to go for a walk from the hotel, across the lava field, Budahraun, heading towards a volcanic cone. It's a fascinating landscape though very difficult underfoot.
The fissures and hollows are populated with many different types of lichens, mosses and other plants.
There is a track of sorts but it became increasingly difficult to follow. It is very easy to get lost in the lava fields, once you lose sight of the hotel or any obvious landscape features, so eventually we turned back.
We made a detour to the sand dunes and, on the way back to the hotel, passed the ruins of houses, maybe the original fishing village, and the small black chapel.
We had a very good meal in the hotel restaurant that evening, and breakfast was fine too. The hotel bar is very comfortable with deep sofas and views over the coast and mountains. But the room leaves a bit to be desired, in particular the Roman blinds leak light on all sides so it was very bright overnight.
A lovely rocky cove with cliffs of screaming sea birds.
Londrangar are two pillars of rock, the remnants of a volcano, on the edge of cliffs west of Hellnar. From the car park we walked up to the viewpoint then down to the rocks before returning to the car, about 1km in total.
Lava cliffs and a wide grey/black beach with the remains of a shipwreck in Dritvik cove.
The British trawler Epin GY7 was wrecked east of Dritvik on the night of the 13th March, 1948. Only five of the 19 crew were saved.
One of the most photographed spots in Iceland, this 463m mountain stands dramatically proud of the surrounding landscape.
We came here to have lunch and ended up at the harbour where we discovered Hafnarvagninn, a fish and chip van which serves very good fish and chips with sauces.
Stykkisholmur is a working fishing town with a sheltered harbour, an impressive cliff at the harbour mouth.