Iceland Part XIV: Snæfellsnes Peninsula
My Journey: Skinny Dipping and Volcanoes
5/1/2024, Wednesday
We made our way south from the Westfjords stopping at Guðrúnarlaug , yet another geothermal pool. This one is up the hill from Dalahótel. While you can see the hotel from the pool, they can not see you. With a little patience and luck, you can have some alone time.
Guðrúnarlaug hot spring
There is a changing room nearby and the water was quite nice. I bet it would be easy to find alone time at night if staying in the nearby camp or hotel. This one has a very old school feel and made my Viking heart soar.
You know I waited until I could skinny dip, even if just for a moment.
Still on 60, we found Erpsstaðir Creamery. Here, we had some fresh ice cream and skyr. There is also a little gift shop and you can see the cows being milked. We called ahead and they opened up just for us.
We linked back up with the Ring Road before heading up 54 towards the Peninsula of Snæfellsnes.
Right off of the road is Landbrotalaug Hot Springs. It is just down a dirt road. It is in a very wet area and you have to take stepping stones to get to it. I scouted ahead to find a family of 4 in the spring so I returned to the car to have some skyr and to wait for the family departures.
It looks small and it is small. While it is dirty and wet around the spring itself, it is rocky and you can put your stuff on the nearby rocks.
I tested the water out and it was quiet deep and warm. It is very warm at your feet.
Lykania in Landbrotalaug Hot Springs
This was the only time Dez joined me in one of the natural springs. This was the warmest of all. Don’t be intimidated by the location. Truth be told, this was the most secluded of the ones we visited.
We took heyday 56 to cut across the peninsula. Ultimately, we would pass back by as there had to be some back tracking to work around road closures. Now, on the north side of the peninsula, we linked back up with 54.
We pulled over to take pictures from the Kolgrafarfjördur Viewpoint. The view here was amazing.
Kolgrafarfjördur Viewpoint
Our ultimate goal on the peninsula was to take in a view of Kirkjufellsfossar and Kirkjufell Mountain and take our picture of this iconic landscape.
Access to the view point is rather easy, and even in the shoulder season, it was quite busy.
Kirkjufellsfossar and Kirkjufell Mountain
From here, we continued west. As we followed 54 to its western post point, we got some good views of the Atlantic Ocean. Then, we climbed the pass through the mountains.
On the furthest western section, you can see the volcano, Snæfellsjökull, in the distance with its glaciers.
Snæfellsjökull
From the mountains, you dip down to a wide plane. To one side is the mountains, to the other is the ocean.
We arrived at the town of Borgarnes. Here we took pictures of the The Settlement Center and the surrounding views.
The Settlement Center
Then it was time to bed down so we checked out the local campground, Borgarnes Camping, however, it was sorely lacking in facilities so we moved on.
At this point, we were looking for a final campground. There are no pictures of this search as we were on Google nonstop. We ended up going through three possible camp sights: Borgarnes Camping, Hverinn Campsite, and Fossatún. We next checked out Hverinn, which put us near the next days activities, but it had no kitchen so we tried out Fossatún camp. However, there was no access to the camp facilities if you were not in a cabin so back to Hverinn Campsite we went. There we cooked, washed clothes, and showered.
Lessons Learned and Tips:
I should have planned the final possible camps sites more.