Private Mythical Snæfellsnes Tour

The Snæfellsnes Peninsula is a location where nature, history, and folklore converge, creating a place of rugged beauty and mysterious charm. Jules Verne utilized the Snæfellsjökull glacier, the volcano at the western tip of the peninsula, as the gateway in his story "Journey to the Center of the Earth." Icelandic novelist and Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness also chose this locale for one of his best novels, "Under the Glacier."

Exploring the area through a private tour with a knowledgeable driver and vehicle is an excellent way to experience its extensive offerings.

The drive along the peninsula is remarkably scenic, with a landscape that unfolds as a wonderful symphony of extinct volcanoes, hot springs, craters, and lava fields formed during volcanic activities in the distant past. Possible stops include the rock formations at Gerðuberg, the black church at Búðir, and the seals at Ytri Tunga beach. Noteworthy attractions encompass black sand beaches and the golden beach at Skarðsvík.

The fishing villages of Arnarstapi and Hellnar serve as reminders of Iceland's history as a fishing nation. Further out, Djúpalónssandur beach offers a breathtaking view, where a lava flow from the great volcano met the ocean, creating a natural harbor. Rounding the peninsula provides a great vista of the glacier-capped volcano that rises from almost sea level up to 1446 m.

On the northern side of the peninsula lies Kirkjufell, a cone-shaped mountain near the fishing village of Grundarfjörður. This area, also designated as a national park, offers numerous excellent photo opportunities. Snæfellsjökull is notable as a place where aliens were expected to land a few years ago, although the welcoming party did not locate them at that time or any other time, for that matter.

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Vatnshellir Cave
The Shark Museum at Bjarnarhöfn
The Settlement Museum Exhibitions

Private vehicle and English speaking driver
Pick up and drop off in Reykjavik capital city area

The Settlement Center in Borgarnes has a great vegetarian lunch buffet
Elves and Trolls are said to be plentiful on Sæfellsnes Peninsula
Be prepared for every kind of weather except a heatwave although that might not be impossible..
The Greenland scenes in Ben Stiller´s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty were shot on the northern part of the peninsula.

Borgarnes
The small town of Borgarnes is about one hour drive from Reykjavik and marks the start of the peninsula. The area is a setting for large parts of one of the best known sagas, Egil’s Saga, and at The Settlement Center there are two exhibitions, one is about the first settlers of Iceland that arrived here as a part of the viking expansion into Europe, the other is dedicated to the great viking warrior poet Egil Skallagrímsson.
Arnarstapi and Hellnar
Two old fishing villages with a path between them. Some of the bird cliffs and rock formations along the shoreline are fascinating and can easily spark the imagination. At Arnarstapi there is a tall sculpture of the saga figure Bárður Snæfellsás which oversees the village. At Hellnar there are some amazing lava formations on the beach and there’s also a nice little café there.
Djúpalónssandur
For centuries in the past farmers came here in winter to work on boats sailing out from the rugged volcanic coastline to the rich fishing grounds just off land. The massive lava flow that stopped here sometime in the distant past created a natural shelter where they set up camp. A reminder of these harsh times are four heavy rocks of different sizes which decided how much any individual got paid at the end of the season; a tenth, a quart, half or full pay, all depending on the weight they could lift after a journey that often took days over rugged terrain in the middle of winter. A trawler ran aground here in 1948 and has been disintegrating slowly since then leaving chunks of rusted iron the beach making this place the most extensive natural art installation in Iceland.
Kirkjufell Mountain
Named the church mountain this is a place that reminds us of Iceland ́s rich folklore and many myths. The first settlers most likely saw the mountain as some sort of a place of worship from either trolls or elves or even some other entities they thought were hanging out in the area.