Iceland: Stykkishólmur, Kirkjufell, Rain, & a Resort

Posted on September 5, 2024 by The Owl

After a solid night’s sleep, we took off for the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. We made sure the pacing of our Ring Road adventure could include this side trip, which many people consider Iceland in miniature. The Snæfellsnes Peninsula includes the most-photographed location in Iceland, Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss.

Our Happy Campers guide took us south to the bottom of the peninsula and then took us north to Stykkishólmur. We thought we knew better. We were wrong! We thought a more direct road would be the better option. Instead, we encountered a very long gravel road filled with potholes, regret, and sadness. Yes, regret and sadness. This road was beyond awful, and it was still under construction. We kept thinking it would get better as we moved forward. It did not. We regretted starting down this way, and with the gloomy, rainy weather, I felt sad. We experienced amazingly good luck on our trip so far, and I should have expected hiccups along the way, but this just felt hard. I am sure the rough jostling of our camper van did not help. Of course, we just started the tenth day of our trip, and travel fatigue is real!

We arrived in Stykkishólmur to better weather and hungry bellies. Our camper van survived the terrible road, and we were thrilled to get out and walk around town before lunch. We parked at the marina, which seemed to be a good central location.

Across from the marina, we could see an interesting rock structure with a lighthouse on top of it. We then discovered that it is more than a rock structure; it’s an island! Súgandisey Island houses Stykkishólmur’s lighthouse and offers picnic areas and hiking trails.

From the Stykkishólmur marina parking lot, we could see Súgandisey Island and its lighthouse.

On our way to Súgandisey Island, I checked out a rock carving.

Due its volcanic nature, Iceland displays all kinds of interesting volcanic rock formations. The island is a basalt rock formation.

view of a marina with boats and a road — On our way to the lighthouse, we caught a great view of the town.

view of a marina with boats and town — Here is another view on our way to the lighthouse.

View out out to sea — This is the view near the lighthouse looking away from town.

Graham taking photos — I took a picture of Graham taking pictures!

orange lighthouse — Okay, the Stykkishólmur lighthouse is so cute!

Metal sculpture — Grimur Marino Steindorsonn completed this metal sculpture of a sailboat in 1994. It is on display near the marina.

After our hike to the lighthouse, we walked into town in search of lunch. With it being a Monday, we knew our options would be slim, but we found Narfeyrarstofa. We were not disappointed! Graham ordered the scallops, and I got a fish sandwich. My choice might not sound that interesting, but I wanted something simple and lunch-ish. That was one of the best fish sandwiches of my life! I also got a beer that wasn’t Gull or another lager. I think it was the Einstök toasted porter. Graham thoroughly enjoyed the scallops.

front door of restaurant — Narfeyrarstofa rocked!

fish sandwich with fries with beer — It might not look like much, but this was an excellent fish sandwich!

glass of dark beer — At this point in our trip, I really missed the rich and varied beer culture of the United States. In Iceland, you run across the same beers, mostly lagers, over and over again. This dark beer really hit the spot!

scallops on wood platter — Graham’s meal cost A LOT more than mine, but these scallops were worth every cent!

After lunch, we drove along the peninsula to Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss. It rained. So much rain! Oh, and fog! So much fog! We pulled into the parking lot to capture the most-photographed location in Iceland. The unusual shape of Kirkjufell mountain in proximity to the waterfall, Kirkjufellsfoss, gives the scene an other-worldly vibe. Even our Rick Steves guidebook features this mountain and waterfall. Game of Thrones contains scenes with the mountain. Kirkjufell is a big deal in the world of photography. Unfortunately for us, the fog dampened our view of the mountain, and with the rain, we could not be bothered to walk over to the waterfall. Although we expected rain and wind and more rain and more wind during our trip, and we definitely packed (and wore) the wardrobe for it, we were already over it.

Rick Steves Iceland guide book cover — We spent our whole trip thumbing through our Rick Steves guide book with Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellfoss on the cover. They look so beautiful!

Kirkjufell mountain — Our view of Kirkjufell paled in comparison to Rick Steves’s book cover. It looked like The Lonely Mountain from The Hobbit, which is actually kind of cool.

Graham and Susan with Kirkjufell mountain in the background — We got our selfie with Kirkjufell and partially cutoff the mountain!

Kirkjufell mountain through a rainy window — I snapped a photo from the camper van as we moved closer to Kirkjufell. So rainy!

camper van with navigation with waterfall through windshield — We captured a photo of the Kirkjufellfoss through the windshield of our camper van. You cannot tell from most photos of Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellfoss, but they are separated by a road.

Skarðsvík Golden Beach sits at the tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. After seeing so many black sand beaches, we both thought it felt weird to see a golden beach, which is typical throughout most of the U.S. Rain and wind followed us down to the beach, but the rain did lift for a few minutes as we walked along the shore.

At the end of the trail to Skarðsvík beach, you catch a first glimpse of golden sand.

Graham read the sign at the top of the trail.

man in orange rain jacket standing on the beach — This is not your usual beachwear! Our rain jackets and rain pants got a workout on this beach walk.

person in orange rain jacket on the beach — We were the only people at the beach that day. Check out the belly bulge in my orange rain jacket. You might have seen that a lot on this trip. It wasn’t the delicious food. It was my Frodo doll!

Frodo doll on rock at the beach — I carried Frodo around throughout our trip. I will devote a post to his adventures. This is a proof of life photo!

Sign at the beach — Iceland likes to keep it real. There was a Viking grave at this beach!

After our beach adventure, I nearly got blown off the side of a volcano! I ain’t lying! You read that correctly. At Saxhóll Crater, we climbed metal stairs…many, many metal stairs to get to the top of the crater. The fierce wind and rain pummeled us. There were no handrails! I had to stop periodically and ground myself carefully to avoid blowing over. I have laughed about this adventure many times since then with “Oh, I almost blew off the side of a volcano” or “Hey, remember that time I almost blew off the side of a volcano,” but in the moment, I was concerned I wouldn’t make it back down to the parking lot. Scary!

volcano above a parking lot — Saxhóll Crater doesn’t look all that spectacular from the parking lot, but it is actually quite tall, and I nearly met my death there…nearly…well, not really, but it was scary!

volcano crater — This is the view into the crater from the metal viewing platform. Check out the lack of handrails! The stairs lacked handrails as well.

Again, we were done with the rain and the wind, and our Saxhóll Crater adventure heightened our awareness of how done we were. We checked our Happy Campers app for campsite options. Most of the campsites in our direct area were closed. We could have backtracked to the Arnarstapi campground, but the listing said it was open “until September” so we were thinking it was likely closed, and again, we were done. I got gloomy feelings thinking about being cooped up in the camper van in the rain all night, walking to the bathrooms in the rain, etc. Instead of looking for more campground options, I popped open the Airbnb app and found a cottage at Miðhraun – Lava Resort. We booked it immediately and drove straight there.

What a delight!!! Our cottage at Miðhraun provided a perfect, dry place to escape the dreary weather and refresh. When we checked-in, the host told us their restaurant was closed but their bar was open! Yay!!! The host also pointed out the saltwater and algae geothermal bath. What?! A geothermal bath!!! Iceland once again surprised us.

a wooden cottage — Our home for the night!

a brook behind our cottage — A stream flowed behind our cottage, and we listened to it as we fell asleep.

camper van in a parking spot — Our cottage had ample parking in front.

We unloaded our bags into the cottage, hit the showers, put on our bathing suits and robes (yes, they provided fluffy robes in the cottage), and headed to the geothermal bath. I strolled into the bar…in my robe and ordered an Aperol spritz in a plastic glass to carry into the bath. The large, hexagonal, stone pool greeted us and us alone. The pool could have comfortably fit ten to fifteen people, but it was just the two of us, and it was glorious! After a rainy, windy day, we never imagined we’d be enjoying a light drizzle in a geothermal bath before dinner. Heavenly!

Lava Resort — The main building of the resort was right next door through this gate. To the left of the building is where the geothermal bath is located.

Back at the cottage, we showered again and started dinner. Once again, pasta was on the menu, and that was just fine! We ate at the little table in the kitchen and talked about the days ahead.

Our cottage offered everything we needed, and we loved its clean Scandanavian decor. It also felt like we were living in an IKEA, which I found oddly soothing! As someone who grew up with lots of stuff and clutter, richly-colored fabrics and walls, and mismatched wood furniture, I vibed with the Scandanavian clean sense of design. Everything made sense. Everything looked neat and tidy. Despite the reputation of white walls and furniture as being cold, I found them warming. If I had to start all over with nothing, I might consider decorating my home just like this.