Snafellsnes: The Entrance To The Center Of Earth

Leave your car at the parking spot and get ready for the trek!

With 198 meters, it was the tallest waterfall in Iceland till 2007, when a waterfall with 228 meters was discovered in Morsárjökull glacier.
To reach the waterfall you will do a 7 Km trekking (go and back), it is not hard, but you need certain physical condition and trekking shoes are also recommended. All the way is signed with yellow poles.
To reach the waterfall is wonderful, but you will see that the trekking itself is also a marvelous experience.

Let's stop at this parking, leave your car and walk to the beach. This beach is a very good place to see seals. You will have the chance to see them relaxing around, as it is a popular place to see them, it doesn't get scare about humans. I was able to get close to take pictures. Even with that, don't forget it are wild animals.

Your first stop in Snafellness Peninsula is going to be this wonderful place to lunch in Arnarstapi, a fisherman village. Homemade food with traditional touch, you can taste a great lamb soup and homemade bread. You shouldn't miss the exquisite sweets!
Open Hours: Monday – Friday: 12:00–18:00 Saturday: 12:00–15:00 Sunday: 12:00–17:00

Your first stop is this statue that represent a legendary personage from the Icelandic medieval saga: Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss. The giant is Bárður who dominate the area around Snæfellsjökull glacier and protect it. The sculpture was made by Ragnar Kjartansson, one of Iceland most renowned sculptures.
From the sculpture you can walk a bit and visit the Stone bridge, an amazing formation. You can cross this natural bridge and get hypnotized by the sea.
If you continue walking the seacoast line, you will enjoy the magnificent rocky formation and the columnar basalt formations of Arnarstapi, and you will have the chance to admire the cliff and the viewpoints here.
It is also a great spot to admire the volcano, you will have it really close!

The National Park around the volcano has been an inspiration for artist, the most remarkable it's been Julio Verne, who wrote The Journey to the Center of the Earth, where the entrance itself was the volcano. And you will understand why it is such an inspiration, with the cliff, the covered lava fields, caves and the shaped volcanic craters is a landscape like no others. Driving, I could get my eyes off the volcano.
At this point is the visitor center, at Malarrif, where you will have information about the trails you can do.
Open Hours: October to April: Monday – Sunday: 12:00 – 16:00 May to September Monday – Sunday: 10:30 – 16:30
You can also find the information of path and track, and also maps, on the official website

It is the moment. You are going through the gate that will lead you to the center of Earth. Get ready to feel part of a Julio Verne book character. At the entrance you can buy your ticket and get ready with the group, the visits are guided to this cave with more than 8,000 years. The guide will provide you a helmet and a lamp, don't worry about that. Then you will descend to become part of the story...
Open Hours: Monday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00

The black sand beach is one of the main attractions on the National Park. You will see that the sand is formed by small black rock call the pearls of Djúpalón.
Even if you feel tent to swim in this beach don't do it, under the calm water of the surface there are strong currents, and it is really dangerous.
The beach also have some curious rock formation. But, for me, it was amazing to see the remains of the Epine GY 7, a fishing boat that shipwrecked more than 70 years ago.

This crater volcano, it is extincted and offers a very beautiful landscape around. You can walk around the crater and have a unique perspective of a volcano. The colors are quite magic, with the dark land contrasting with the green during summer and the white snow during winter.

A perfect dinner is waiting for you here. Traditional dishes are what you will find. The fish soup is remarkable and also the fish of the day, that change according to what they fish that day. This is the place to taste Iceland. The views to the sea will complete a marvelous night.
Open Hours: Monday and Tuesday: Closed Tuesday – Sunday: 18:00–21:30

It was a long day, so it is time to rest!