Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Grundarfjörður is a fishing village of about 900 people on the north coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in West Iceland, best known as the base for Kirkjufell mountain. It is about 175 km (around 2 hours 30 minutes) from Reykjavík, free to visit, and a good overnight stop for exploring Snæfellsnes.
Grundarfjörður sits on Breiðafjörður bay with mountains rising steeply behind it, and Kirkjufell, Iceland's most photographed peak, standing just outside town on a small peninsula of its own. It lies right in the middle of the north coast of Snæfellsnes. The village itself is a working fishing harbour, small and easy to walk around in half an hour, with a handful of shops, cafés and a swimming pool.
Most visitors come for Kirkjufell and the little waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss beside it, but the village is worth a slower look too: a preserved French whaling cannon found on the shore, a small information centre with local history, a life-size orca statue and a swimming pool with hot pots and a mountain view.
It is a colourful place, with many houses clad in painted corrugated iron in the Icelandic way. The sea is on one side and the mountains on the other, and hiking and horse-riding trails start close to the last houses, so it is easy to get outdoors without driving anywhere.
Grundarfjörður grew up around fishing and trade, and the sea is still what the town runs on. It was granted trading rights in 1786, and around 1800 French merchants settled here and built their own church and hospital. Sailors from Paimpol in Brittany fished for cod off Iceland from 1852 to 1935, and Grundarfjörður has been twinned with Paimpol since 2004.
A cannon from a French whaling ship that was wrecked by Kirkjufell in 1720 was found in the sand on the shore and is now on display, a small reminder of the foreign fleets that once worked these waters alongside Icelanders.
The town has grown steadily since the 1940s. Today the harbour is among the ten largest quota-fishing ports in the country, and it balances that work with a steady flow of visitors drawn by Kirkjufell just up the road.
In winter the mountain road across the peninsula and the north coast can be icy and windy. Check umferdin.is and vedur.is before you set off, and allow extra time in the short daylight.
The village is small, so you can see most of it on foot in an hour or two. These are the stops worth making.
The exhibitions in the Saga Centre have been closed for renovation at times, so check locally before you count on them.
The village is ringed by hiking and horse-riding trails, and riding tours on Icelandic horses run on the peninsula. From the harbour, whale watching boats go out into Breiðafjörður. The waters off Snæfellsnes are the one place in Iceland where orcas are seen regularly, mostly in winter when the herring comes into the fjords, and puffin trips sail in summer.
Within an hour's drive you can add a guided walk on Snæfellsjökull, a tour of the Vatnshellir lava cave, and the south-coast sights of the peninsula: Arnarstapi, the Lóndrangar cliffs and the lighthouse at Malarrif, the Rauðfeldsgjá gorge, the black beach at Djúpalónssandur and the church at Búðir. In summer the town holds its own festival, Á góðri stund í Grundarfirði.
The village has a supermarket, a few cafés and restaurants, a swimming pool, a petrol station and a small information centre. It is a good stopping point for fuel and food on a Snæfellsnes loop.
Grundarfjörður itself has hotels and guesthouses, and makes a convenient overnight base for a Snæfellsnes loop, roughly midway between the peninsula's north-coast sights and Stykkishólmur.
Yes, though most visitors combine the two. The village itself has a harbour, a small museum and a hot pot worth an hour of your time.
About 175 km, around 2 hours 30 minutes by car.
Yes, the village has a supermarket, cafés, restaurants and a petrol station.
It has a population of about 900, so it can be walked around in well under an hour.
See Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss, walk to the orca statue and the harbour, visit the information centre with the Bæringsstofa photo exhibition, soak in the hot pots at the pool and stop at Grundarfoss waterfall.
Drive Route 1 north through the Hvalfjörður tunnel to Borgarnes, then Route 54 onto Snæfellsnes, Route 56 across the peninsula and Route 54 west along the north coast.
Yes, in season. Orcas follow the herring into the waters off Snæfellsnes, mostly in winter, and whale watching boats go out from the area.
Tours and trips that include Grundarfjörður, booked directly with a local travel agency in Iceland.
