Whale Watching Tour from Oflasvik - Street Art in Hellisandur - Skarðsvík Golden Beach - Svörtuloft Lighthouse - Budir Church and Dunes - Bjarnarfoss Waterfall - Kirkjufellsfoss

Whale Watching Tour from Oflasvik

Whale watching is a very popular tourist activity in Iceland as it’s a hub for many species of whale throughout the year. We had booked this tour out of Olafsvik hoping to see orcas, but were pleasantly surprised to have gotten incredible views of sperm whales. At that time of year, it's not rare to see sperm whales, or even groups of them, but Iceland is one of the only places in the world where you can see them gather like this, and we saw several. It was an incredible experience.

Parking and restrooms: The take off point is in the Olafsvik harbor and there is plenty of parking available. There are on-site restrooms as well as on the boat itself. Though I highly recommend using facilities before getting on the boat. The full-zip suits you wear to keep warm are difficult to navigate.
Tour company: LÁKI TOURS
Total tour time: About 3 hrs

Street Art in Hellisandur

After the whale watching tour, we popped back into a local gas station for lunch for delicious Icelandic hot dogs and then explored the nearby town of Hellisandur to check out the street art. It was a fun little stop and gave us the chance to walk around. There isn’t a ton there, so it’s a quick visit.

Parking and restrooms: Plenty of parking throughout the village. Navigate to the Murals of Hellissandur and explore from there.
Time spent: 20min

Skarðsvík Golden Beach

Coming from the U.S. and the beaches of the east coast which are exclusively golden, you absolutely do not need to make this stop. While a pretty spot, Skarðsvík Golden Beach would likely be more impressive to local Icelanders whose beaches are almost exclusively black.

Parking and restrooms: There is a small parking lot but no restrooms.
Time spent: 5-10min, this can be skipped.

Svörtuloft Lighthouse

We are lighthouse people and Iceland is full of brightly colored, adorable lighthouses. There are many lighthouses on Snaefellsness but this was along our route and we decided to visit the larger of the two orange lighthouses in the area. The views of the cliffs are also stunning and we loved the bird watching.

Parking and restrooms: Very limited parking, about 6-8 spots. It was tight but people move in and out quickly.
As with most places in Iceland and especially Snaefellsness, there's no restrooms.
Time spent: 30-45min to include bird watching.

Budir Church and Dunes

Admittedly, we didn't have much interest at all in visiting the very Insta-famous Budir church. The church was right along our route and we had the time, so we made the stop. I underestimated how beautiful the backdrops are against the black church in real life, they're stunning. The church was absolutely crawling with tourist, second only to Black Sand Beach. Even more than the church, the dunes of the surrounding area are beautiful and right along the coast. We wandered through for 30+min and really enjoyed it.

Parking and restrooms: Parking, yes, and a fair amount of it. Restrooms - nope. There is a hotel there, but not sure how welcoming they are to tourists, we didn't go in.

Bjarnarfoss Waterfall

Nearly across the street from Budir church is Bjarnarfoss Waterfall. It’s a moderately steep hike up the side of a mountain but you have great views of the river that flows from the waterfall and excellent photo opportunities. It paired well with the visit to the church.

Parking: Parking was easy, this isn’t a busy spot.
Restrooms: No
Time spent: 45min

Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall

This is a must-do while in Snaefellsness. Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall is effortlessly picturesque and so quintessentially Iceland. There’s numerous view points for photos and we recommend taking your time. Our AirBnb was extremely close to the falls so we decided to visit later at night, around 9pm when the light was softer and more ideal for long exposure photos.

Parking: The town had been overrun by tourists visiting the falls who were parking dangerously, causing traffic jams, accidents, and damage to the landscape. There is now a paid parking lot available at the waterfall.
Restrooms: No restrooms that I can recall.
Time spent: 45+min

Iceland - Day Six