Iceland review - 2015, Síða 25

ICELAND REVIEW 23
It’s just a two-hour drive from Reykjavík to the 95-km (55-mile)
long Snæfellsnes peninsula, between the two largest bays in
Iceland: Faxaflói in the south and Breiðafjörður in the north.
Home to fewer than 4,000 inhabitants, the area is crowned by
the glistening ice cap of Snæfellsjökull glacier, on the peninsula’s
westernmost tip. While driving towards the glacier, you encounter
diverse and fascinating landscapes: sheer sea cliffs, golden beaches,
lava fields, and peaceful farms—it’s a combination like no other.
On the northern side of the peninsula there are five charming
but different fishing villages. The biggest, Stykkishólmur, is the
gateway to the innumerable islands and skerries in Breiðafjörður.
In the winter, hundreds of visitors crowd the town of
Grundarfjörður to try their luck at photographing the northern
lights against the backdrop of the symmetric Kirkjufell mountain.
Ólafsvík, Hellissandur and Rif are all part of Snæfellsbær
municipality, which also includes Snæfellsnes National Park, plus
millions of puffins and other seabirds, like the Arctic tern, at Rif. I
have always thought of Rif as the world’s Arctic tern capital.
It’s not just the landscape and birdlife that make Snæfellsnes
special: in June 2008 the peninsula’s communities became the
first in Europe, and only the fourth in the world, to receive
EarthCheck certification, awarded to sustainable operations and
destinations. As further recognition of its environmental focus, in
2014 Snæfellsnes was named among the Sustainable Destinations
Global Top 100. *
ICELAND