Snæfellsjökull National Park
Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull
A 1,446-metre glacier-capped stratovolcano at the tip of the peninsula, the entrance to the centre of the Earth in Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and the only national park in Iceland that reaches the sea.
Snæfellsjökull is a stratovolcano roughly 700,000 years old. Its glacier cap has been shrinking year by year as the climate warms. It is where the hero of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth enters the planet's interior. The national park, established in 2001, stretches from the summit down to the coastal lava fields and takes in black pebble beaches, sea stacks, lava caves and more. Entry is free. To reach the summit you need to join a guided tour with crampons, or a snowcat tour. In summer these set off via the F570 mountain road from the Arnarstapi direction. The F570 is open only to 4WD vehicles and is closed in winter. The visitor centre is beside the Malarrif Lighthouse.
Opening hours
Open all day; glacier tours about April–August
Nearby sights
- Vatnshellir Cave
- Lóndrangar
- Malarrif Lighthouse & Visitor Centre
- Svöðufoss
- Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge
- Djúpalónssandur
- Hellnar
- Saxhóll Crater