Located in eastern Iceland, Vestrahorn is a mountain that sits on the Stokksnes pensinula that juts out from the mainland into the Atlantic Ocean. With the mountain narly cutting off the rest of the peninsula completely from the mainland, it creates a unique area in this part of Iceland that I can only recommend exploring!

You first arrive at the Stokksnes peninsula by taking the Stokksnesvegur road off of Route 1 at this point. It is well signposted, so it should be hard to miss from either direction. After taking Stokksnesvegur, which is a dirt road, you will come across the Viking Cafe. You will need to stop here and pay the daily access fee, which you can do in the cafe itself. The fee is 1100 ISK per person aged 16+. At this point you will be given a ticket; scan this at the gate to get you and your car through. Once through, you can park at the myriad of parking lots and pull offs along the road that goes all the way to the lighthouse at the end.

Vestrahorn is actually the mountain that you have been driving around since getting off of Route 1 but it can really only be seen well from the other side (in the part where you pay). From here you can then get some beautiful views, such as these:

This location is about halfway down Stokksnesvegur. The “lake” that is here is actually water that has collected at high tide and then been left behind as the tide went back out again. Due to the shape of the mountains, the howling winds that roar through this area does not affect most of the collected water, leaving it almost eerily still and nearly mirror-like.

Looking the other wayis another one of Iceland’s black beaches. It is very dark but most cameras lighten the sand as you try to take the photo, leaving a combination of blond and black sand in photos, such as these:

As the wind is howling, you will be windblown and pummelled by flying sand. Make sure you have the right clothing as protection, such as jeans, long sleeves, a coat with a hood, etc. Here are some examples of how the sand is blown about:

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