Arnarstapi

Arnarstapi is the hamlet on the south side of Snæfellsnes where the glacier road and the coast path meet, and on a loop of the peninsula it is the natural lunch stop. The cliffs at the harbour, with their arches and kittiwake colonies, are a fifteen-minute wander; the coast path along the lava to Hellnar and back is the longer walk and the best thing on the peninsula for the time it costs.

The practical line, confirmed on olis.is today: there is an Olís fuel point here, which matters because fuel on the outer peninsula is thin; Ólafsvík on the north side and Arnarstapi on the south are the two to rely on, with nothing between them around the cape. A café, toilets and a campsite are in the hamlet. No supermarket; Ólafsvík and Stykkishólmur have the shops.

Timing: about two hours from Borgarnes, an hour and a half from Stykkishólmur over the Vatnaleið pass. The hamlet is quiet before 10:00 and after 18:00; the coach wave is late morning. In summer the road 570 track over the shoulder of the glacier starts here, for 4x4s only and only when the Road Administration has opened it.

Safety is the cliff edge: the path is unfenced for most of its length, the rock is undercut, and the Environment Agency's general advice for the national park applies, that rock faces are often loose and wind is far stronger on cliff tops than at the car. Keep dogs leashed during the nesting season.