Hvammstangi

Hvammstangi is the one village on the long north-west leg of the Ring Road that is worth leaving the road for, and the reason is the Vatnsnes peninsula behind it: the gravel loop out to the seal colonies and the Hvítserkur sea stack starts and ends here. On a Ring Road day it is a half-hour detour; on a Vatnsnes day it is the base and the only services.

The practical line: a grocery and fuel exist in the village, but no chain store appears on the Bónus, Krónan, Nettó or Kjörbúðin lists and the fuel operator could not be confirmed on a station map today. Olís has a station at Laugarbakki on the Ring Road a few minutes south (olis.is, confirmed today), which is the reliable fill for this stretch; the big Staðarskáli stop in Hrútafjörður is another half hour west. There is a municipal pool and a campsite by the shore; toilets at the harbour.

Timing: about two and a half hours from Akureyri, two from Borgarnes. The Ring Road here is fast and empty, which is how it gets its accident statistics; the police patrol the straight across Víðidalur.

The Vatnsnes loop, route 711, is about 80 km of gravel with no services, is driveable in a 2wd in summer at low speed, and is closed or drifted in winter. Phone signal drops on the outer peninsula. Quiet always; the seal-watching boats sail from the harbour in summer.