Snæfellsnes · Where to stay
Checked 1 September 2026 · 3 official sources
PICK YOUR BASE
Snæfellsnes is a loop with its towns strung along the north coast, so choosing a base is really choosing how far you sit from the glacier end — and whether you want a shop that is open in winter.
Stykkishólmur — the biggest town and the ferry port
The north-east corner: harbour, shops, restaurants, a year-round campsite on Aðalgata beside the golf course, a pool on Borgarbraut with a 57-metre slide, and the Baldur ferry across Breiðafjörður to Flatey and the Westfjords. It is also the farthest base from Snæfellsjökull, so expect to drive.
📍 Map · $$
Grundarfjörður — the working town in the middle
A fishing town on the north coast with Kirkjufell immediately outside it, a pool on Borgarbraut and one restaurant good enough that people plan around it. Roughly halfway round the loop, which makes it the least total driving if you intend to see both ends of the peninsula.
📍 Map · $$
Hellissandur, Rif and Ólafsvík — the national park end
The western tip, beside and inside Snæfellsjökull National Park: the park's visitor centre is at Malarrif and its town centre at Sandahraun 5 in Hellissandur, and the whale-watching boats sail from Norðurtangi in Ólafsvík. Fewer kitchens than Stykkishólmur, but you wake up at the lava.
📍 Map · $$
Practical: the south side is seasonal
Arnarstapi, Hellnar and Búðir have guesthouses and a café or two and no supermarket at all, and a good share of it shuts once summer ends. Between October and April, sleep on the north coast and treat the south side as a day's driving rather than a place to be based.