We’ve all seen it at one point or another on Instagram, Pinterest or Facebook. The famous black church that was seemingly dropped in the middle of Iceland amidst a beautiful backdrop. Let me just say, pictures do not do this area justice.

Búðakirkja is located just off Road #54 in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. And this area has some of the best scenery! Even when driving there we were greeted by Bjarnarfoss well before arriving. It demanded attention with it’s massive size and I snapped this picture from the passenger seat.

I can’t help but to also see trolls hardened into the surrounding rocks guarding such beauty. Up until this point I wasn’t really a believer. The Snaefellsnes Peninsula convinced me otherwise.

When we arrived at the small lot adjacent to the church there was only one other vehicle in the area. Luckily for us, they took a few pictures and started on the trail into the lava field past the cemetery.

Being limited on time, we were only going to briefly admire the church and surrounding mountains before moving on to the next stop. After all, this church and I are the same age so we weren’t really in the presence of a relic lol.

From that same parking lot, don’t forget to look behind you. Just look at these landscapes! It’s impressive how massive they are while also being accessible.

You could easily hike to this waterfall from a parking lot located at the base.

Leaving the church behind us we continued driving to Snæfellsjökull National Park.

And then soon after that we stopped again. It was a “you had to be there” kind of situation. If you would have been one of the six individuals in our car you would have seen this in person. I swear! This horse was posing for me. Moving more than it’s neighboring pals (pictured below) who were all butts to the wind, and just giving me all sorts of piercing looks. Ask anyone that was there!

Of all the animals I photographed on this trip, this guy right here is my favorite 🙂 Bird and all lol.

“There is no more sagacious animal than the Icelandic horse. He is stopped by neither snow, nor storm, nor impassable roads, nor rocks, glaciers, or anything. He is courageous, sober, and surefooted“

Jules Verne