Ingjaldsholskirkja church

The church is small, red and set alone on a low hill, with nothing built around it. Snow-capped mountains stand behind it and the sea lies on the other side. That is the picture people stop for. Several pull-ins along the road below give different framings, so the church can be shot wide or tight without walking far. In early summer lupines flower on the slope; by the first week of July they are past their peak. The interior is closed, so the whole visit is the outside of the building and the ground it stands on. Fifteen minutes covers it.

• No entry inside. The church is closed to visitors, and everything worth seeing is outside.
• No toilets. There are none at the church and none at the car parks.
• Fifteen minutes is enough. The stop is short, and there is nothing else on the hill.
• Lupines go over early. They flower in early summer and are past peak by the first week of July.
• A stop, not a destination. It earns a detour only if you are already driving Snæfellsnes.

Ingjaldsholskirkja is reached by car, on a short turning off the main road near Hellissandur. There is no bus stop at the church itself. You park a few paces from the walls and walk the last short rise up the hill, which takes under a minute. Drivers who want the church smaller in the frame pull in at points further along the road below and shoot from there.

Best: early summer for the lupines on the slope, and the last hour of daylight.

Avoid: July onwards if the lupines are the reason you are coming.

The reason to time the stop late in the day is the sunset light on the red walls and on the mountains behind them.