Svalvogaviti Lighthouse

The lighthouse is small and stands right at the water's edge, at the outer end of the Svalvogar peninsula. Almost everyone who gets here rates the drive above the building. Road 622 runs out from Þingeyri and cuts roughly 20 km of dirt track across the mountainside, with small rivers to ford and no bridges over them. The track is known as Kjaran's avenue, after the man who cut it into the cliffs with a bulldozer. Arctic foxes cross the northern half and birds are thick on the slopes above it. The place feels remote, and that is most of what people come for.

• 4x4 only. Roughly 20 km of dirt track, and the small rivers across it are not bridged.
• Landslides. The northern section runs along an open mountainside. Rock comes down during and after rain.
• Come for the road. The lighthouse is small; the drive is what the trip is about.
• Wildlife on the track. Arctic foxes cross the northern half, and birds sit on the slopes above it.

Driving is how people get here. Road 622 leaves Þingeyri and runs out along the coast, and the last stretch is roughly 20 km of dirt cutting across the fjord side. Small rivers cross the track and none of them are bridged. A 4x4 is needed. With one you can drive the full Svalvogar circle instead of turning back the way you came. The northern approach is the more interesting half, and it is also the section with the loose slope above it.

Better: dry weather and dry ground.

Avoid: during rain and straight after it.

The northern section runs along an open mountainside that sheds rock, and rain is when it moves. Wet ground on its own is not a stopper: the track has been driven in light rain in a 4x4 without trouble. Heavy or steady rain is a different matter, and the hazard is above you rather than under your wheels.