Orca Watching Iceland – How to reach Snaefellsnes in the West of Iceland

Many of our clients are interested to join our orca whale watching tour in Snaefellsnes.

We receive many questions regarding the best way to reach Snaefellsnes (especially during the winter season). For this reason, we decided to create and share with you this small overview of the different options.

Orca Watching Iceland – Go to Snaefellsnes with a Rental Car

The best option to reach Snaefellsnes is with a rental car. In general, it is possible to drive all the way from Reykjavik and back in one day. However, during winter the drive within one day might be quite risky due to the short daylight, possible snow, ice, and wind.

Furthermore, Snaefellsnes is simply too special and beautiful to only drive by without making any stops along the way. Therefore, we highly recommend that you spend at least 2 days/1 night in the area. If you are interested in a self-drive tour, check out our blog about the best things to see and do in Snaefellsnes.

It would be our pleasure to organize a self-drive tour for you in Iceland. For winter, we highly recommend our 10 days South and West tour with the possibility to add orca whale watching on day 2. In summer, different self-drive tour options are available and we suggest to have a look at this overview.

Orca Watching Iceland – Go to Snaefellsnes by Public Transportation

If you do not drive, it is, unfortunately, a bit more difficult to reach Snaefellsnes via public transportation. From Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes you need more than 3 hours by bus. Only two buses go from Reykjavik to Snaefellsnes each day – one in the morning and one in the evening. If interested in joining the whale watching tour, you should spend one night in Snaefellsnes. This is highly recommended to avoid the risk of missing the bus in case the tour takes longer.

When considering the bus option, especially during winter season, please keep in mind that tours might be canceled due to poor weather conditions (normally on a very short notice). Please also make sure to check in advance if an accommodation is available directly in the town. Orca watching tours are available from Grundarfjördur during winter and Olafsvik during summer and there are only a few accommodation options in this area.

The bus company that offers transportation to Snaefellsnes is called Straeto. You can plan your route online. If you want to learn more about the involved costs for the bus ride, please have a look at their price overview.

Orca Watching Iceland – Go to Snaefellsnes with a Private Guide

We highly recommend a privately guided tour to Snaefellsnes for you with the addition of an orca watching tour. Depending on the season and mainly on the daylight, we will be able to add a few extra stops along the way. A private tour gives you the flexibility to go at your own speed, stop where you want, and choose the landmarks that are most important to you and your travel companions. Please contact us for more information and we will be happy to prepare a tailor-made offer for you. As you can imagine, a private tour is the most costly travel option that allows you to make the most of your valuable time in the area. Just to give you an idea, a private tour for 2 people would cost approximately 170,000 ISK.

Please understand that a whale watching tour might be canceled on a very short notice due to bad weather conditions. Unfortunately, we are not able to cancel our guide last minute. If the orca watching tour is canceled, you will still go on a privately guided tour just with a modified itinerary. For example, your guide will show you some additional natural wonders scattered across the Peninsula.