We decided to head to Vestrahorn late in the afternoon and first thing in the morning whilst staying in Hofn on our road trip to try and maximise the photographic opportunities. The site has a machine that you can purchase tickets from if you arrive outside of the cafe hours Ir alternatively you can purchase tickets from the cafe and use them later as we did. The early morning was our best trip, arriving there for sunrise was a real spectacle to be admired! Being the first people on site we were lucky to not have others walking in front of the camera and there being tonnes of footprints in the sand. One thing I didn’t quite prepare for was the wind and the sand that would fly with it! The wind coming in off the sea was turbulent! The gusts were strong and each time would bring a cloud of sand with them. This was something I was unprepared for with my drone and the gust of wind hit my drone and the sand got all up in the motors and brought it down with a crashing thud! It wasn’t until we later that day got back to the hotel that we realised our boots, pockets, drone, socks…even car doors were covered in sand! It’s definitely worthwhile knowing and preparing for that!

Stokksnes peninsula located 20km east of Hofn off the Iceland Ring Road 1. The area is privately owned and includes the Viking village movie set, a viewpoint to famous Vestrahorn mountain, and black sand beaches all around the area. Entry fee is ISK1000/ pax paid at the entrance. Viking Village is a movie prop site attraction for those who loves history, culture, or nature. It is a 10-min walk from car park to the site. There also located the Viking’s Gokstad replica ship in the village. You can fly your drone but at your on risk, as the weather and wind can change drastically. I only manage to fly my drone at the village as the wind is too strong afterwards when I moved to the beach. Other attraction nearby the site is a less-visited waterfall, Skutafoss which can be access through a short 1.3km Almannaskarðsgöng tunnel further to the east.

It was very beautiful, I loved the view of the mountain, the walk on the beach, the black sand dunes. But sheesh do these Icelandics looooooove to charge to park! Unbelievable, 900isk per person to park for a few minutes. I just can't grasp who comes up with these prices. It's called gauging where I am from. If you really want to see it go for it, but keep in mind you will pay for it and there is no way around it. Even walking in won't let you surpass the absurd cost.

We enjoyed this place just for the hiking. Yes it costs 1000 kroners per each to get in, but the ticket lady was helpful on where to hike. We end up walking 5+ miles on the black sand beach and we had it mostly to ourselves. Well worth the visit.