Borgarvirki

Borgarvirki is the eroded remnant of a volcanic plug standing on a low hill between two lakes in the north, and what erosion left behind is a rough ring of basalt columns about ten metres high. Where the ring is broken, the gaps have been closed with dry stone walling, and inside there are low foundations of small structures. Tradition, backed by a saga reference, names it a stronghold, though what it was actually used for and when has never been settled. The walls were rebuilt in the twentieth century, so a good deal of what stands is restoration. The climb takes five minutes and the view runs across the whole district.

What you actually see

• The basalt ring - columns standing in a circle around a natural hollow.
• The stone walling - hand-built infill closing the gaps in the ring.
• The interior - low foundations of small structures inside the enclosure.
• The view - lakes, farmland and the coast laid out from the rim.

When to go

May to September; the access track is not cleared in winter and the short climb turns icy. Any time of day works and the site is never busy. It sits a few minutes off route 716, which is itself a detour from the ring road, so treat it as a stop on the way around Vatnsnes rather than a trip of its own.

Honest expectations

There is not much to look at and next to no interpretation on site, so without reading up first the visit is a hill with rocks on it. A fair amount of what you see is twentieth-century rebuilding rather than anything ancient. The track in is rough gravel. Wind on the rim is fierce and there is no shelter whatsoever.

Nearby

The Vatnsnes peninsula, Hvitserkur and the Vididalur valley are all within a short drive.