Snaefell

Snaefell rises to 1,833 metres east of Vatnajokull and is the highest mountain in the country that is not part of an ice cap, a broad free-standing cone visible for a very long way across the eastern highlands. It is an old central volcano, long extinct, capped with a small glacier of its own. The ground around it is the main summer range of Iceland's wild reindeer, descendants of animals brought from Norway in the eighteenth century, and herds are often visible from the track. A hut sits at the foot and the ascent is a long walk on scree and snow rather than a climb. The area lies within Vatnajokull National Park, inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2019.

What you actually see

• 1,833 metres, free of the ice caps - the highest such peak in Iceland.
• An extinct central volcano - with a small summit glacier.
• Wild reindeer country - the herds' summer range, from stock brought in the 1700s.
• A hut at the foot - the base for a long scree ascent.

When to go

July to early September, while the highland tracks are open. A full day.

Honest expectations

Access is by F-road with crossings, and the ascent is long, exposed and often in cloud. Snow lies on the upper slopes all summer. The hut must be booked and carries no supplies. Reindeer sightings are luck, not schedule.

Nearby

Karahnjukar is south-west; Egilsstadir is the nearest town.