The Búlandshöfði pull-off, nine kilometres west

Route 54 climbs over the headland of Búlandshöfði between Grundarfjörður and Ólafsvík, and from the pull-offs along that stretch you look back east down the length of the fjord. Kirkjufell stands at the far end, small in the frame but unmistakable, with water, headlands and — on a clear day — the ice cap of Snæfellsjökull behind your other shoulder. It is the landscape shot that puts the famous mountain in its geography instead of cropping it out of it.

This is where you go when the falls are queued, when the weather is too big for a close-up, or when the couple wants a picture that looks like the trip rather than the postcard. Put them large in the foreground on the grass shoulder and let the fjord and the peak run away behind — a longer lens keeps the mountain a recognisable shape rather than a speck. Morning light comes toward you down the fjord and silhouettes everything; evening light comes from behind and lands on the mountain, which is the version most people want.

Weather is the whole story on this road. Búlandshöfði is exposed, and Snæfellsnes generates its own wind: gusts here rock parked cars, and the road closes in winter storms. Check road conditions and wind speed before driving out, and be ready to shoot from a stance with the car between you and the gusts.

Safety is simple and non-negotiable: this is a mountain road with blind crests and drop-offs to the sea. Use the marked pull-offs only, never stop on the carriageway for a picture, and keep well back from the seaward edge, which is loose and undercut in places. In winter, treat the whole stretch as ice unless proven otherwise.