Hótel Kría

Pulling off the Ring Road at Vík, guests arrive at a hotel built in 2018 and named for the arctic tern, a bird that flies in from the Antarctic each summer to nest on the coast nearby. It is a compact stay by Icelandic standards but a well-placed one: the black sand beach lies a short walk away, and puffins nest in the cliffs above it from May to August. Rooms come in three types. Standard Double and Mountain View rooms each run to 19 square metres, furnished in a plain Nordic style with soundproofed walls and a shower room; the single Suite, at 35 square metres, adds a lounge area, a king bed, and a bathtub. Mountain View rooms look onto the slope behind the hotel, while Standard rooms and the Suite face the road and the sea beyond it. Downstairs, Drangar Restaurant serves Icelandic beef, lamb, and Arctic char with a contemporary finish, and the cocktail bar pours Icelandic spirits through the evening. Breakfast is included and served buffet-style each morning, with a mountain view from the window. From the hotel, the south coast opens out in every direction: Reynisfjara's black beach lies eleven kilometres west, Skógafoss and the Sólheimajökull glacier tongue within forty minutes' drive. Reception runs around the clock.