Vík í Mýrdal is a tiny village on the south coast of Iceland with a red-roofed church on a hill, a long black beach below, and a reputation far larger than its size. A few hundred people live here, mostly in low houses below the cliffs, and the Atlantic crashes onto the sand in front of them with ceaseless force. Offshore, a group of tall basalt sea stacks called Reynisdrangar rises from the surf, and legend says they are trolls who were caught by the sun while trying to drag a ship to shore and turned to stone.
The beach at Reynisfjara, a short drive west, is one of the most photographed in the country, with black volcanic sand, a cliff of hexagonal basalt columns and a sea cave. It is also dangerous. Sneaker waves, which surge far further up the beach than the waves before, have swept visitors into the sea and caused deaths, so stay well back from the water and never turn your back on the surf. Behind the village rises the glacier Mýrdalsjökull, and under the ice lies the volcano Katla, which erupts every few decades on average and is closely watched by scientists. The last major eruption was in 1918.
For a rider, Vík is a handy and scenic stop on the Ring Road. To the west the road passes the arch of Dyrhólaey, a rocky headland where puffins nest in summer, then the waterfalls of Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss. To the east it crosses Mýrdalssandur, a vast flat plain of black ash and sand from glacial floods, where the road runs straight for kilometres with nothing to break the wind. Crosswinds there can be strong enough to shove a bike across a lane, so grip the bars, and slow down when the gusts hit. The surface is good, but traffic is heavy in summer.
There is a fuel station in the village, along with a supermarket, a woollen mill shop and several places to eat, so it is a useful place to refuel before heading east across the long stretches to Höfn. Accommodation fills up in summer, so book ahead. Visit the beach early in the morning or in the evening light, when the crowds thin and the basalt takes on a deep glow.