Akranes

This little port town on Iceland's west coast, Akranes sits on a peninsula between Hvalfjörður and Leirárvogur, with the mountain Akrafjall rising at its centre. Settled in the 9th century, it developed around fishing and trade, and fishing remains its primary industry today, alongside a cement works operating since the 1950s and an aluminium smelter at nearby Grundartangi. The Hvalfjörður tunnel, opened in 1998, significantly shortened the drive to Reykjavík.

• Population7,411
• Nearest water1.7 km
• Nearest mountain8.6 km