Landmannalaugar

Landmannalaugar sits in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, deep in the southern highlands, where obsidian lava fields meet mountains streaked orange, pink, green and grey by rhyolite. The valley has been a stopping point for centuries because a natural hot river runs behind the campsite where hikers can lie in 36-40°C water after a long day. It is also the northern trailhead of the Laugavegur trek, Iceland's most famous long-distance hike, a 55 km path over four to six days to Thorsmork.

Day trippers can pick from a menu of shorter walks. The 4 km Brennisteinsalda loop climbs past steaming vents to the base of Iceland's most colourful mountain. The Blahnjukur ridge is 6 km round trip to a 943 m summit with 360-degree views of glaciers and craters. The Grahagi lava field walk is easier and passes weird obsidian shards. Everyone finishes in the hot river; bring your own towel. There is a small shop in an old bus selling snacks and hire boots. Nothing else.

The road in is F208, unpaved with rivers to ford; only a 4x4 with river-crossing insurance is legal. Alternatively, Reykjavik Excursions and Trex run daily highland buses from mid-June to mid-September (roughly ISK14500 return). The valley is only reachable in summer; snow blocks the pass October to late June. Book the campsite (ISK2500) or a bunk in the Ferdafelag hut (ISK9500) ahead. Weather changes fast; expect anything from 20°C sun to horizontal sleet.

The car park sits on the north bank of the Jokulgilskvisl and a footbridge takes you the last five minutes into camp, past the warden hut, the toilet block and the green converted bus known as the Mountain Mall. Camp is a gravel flat pressed against the Laugahraun obsidian lava field, and nearly every trail starts by climbing straight onto that lava behind the huts, splitting within ten minutes for Brennisteinsalda, Graenagil and the Laugavegur. Linking Brennisteinsalda and Blahnjukur into a single loop through the Graenagil gully takes four to five hours and is the best day here if you only get one. For a quieter half day, the Sudurnamur ridge north of camp gives four hours of colour with almost nobody on it before dropping into Vondugil. Skip Jokulgil unless you are equipped for repeated glacial fords; it eats a whole day and the river runs highest on warm afternoons.

Driving from Reykjavik means Route 1 east to Hella, Route 26 north along the Thjorsa past Sigalda, then the northern F208: roughly 190 km, three and a half to four hours, the last 40 km of it washboard gravel. That northern approach has one modest ford at Namskvisl and is the sane choice. The southern F208 up from Route 208 near Kirkjubaejarklaustur crosses several unbridged rivers, and the F225 Landmannaleid usually opens weeks later in summer. Nobody needs to drive to the huts themselves: park in the big lot before the river and walk the footbridge. Reykjavik Excursions and Trex both leave the BSI terminal in the morning and take about four hours each way, calling at Hella and Hrauneyjar; the standard day return leaves you roughly three to four hours in the valley, which is one hike and a bath, nothing more. Check road.is for F-road status the morning you set off.

Nothing here charges admission. Parking is ISK1000 per vehicle per day, paid at the machine by the car park or to the warden; camping is ISK2500 per person per night; a bunk in the Ferdafelag Islands hut is ISK9500, less for members. The scheduled bus is around ISK14500 return from Reykjavik. Showers at the hut cost extra and are metered by the minute. There is no fuel, no ATM and no restaurant: the Mountain Mall bus sells soup, coffee, chocolate and hires boots at highland prices, so carry your own food and fill the tank at Hrauneyjar, 45 km back down F208. Book Ferdafelag beds at fi.is the moment reservations open in autumn, because Laugavegur hut nights for July and August are usually gone by late winter. Skip the guided super-jeep day tours from Reykjavik unless you specifically want a driver-guide; they cost several times the bus for the same few hours.

The season is short and rigid. The northern F208 normally opens mid to late June once the snowmelt drops, the F225 later, and buses run mid-June to mid-September only. July and August are warmest at roughly 10-15°C and busiest: the day buses land late morning and leave mid-afternoon, so the boardwalk at the hot river is at its worst between noon and 16:00. Bathe before 10:00 or after 18:00 and you may have it to yourself. Late June and July give near round-the-clock light, which makes a 22:00 climb up Blahnjukur entirely reasonable. Early September brings rust-coloured moss, the first aurora and half the tents, but also sleet, and the warden and hut season ends mid-September. October to June the pass is snowed shut. Colour needs direct sun; under flat cloud the rhyolite goes grey-brown, so spend your one clear day of the week here.

Frostastadavatn lies 5 km north on F208, ten minutes by car, a black-sand lake with a marked loop back over the Nordurnamur ridge to camp in about three hours on foot. Ljotipollur, a blood-red crater lake, is roughly 7 km north up a rough spur track, and Hnausapollur (Blahylur) sits on the same road. Heading out, Sigoldugljufur — the canyon lined with small waterfalls — is a ten-minute walk from a pull-off near the Sigalda power station and adds half an hour to the drive. Hrauneyjar Highland Center, 45 km out, is the only fuel, hot food and beds between the reserve and the lowlands. Back near Route 1, the Thjorsardalur detour picks up Hjalparfoss, the Gjain gorge and the reconstructed Stong farmhouse. South, the other F208 runs to Eldgja and Ofaerufoss, a 20-minute walk from its parking area, but that is a separate day in a high-clearance jeep.

Fit walkers, campers and photographers get the most out of this valley. Families manage fine if children can handle loose gravel and a stony riverbed, but there is no pram route and no soft ground anywhere. It is not wheelchair accessible: everything is scree and gravel, and entry to the hot river is a wooden step down into silt. There is no version of this that fits a one-hour gap or a rainy afternoon squeezed between other plans. The hot river is the most oversold part — a shallow, muddy-bottomed stream, hot where the source enters and tepid at the far end, with a bare changing hut, no lockers and no showers included, and perhaps forty people in it at 14:00 in August. It is not a spa. Off-road driving in Fjallabak carries heavy fines, obsidian is not a souvenir, and camping is legal only at the marked site.

Hours & entry

Free to hike and bathe; ISK1000 parking

Accessible late June to mid-September only · Hot spring open 24/7 in season · Warden hut daily 9:00-19:00 in season

What to see

• Natural hot river bath — Wooden boardwalk 200 m south of the campsite
• Brennisteinsalda rhyolite mountain — End of the 4 km loop trail from the warden hut
• Blahnjukur summit ridge — Steep path east of camp, 6 km round trip

Tips from the ground

• Take the bus if your rental is not a proper 4x4 — river crossings ruin insurance
• Bathe at 8pm when day-trippers have left; the river is nearly empty
• Book the Ferdafelag hut months ahead if you want a bed; the campsite rarely fills