Landmannalaugar Hiking Tours from Reykjavik
Most day trips into the valley are a long drive with a stroll bolted on. Two are not. Arctic Adventures gives you three guided hours on the trail at $190.67, and Nordur Travel runs a smaller group for around four hours at $204.97, with the second one also picking up in Hella. Both finish in the hot spring, both leave the capital before seven, and one of them quietly charges you for the changing rooms. If you want the vehicle rather than the walk, the super jeep days cover that, and the other seven sit alongside them in the full Landmannalaugar tour comparison.
Quick answer
Two guided Landmannalaugar hiking tours run from Reykjavik: the Arctic Adventures highland hike at $190.67, which schedules three hours on the trail and covers the facility fees, and the Nordur Travel day at $204.97, which walks around four hours with a smaller group, is guided in English and Spanish, and picks up in Hella. Both are 11 to 14 hour days that finish in the hot spring, and both run only while the F-roads are open, roughly 20 June to 15 September.
Key takeaways
- Most reviewed: the Arctic Adventures highland hike, $190.67, rated 4.7 from 708 travellers, three guided hours on the trail plus an hour in the People's Pool
- Smaller group: Nordur Travel at $204.97, English and Spanish, pickup in Reykjavik from 06:30 and at Olís Hella between 08:20 and 08:45
- The standard walk is Brennisteinsalda: 6.5 km return, two to three hours, about 200 m of ascent to an 855 m summit
- Bláhnúkur at 945 m is the harder option and guides only take groups up when the wind allows
- Fees differ: Arctic Adventures covers the Landmannalaugar facility and parking fees, Nordur Travel puts bathroom, shower and hot spring entry at your own expense
- Neither includes food. There is no shop in the valley, so buy lunch before the Hella stop
About These Two Hiking Days
Two operators, one valley, and the same F-roads in. What separates them is group size, who pays the facility fee, and whether Spanish is spoken on the bus.
Door to door from Reykjavik. Around seven of those hours are driving
Guided, on marked trails from the campsite. No scrambling and no experience needed
Per person, nothing paid at booking, free cancellation up to 24 hours out
36 to 40°C, at the edge of the Laugahraun lava field, a few minutes from where the vehicle parks
It also rules out anyone with mobility problems or a low level of fitness
The $190.67 tour drops at Ráðhús City Hall, Olís Hella, Selfoss N1 and the Reykjavík Campsite
Live Dates for the Highland Hike
Availability for the $190.67 Arctic Adventures day, the most reviewed tour into the valley at 4.7 from 708 travellers. Departures stop when Vegagerðin closes the F-roads, usually in the second week of September.
Which of the Two to Book
Take the Arctic Adventures day for the longest guided walk
Three hours on the trail is the most walking any operator schedules here, and the itinerary is honest about it: 95 minutes on the road to Hella, a 15-minute break, another 75 minutes into the valley, then three hours hiking, an hour in the hot spring and three and a half hours home. At $190.67 it is also the cheaper of the two, and the Landmannalaugar facility and parking fees are covered by the ticket.
The rating is 4.7 from 708 travellers, which is the largest sample of any Landmannalaugar tour on sale. What comes up repeatedly in those reviews is pace: guides move at the speed of the group's stronger half, and you are expected to say something if that is not you. One traveller wrote that the guide "walked a bit fast, but you could ask her to slow down".
Take the Nordur Travel day for a smaller group and a Hella start
This one runs on the same clock but with fewer people: pickup in Reykjavík from 06:30, departure at 07:00, the Olís station in Hella between 08:20 and 08:45, and roughly four hours of easy trekking with frequent stops. It is guided in English and Spanish, which is rare on this route, and the group size is deliberately kept small.
Two things to read carefully before you pick it. At $204.97 it costs $14 more, and its listing puts both food and drink and the entry fees for the bathrooms, showers and hot spring in the excluded column. The tour page says as much in its own highlights: hot springs, own expense.
Neither of them feeds you
Food and drink sit in the excluded column on both listings, and there is no shop, café or vending machine anywhere in the valley. The last place to buy anything is the petrol station in Hella, about 75 minutes short of the campsite, and the Arctic Adventures itinerary builds a 15-minute stop there specifically so you can. Bring the lunch with you from Reykjavik and treat that stop as the coffee it is.
What the 4.7 and the 137-review sample actually tell you
Both tours rate 4.7, but on very different volumes: 708 reviews against 137. On a route where the weather decides half the day, the bigger sample is the more useful number, because it has absorbed more bad-weather departures. Read the low reviews on either and you find the same three complaints, none of them about the operator: the road is bumpy, the drive is long, and the wind at the top of the ridge was worse than expected.
The Two Hiking Days Side by Side
Both are guided walks in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve with the hot spring at the end. Everything else is in the detail.
from $190.67 
from $204.97 Landmannalaugar Hike and Hot Springs from Reykjavik & Hella
Read the full guide → Check AvailabilityWhat $14 Buys You
| Tour | Price | Time on foot | Book | Group | Facility fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arctic Adventures highland hike | $190.67 | 3 hours guided | Full highland vehicle | Covered by the ticket | |
| Nordur Travel hike and hot springs | $204.97 | About 4 hours, frequent stops | Small group, English and Spanish | At your own expense |
The Loop Both Tours Walk Some Version Of
The Bláhnúkur and Brennisteinsalda circuit filmed end to end. A guided day gives you time for one half of this, not the whole thing.
What the Three Hours on Foot Cover
Laugahraun, the lava field you walk into first
The trail leaves the campsite and climbs straight onto black obsidian. Laugahraun was pushed out in an eruption around 1477, and it is young enough that almost nothing grows on it: sharp-edged blocks, glassy black faces, and a path picked between them rather than built over them. This is where hiking boots stop being a suggestion, because the rock cuts.
Guides use this stretch for the geology, and it is worth listening. The colour in the mountains ahead is rhyolite, weathered into ochre, rust and pale green, and the black seams running through it are the same obsidian you are standing on.
Brennisteinsalda and the steaming ground
The Sulphur Wave is the peak most groups aim for: 6.5 km there and back, two to three hours, about 200 m of climbing, and the top sits at 855 m. The last stretch passes fumaroles that hiss and stain the ground yellow, and the smell arrives before the view does. On a clear day the summit shows you the whole Fjallabak basin and, on the horizon, Hekla.
- Banded rhyolite slopes in ochre, rust, green and grey
- Active sulphur vents with yellow and orange crusting
- The black spread of Laugahraun below, with the campsite at its edge
- Grænagil, the green-walled gorge between the lava and Bláhnúkur
- Hekla on the western skyline when the cloud lifts
Bláhnúkur, if the group is strong and the wind is down
The Blue Peak rises straight above the campsite to 945 m, roughly 320 m of ascent on 5.7 km round trip, and it takes two and a half to three and a half hours. The path is loose underfoot and narrows to a ridge near the top, which is why guides read the wind before committing a group to it. Anyone unhappy with exposure should say so at the briefing rather than at the ridge.
How the Arctic Adventures Day Runs
Times are the operator's own segment lengths. The hiking block is the part that moves with the weather.
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07:00
Leave Reykjavik
Pickup at central bus stops, then out through the suburbs and onto Route 1 heading east. The vehicle is a high-clearance highland bus, not a coach.
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1:35
Hella
95 minutes of driving to the last town before the highlands, then a 15-minute break at the Olís station. This is the final chance to buy food, coffee or anything you forgot.
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2:05
Onto the F-roads
75 minutes from Hella into the valley. The tarmac ends, the fords start, and the mountains change colour as you climb into Fjallabak.
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3:20
Landmannalaugar, boots on
The guide sets the route from the campsite according to the weather and the group. Three hours of walking, usually Laugahraun and Brennisteinsalda, with Bláhnúkur added when conditions and legs allow.
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6:20
The hot spring
About an hour in the People's Pool at 36 to 40°C. There is a boardwalk for your clothes and no changing room, so most people wear a swimsuit under their hiking gear.
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7:20
The drive back
Three and a half hours to Reykjavik with drop-offs at Ráðhús City Hall, Olís Hella, Selfoss N1 and the Reykjavík Campsite. Most people sleep through the Ring Road section.
Before You Book
Who these tours turn away
The Arctic Adventures listing names three groups it will not take: children under 10, people with mobility impairments, and people with a low level of fitness. The Nordur Travel day is gentler on paper, describing its trekking as easy and accessible, but it excludes wheelchair users. Neither is a technical walk.
If you are comfortable on a two-hour country walk with a hill in it, you will manage.
- Not suitable: children under 10 on the Arctic Adventures day
- Not suitable: anyone with mobility impairments or low fitness
- Not suitable: wheelchair users on either tour
- No previous hiking experience required on either
- Tell the guide at the briefing about knees, backs or a fear of heights
What to bring
There is nothing to buy in the valley and the weather changes inside an hour, even in July. Both operators publish nearly the same list, and the full packing list explains what each item is for.
- Hiking boots with ankle support, not trainers: the lava is sharp and the scree moves
- Waterproof jacket and over-trousers, plus warm layers underneath
- Hat and gloves, in August as much as in June
- Swimsuit and towel for the hot spring, worn underneath if you would rather not change on the boardwalk
- A packed lunch and water, bought before Hella
- A dry bag for wet swimwear on the drive home
The season is short and the road decides it
Both tours run only while the F-roads are open, roughly 20 June to 15 September, with Vegagerðin setting the exact dates each year after inspecting the route. Book anything in the first half of June or the second half of September and the odds of a weather cancellation climb sharply. Both operators refund in full when they cancel, and both let you cancel free up to 24 hours ahead. Month by month covers what each window risks.
Alcohol is not allowed on board
Standard across every operator running into Fjallabak, and worth knowing before someone buys a celebratory bottle at the Hella stop. The same rule covers the vehicle on the way home.
Where the Walking Happens
Questions About the Hiking Days
How hard is the hiking on a Landmannalaugar day tour?
Moderate rather than hard. The standard route crosses the Laugahraun lava field and climbs Brennisteinsalda: 6.5 km, two to three hours, about 200 m of ascent, on marked paths with no scrambling. Bláhnúkur is the harder option at 945 m with 320 m of climbing on loose ground and a narrow ridge near the top, and guides only take groups up it when the wind allows. Anyone who walks regularly manages either. The Arctic Adventures listing does exclude people with a low level of fitness, which is the operator being straight with you rather than cautious.
How long do you actually spend hiking?
Three hours on the Arctic Adventures day, which is the longest guided walk any operator schedules here, and around four hours with frequent stops on the Nordur Travel day. Both then add roughly an hour at the hot spring. The rest of the 11 to 14 hours is driving: about 3.5 to 4 hours in each direction from Reykjavik.
Do I need hiking boots, or will trainers do?
Boots. Both operators list hiking shoes as required kit and the reason is underfoot: Laugahraun is 550-year-old obsidian with edges that cut, and the climb up Bláhnúkur is loose volcanic scree that slides. Ankle support matters more here than tread. Waterproof is better than not, because the paths hold water for days after rain and there is no drying out once you are wet.
Is the hot spring included in the price?
It is free to bathe in, but the facilities around it are not always covered. The Arctic Adventures ticket states that the Landmannalaugar facility and parking fees are included. The Nordur Travel listing puts the entry fees for bathrooms, showers and hot springs in the excluded column, and its own highlights say hot springs, own expense. Carry a card either way, and note that a shower in the block costs 1,100 ISK.
Can I join a Landmannalaugar hiking tour from Hella or Selfoss?
Yes, on both. The Nordur Travel day picks up at the Olís station in Hella between 08:20 and 08:45, about 80 minutes after the Reykjavik departure. The Arctic Adventures day lists Olís Hella and Selfoss N1 among its drop-off points alongside Ráðhús City Hall and the Reykjavík Campsite. If you are staying on the south coast, joining at Hella removes roughly three hours of driving from your day. The 8-hour super jeep that starts at Hella trims it further.
What happens if the weather is bad?
The guide shortens or reroutes the walk, which is normal here and not a sign of a bad day. A group that loses the ridge to wind still gets the lava field, the gorge and the hot spring. Outright cancellations happen when the road is unsafe rather than when the forecast is poor, and both operators refund in full in that case. You can also cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before departure, with nothing paid at booking.
Is the drive really as bumpy as the reviews say?
The last 75 minutes are gravel and fords, and yes, it is rough. Reviewers who mention it are not complaining so much as warning: one wrote that it is "a bumpy road BTW, so bring your motion sickness solutions". If you are prone to travel sickness, take something before Hella rather than after, sit forward in the vehicle, and keep your eyes on the horizon during the F-road section.
What Recent Walkers Wrote
This was a spectacular tour. Our guide, Storm, was not only an excellent hiker and motivator when needed to encourage me when I was unsure […] He did a great job of managing a group with some strong hikers and weaker ones. He went above and beyond to lead and then come back to help the slower hikers (like me)!
Well worth the long trip out there! Nacho was energetic and informative. He ensured everyone had an amazing time and is an amazing photographer! This trip is a must do!
Strongly recommended, the tour offers the opportunity to spend a lovely day in the beautiful Landmannalaugar. The highly skilled guide offers multiple options (between trekking and relaxation) and is very keen on everyone's needs
Quotes reproduced from the GetYourGuide listings for these two tours, as written, shortened with an ellipsis where marked.