The Iceland Trail: A Memorable Hiking Trip in the Highlands

Despite traveling around much of Iceland already (including all of the Ring Road), I still feel like I have so much more to see of this amazing country. One of my top bucket-list experiences was to visit the Highlands, and more specifically, to hike on the Laugavegur Trail. 

The issue, however, is that this requires much more planning than an ordinary hike. While I’m very experienced with what Iceland has to offer, I didn’t feel particularly confident going into the Highlands on my own. Besides being miles away from anything, you also won’t get mobile connection in much of the region.

As such, I looked for solutions to this issue. One of those was The Iceland Trail, a concept by the Belgian company Travelbase. When the opportunity came to try this out for myself, it was a “hell yes” that I was never going to turn down. Well, by that, I mean I asked the question and got a yes; turns out that if you don’t ask, you don’t get. 🙂

What *Exactly* Is The Iceland Trail?

The Iceland Trail covers the iconic Laugavegur Trail, which is Iceland’s most famous multi-day hike. But while this was the main reason for wanting to do this trip, it wasn’t the only outdoor experience we got to do during the week. 

When booking The Iceland Trail, you can choose whether you want to hike in a guided group or go on your own. As I’ll discuss soon, I picked the guided group option. If you’ve never done a multi-day hike before, I strongly recommend doing the same, too. 

My trip on The Iceland Trail lasted for a week. Most of this was out in the wilderness, but we also had some time to explore Reykjavík. If I had wanted to, I could have booked accommodation in the capital and stayed some extra days—but I chose to go home instead. 

This was actually my second trip with Travelbase in Iceland, and my eighth trip to the country in total. Beforehand, I did the 10-day Iceland Nomads trip. For this, we went around the Ring Road and Snæfellsnes Peninsula. I wrote a full Iceland Nomads review if you want to learn more about that. 

Why I Chose The Iceland Trail to Hike in the Highlands

When I say that the Icelandic Highlands are remote, I mean that in the truest sense of the word. This part of the country has no permanent residents, and you can’t even access it for most of the year. You also have no mobile reception for much of it, along with no gas stations or proper grocery stores. Basically, if something happens, you’re cooked. 

I had been to some pretty isolated parts of the country before, but the Highlands is a different ballgame. On top of that, the weather is volatile—yes, even by Iceland’s standards. The Laugavegur Trail itself has some pretty challenging parts as well; for example, you have to cross multiple rivers (including one with particularly fast currents). 

Given all of these challenges, hiking with The Iceland Trail made complete sense. I also chose to hike in a guided group for extra safety, and to be honest, wanting to meet like-minded travelers was another motivation. 

What Time of the Year Can You Do This Trip?

The Iceland Trail runs from July through the end of August. You can only visit the Highlands during the summer anyway; for the rest of the year, the roads are closed and often blocked by snow. And by “closed for the rest of the year”, I mean that it’s illegal to drive on F-roads and into the highlands outside of the short summer season. 

Do You Have Flexibility With the Itinerary?

Not for the most part, no. You will all depart from just outside of Reykjavík at the same time, and the itinerary for the week is set in advance. Guides can change it based on the weather, but otherwise, most of the itinerary is not changeable. 

The exception is at the end of the trip. If you want, you can stay for some extra days in Reykjavík. However, this is not included as part of the package price, so you’ll need to pay for this yourself. If you choose to do this, you can read my guide on the best places to stay in Iceland’s capital.

My Hiking Trip to Iceland With The Iceland Trail: A Day-by-Day Recap

Right, so you’ve now got some background context behind the trip. I will now go through my day-to-day recap, so you can get an idea of what hiking with The Iceland Trail was like. 

Anyway… when the shuttle bus picked us up, we headed for our basecamp just outside Reykjavík. Here, we met our guides for the week. We also received a briefing on what to expect, and some helpful tips for hiking on the Laugavegur Trail. I also had to go into Reykjavík to buy some rain pants as I didn’t have any… a useful tip for yourself is to bring some with you. You *will* need them. 

We also set up our tents, which for me—someone who grew up in London—felt like a prehistoric exercise. Luckily, it got much easier as the week progressed.  

I had a theory in my head that I usually drink around 4 liters of water per day. While hiking, and especially at higher altitudes and over longer distances, I figured that I would need more. This is true, but I then figured that maybe if I front-loaded 2+ liters of water first thing in the morning, I’d need less water later. I’m here to tell you right now that it’s a stupid idea. Don’t do it.

Given that I packed way too much and it also took me some time to put down my tent, I didn’t have enough time to go to the toilet before we got on our bus and headed to the Highlands. Let’s just say that the hour or so until we reached the service station was a test of character 🫠. Handy tip when visiting Iceland for the first time: Go to the toilet before you get on a long-distance bus. 

Continuing to Landmannalaugar

After buying some extra groceries from the service station and using the—well—services that I needed to, we got back on the bus and headed to Landmannalaugar. I thought on my Ring Road and Snæfellsnes trip that we went on some dicey roads, and I quickly realized that there are levels to this game.

On the approach to Landmannalaugar, I learned why we got on one of those buses with massive wheels. The potholes were one thing, but the way our driver had to cross some of the rivers was another. To be honest, though, this was probably a normal Tuesday for the driver. A general rule of thumb in Iceland is that if your driver seems calm, you’re probably all good. 

A few hours later, we went on our first hike of the trip. This was a warm-up, and leading up to the mountain itself, much of the trail was quite easy. As we approached the summit, though, it was *very* steep. Still, it was a nice introduction to the Highlands and good practice for what was to come. Plus, the views from the top were amazing. 

In the evening, I made full use of the hot springs here and also had some dinner. This was also a good opportunity to talk to some of the other people in the group. Since we had a big day coming up, though, I wanted to get an early night. 

This was the longest day of hiking, and it felt very much like an “eat the frog” day. Get the most difficult stuff out of the way, and the next few days would be easier. We covered a lot in the morning, and the landscapes were stunning. Hiking close to geothermal areas was super interesting, and the colors in the mountain rocks were beautiful. 

After crossing a lengthy snow bridge, which was the only part I thought was nerve-wracking so far, we arrived at a hut and had lunch. Then, we continued for the afternoon. I was surprised that the weather was still holding up, but I definitely should have taken sunscreen more seriously.

The descent on the other side of the mountain was particularly steep, and I finally learned what trekking poles are actually useful for. After doing that part, much of the walk to our first base was quite simple. We had to do our first river crossing, but this was quite shallow, and we could hold onto a rope. The campsite itself was in a really beautiful location. They also had some nice cakes for sale, which was a bonus. 🙂

When you’re in Iceland, a general rule is that you’re going to get the opposite of your current weather before too long. It doesn’t matter when you visit; this has been true every single time I’ve visited. So, I knew that two days of sun and no wind was probably our full “good weather” budget for the week. This kinda proved its point on our second day of the Laugavgur Trail. 

As I woke up in the morning, the visibility was total garbage compared to the night before. I knew that today would be great for moody photos, but also probably more challenging. This ended up being true. 

Making Our First Proper River Crossing

Soon after leaving the campsite, we had to make what I would call our first proper river crossing of the trail. Compared to the one we did the day before (which honestly was like a stream in comparison), this one was *cold*. Nonetheless, I got across without too much difficulty. Useful tip when you do this trail: you need water shoes. I used some Salomon Techamphibian 5s, which were very good.

We then continued until it was time for lunch; the rest of the time until then wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary. It rained a bit, and I didn’t take that many photos. This was mainly because I did a good job at nearly destroying my camera the previous time I was in the country, and I didn’t want it to be a write-off so early in this trip either :). After fueling up and taking a break, we got back on the trail and… had our next river crossing.

The Black Sand Desert

Most of the day involved passing through the Mælifelssandur black sand desert. You often hear people say that Iceland feels like being on a different planet, but it really felt like that here. Since I hadn’t already, it was a nice time to stop and think about how grateful I was to be on this trail and hiking yet again in Iceland. 

While we were in the desert, the weather got much worse. The wind picked up, which is a nice way of saying “the wind nearly knocked a 100kg guy over a fair few times”. If you’ve ever watched the SpongeBob Krusty Krab Pizza episode, it was like that. And if you haven’t, you should watch it. 

Eventually, our group got to the other side. Before continuing to the campsite, we did a nice side hike. Then, we set up our tents in the next place. The wind was so bad here that we all needed at least two people to put up our tents, and it got even worse during the night. I have no idea what the actual speed was, but it felt like at least 15 m/s. All you can do in that situation is put some noise-canceling headphones in and hope that the forces above have your back, which is precisely what I did. 💆🏾‍♂️

Once we had eaten some breakfast, we headed back out onto the trail for the last day of the Laugavegur Trail. By this point, I have to say that I was starting to feel the cumulative fatigue from the past few days. Still, the finish line was in sight, and I still had some gas left in the tank. Seeing the sign to Þórsmörk, where the trail ends, was also an extra motivator. 

The landscapes on this day were much more diverse than the previous one. As the day progressed, I had the feeling of being closer to civilization than before. We could also see Eyjafjallajökull in the background, which was a nice pointer toward the finish line. 

Our Biggest Challenge Was Still to Come…

As we got into the afternoon, the end of the trail felt ever closer. I was exhausted by this stage, but I knew that if I kept walking, I would eventually get to our campsite. Well, that was almost true. 

We had been briefed and reminded throughout the week about the big river crossing that we needed to do before arriving in Þórsmörk. This is basically the Final Boss of the Laugavegur Trail. 

Although they were cold, the previous rivers we crossed were nothing like this one. When we got to the riverbank, I felt my heart sink a little bit. At the same time, I knew that once I got across, the rest of the day would be comparatively straightforward. 

For this reason, I wanted to not be the last person to cross. I watched a few others do it, and then focused all my attention on not falling and getting to the other side. I’d love to say that the main reason was for my own good, but the reality is someone else was photographing me, and that’s why. Do you really think I’d have shown anyone photos of me crossing the river if I’m slipping over when I get home or post them on here? 

Anyway, I listened to our guides and got to the other side. When I did, I felt huge relief. However, we still had some more walking to do before the end of the trail. 

Arriving in Þórsmörk

When we got into Þórsmörk, it felt like an actual summer in comparison to the weather we had experienced in the mountains. It was quite humid, and we also saw a rarity for Iceland: Trees. The last bit of the trail was quite monotonous, but eventually, we arrived at the end of the Laugavegur Trail. 

As soon as I crossed that finish line, I fell to the floor in exhaustion. I’m a very active person in general, but this was one of the most physically demanding things I’ve ever done. At the same time, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and was proud of myself. Seeing what your body is capable of, and realizing that you can do a lot more than you think, is always nice. 

We arrived in Þórsmörk on the day of the total eclipse. The next total eclipse after this in Iceland would be in 2196. So, I presumed, this would be my only chance to see such an event in Iceland. 

This has been in my mind all week, but there was just a slight problem when we arrived. The sun was not visible at all already because it was so cloudy and foggy. Still, we figured that it would be fun to see what it was like. 

Let’s just say… it got dark, but I did not see any eclipse 😬. Maybe I’ll get the chance to try again in 100+ years, who knows.

Day 6: An Easy-ish Hike in Þórsmörk

Mission failed with the eclipse, but it wasn’t for the want of trying. Still, I had a very good night of sleep and felt somewhat more refreshed the morning after. On our second day in Þórsmörk, we had the choice of an easy walk to the next base, a moderate hike, and a more difficult one close to a glacier. 

I felt like I would regret going straight to the basecamp, but I also was not prepared to do a strenuous hike that was steep and slippery. It had rained the night before, and this plus fatigue seemed like a bad idea. So, I picked the middle option.

The hike was quite simple, and it was nice to do something. We went through the forested area here and got some great views of Eyjafjallajökull, too. Yes, this is the volcano that shut down travel across Europe in 2010, for what I had thought would be the only occasion in my lifetime. 

After a few hours, the group arrived at the campsite, and we set up our tents. For the first time in a week, I had mobile reception… I guess it was nice to get in touch with loved ones, but I have to say I enjoyed being offline for a while 😄. This campsite felt like luxury to me, though… there’s nothing like a long hike in the middle of nowhere to make you appreciate showers without a time limit and meals that aren’t freeze-dried. 

A Relaxed Afternoon

To be honest, I did nothing for most of the afternoon and feel zero guilt about that. I pretty much just chilled out, had some beers, and ate food. 

In the evening, we had a final meeting, which was very wholesome. We all got to share our highlights of the week; after that, I went to have some dinner and drinks with some of the group. Eventually, I retreated to my tent to get some sleep before our departure the next day. 

Day 7: Heading Back to Reykjavík, Via One of Iceland’s Most Famous Waterfalls

After the best part of a week away from pretty much everything, we set off back to Reykjavík. On the way, though, we stopped at one of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls. 

This was my fourth trip to Seljalandsfoss, so I was hardly a stranger to it. Still, I think it’s a cool waterfall, so I can only imagine what first-time visitors think. We had a bit of time to spend here, and for the most part, I wanted to get some photos that hadn’t been possible on previous trips. I by and large did this, so I would say that was mission accomplished. 

While it was possible to go behind Seljalandsfoss at this time of the year, I did not as a) I’ve already done it multiple times, and b) the waterfall was much busier than I have ever seen it. 

Arriving at the Basecamp & Heading Into Reykjavík

Once we had stopped at Seljalandsfoss, we continued to the hostel we had started at. Here, some of us then took a taxi into Reykjavík. Even though I’ve been to the Icelandic capital 5+ times, I still always enjoy visiting—and there are plenty of fun things to do here. 

While in Reykjavík, we went to Hallgrímskirkja and then walked around the city center. Our original plan was to visit Brauð & Co., which is one of my favorite bakeries in the Nordics. Sadly, it was sold out of pastries and closed early. 

To be honest, I thought that Keflavík Airport was much more disorganized than it usually is. However, I got through security without too many issues and had time for some breakfast. After saying goodbye to the group, I then boarded my flight back to Copenhagen.

Having the right guides makes a huge difference, and I think that it was a huge reason why I enjoyed this trip so much. Besides being professional, though, they were super easy to talk to. They also were fun to be with, but they could be serious when they needed to. 

I’ve already spoken ad infinitum about choosing the option with guides if you take The Iceland Trail. I am once again going to reiterate that here. 

Anyway, let’s talk about packing lightly. I actually shed *a lot* from my backpack and thought that I was already packing lightly. But I was very, very wrong. I actually left most of my stuff back at the hostel. Apparently, I didn’t need two Icelandic sweaters with me… who’d have thought?

I’m in the process of writing a list of what I packed, and when I’ve written that, I’ll link it in here. 

Are There Any Add-Ons I Recommend?

I took quite a few add-ons, but if you only choose one, I’d recommend that you get the luggage transport option. The trail is already difficult enough, but it’s even harder if you’re carrying an extra 20kg on your back. The luggage transfer took my stuff to each campsite, and it meant that I only needed a daypack while I was out hiking. 

You should also consider getting the tent and sleeping bags. I didn’t really want to bring these on the plane with me, so it was very easy to just rent them from Travelbase. The ones they give you are designed to be used in the Icelandic Highlands, and I felt like they were of good quality. 

I suggest either bringing trekking poles or renting these, too. Before this trip, I had never used trekking poles. On this one, however, they were incredibly useful in numerous situations. Just make sure you don’t leave them somewhere random… I did this one night, but luckily, the guides picked them up for me. 😄

Another add-on worth getting is the food pack. Firstly, the granola is elite. Beyond that, though, it’s much easier than bringing your own meals on the plane with you. You’ll receive three freeze-dried meals per day, along with the necessary cooking equipment. You will need to bring snacks, and I have to say that I under-prepared for how much I would need to eat, so you should bring more than you expect. For the main food, though, the freeze-dried meals were fine for the week.