7 Day Complete Laugavegur Trek, South Coast & Glacier Hike | Mountain Huts

You drive into the highlands and arrive at Landmannalaugar, where the Laugavegur trail begins. The first day is a shorter warm-up of about 8 kilometres through the lava field and the Grænagil canyon, among the coloured rhyolite mountains, to help you find your pace. Afterwards you can bathe in the natural hot spring near the hut, the only one on the trail.

The longest day of the trek. The trail leaves through the Laugahraun lava field, passes the Brennisteinsalda volcano and climbs across the rhyolite mountains to the black obsidian desert at Hrafntinnusker, then drops past the hot springs and mud pools of Jökultungur, where the ground is stained yellow and red by geothermal heat. A river to wade comes before the hut at Álftavatn.

The day starts with a stream crossing and then crosses the black sand desert of Mælifellssandur, passing the volcanoes Stórasúla and Hattafell, with views of the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull glaciers. Near the end you reach the Markarfljótsgljúfur canyon, about 200 metres deep, and then Botnar, the green patch at Emstrur where the hut stands.

The last stretch of the Laugavegur trail goes through the Almenningar area, below Mount Einhyrningur, with glacier views, and descends about 300 metres into Þórsmörk, where sparse trees slowly give way to dense birch forest. You finish the Laugavegur in the valley, surrounded by mountains and glaciers. You stay two nights in the Langidalur hut.

A day hike from Þórsmörk up part of the Fimmvörðuháls trail, over black sand plains and lava ridges in country shaped by the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, to the craters Magni and Móði, named after the sons of Thor. The hike starts and ends in Þórsmörk, so you sleep in the same hut again. There are steep sections and loose gravel, so good boots and reasonable fitness are needed.

You can choose the steep hike up Útigönguhöfði, an easy walk to Húsadalur, or a rest at the hut. The night is in a countryside hotel, and dinner this evening is not included.

After breakfast at the hotel you stop at Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and the black sand beach at Reynisfjara. At Sólheimajökull, a glacier tongue of Mýrdalsjökull, you are given glacier equipment and a safety briefing before you walk onto the ice with your guide, and then you drive back to Reykjavík. Breakfast at the hotel is included today, but lunch and dinner are not.