Iceland Highlands Tour Guide: Landmannalaugar, Thorsmork and Kerlingarfjoll

Booking a highland trip for late May is the most common mistake a first-time visitor to Iceland makes. An iceland highlands tour only runs once the F-roads are open, and that date is not fixed on a calendar the way a museum's hours are. Landmannalaugar, Thorsmork and Kerlingarfjoll sit inside the interior, reached only on unpaved mountain tracks that are closed by snow and meltwater for most of the year. This page settles when those roads typically open, what the trips cost, and how the three main areas differ, so a trip can be built around the season rather than around a date picked in advance. Everything below assumes a summer visit. Outside that window the interior is not reachable by road at all, whatever an itinerary might promise.

Landmannalaugar: when the road is actually open

A reader planning around a fixed opening date is planning around a number that changes every year. An iceland landmannalaugar tour depends on two F-roads, F208 from Sigalda and F225, Landmannaleid, and Vegagerdin, the Icelandic Road Administration, decides and publishes the opening of each one once conditions allow.

F208 has opened around 2 June on average and F225 around 16 June on average, but these are averages, not promises for any single year. Ferdafelag Islands, the Iceland Touring Association, has driven the route to Landmannalaugar from about 20 June to 15 September in a typical season, and the roads have usually closed again from mid-September. A landmannalaugar day tour from Reykjavik booked for the first half of June should be treated as provisional until the road is confirmed open, since a booking made months ahead cannot know the date in advance.

Once the road is open, the approach crosses about eight shallow fords, none usually deeper than 30 cm, between the Landmannalaugar campsite and the F235 junction, with one longer, deeper crossing near Eldgja further along F208. Operators driving super jeeps handle these crossings as routine; a rented two-wheel-drive car does not belong on this road at any time of year.

Choosing between super jeep and highland bus

Assuming any highland tour drives the same road the same way is the error worth correcting first. A highland tour iceland operator runs one of two vehicle types: a super jeep, built for the fords and loose gravel, or a scheduled highland bus, which follows a fixed timetable and a fixed route.

The Reykjavik Excursions highland bus has run daily from 19 June to 4 September in a recent season, leaving Reykjavik at 07:00 and arriving at Landmannalaugar around 11:00. That timetable suits a traveller who wants a set departure and no interest in stopping along the way. A super jeep tour usually adds stops a bus schedule cannot, since the vehicle and the smaller group are built for detours the fixed timetable does not allow.

Neither option is available before the roads open, and neither runs to a schedule that predates Vegagerdin's own announcement for the year. A visitor comparing prices between a jeep tour and a bus seat should also compare what each includes: a jeep tour is usually a full guided day, while a bus is transport only, with the hike and the hot spring visit left to the traveller once at Landmannalaugar.

Thorsmork as the other end of the trail

Treating Thorsmork as a separate, unrelated destination misses how most visitors actually reach it. A thorsmork iceland tour is most often the far end of the Laugavegur trail that begins at Landmannalaugar, a route of 54 to 55 km (33.6 to 34.2 mi) with six huts spaced along the way and an elevation gain of 500 m on the first leg alone, up to Hrafntinnusker.

Thorsmork sits lower and greener than Landmannalaugar, sheltered between three glaciers, and day tours from Reykjavik reach it by the same kind of unpaved, river-crossing roads that lead to the rest of the highlands. As with Landmannalaugar, a rented conventional car has no place on these tracks; the crossings are the same kind of hazard whichever direction the trip runs.

A day trip to Thorsmork and a multi-day hike of the full Laugavegur trail are different products sold by different operators, and a booking should state clearly which one it is before a traveller commits time and gear to it.

Taking the bus instead of driving

Assuming a highland trip requires renting a jeep is not correct; a scheduled service exists for travellers who would rather not drive at all. The bus from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar has run daily from 19 June to 4 September in a recent season, departing Reykjavik at 07:00 and arriving around 11:00, a fixed schedule set by Reykjavik Excursions.

This option suits a traveller staying at Landmannalaugar for the day or continuing on foot toward Thorsmork, since the bus removes the need to manage river crossings personally. It does not suit a traveller who wants to stop at viewpoints along the way, since the timetable and route are fixed.

The bus, like every other route into the highlands, only operates once the road itself is open, so its published season dates still sit inside the same window set by F208 and F225 each year.

Kerlingarfjoll and the geothermal ground

Landmannalaugar draws most of the attention, but it is not the only geothermal highland area reachable on a day trip. Kerlingarfjoll sits further north, a range of rhyolite peaks with its own geothermal valley, Hveradalir, of steaming ground and hot streams distinct from the pools at Landmannalaugar.

A guided hiking day at Kerlingarfjoll covers different terrain from the Fjallabak routes: steeper mountain paths rather than the flatter walk around the Landmannalaugar hot spring. Both areas share the same access limitation, an unpaved F-road open only in summer, and the same practical rule that applies across the interior: cross a river only where wading on foot would feel safe, treat knee height as the absolute limit, and drive slowly in a low gear without changing gears mid-crossing.

Registering a highland travel plan and expected return time with SafeTravel before setting out is the standard precaution recommended for any of these routes, Kerlingarfjoll included, whether the day is self-driven or guided.

Photographing the highlands well

Arriving at midday with the rest of the day's tours is the easiest way to miss the light the highlands are known for. An iceland highlands photo tour usually times its stops around low, angled sun rather than the hours a standard sightseeing bus keeps, since the volcanic colour in the ground around Landmannalaugar and the geothermal steam at Kerlingarfjoll both read differently depending on the angle of light.

A smaller vehicle, typically a super jeep carrying fewer passengers than a coach, gives a photographer more control over when a stop happens and how long it lasts. This matters more in the highlands than on a paved route, since a fixed-schedule bus cannot pull over for a view that only lasts a few minutes.

The rhyolite mountains around both Landmannalaugar and Kerlingarfjoll, streaked in reds, oranges and greens from the Torfajokull geothermal system, are the recurring subject of these trips, and the same F-road conditions and river crossings apply to a photography-focused day as to any other highland tour.

Fitting a highland trip into one day

Assuming every highland visit means a multi-day trek is the last mistake worth correcting. An iceland highlands day tour covers Landmannalaugar, Thorsmork or Kerlingarfjoll and returns to Reykjavik the same evening, without camping gear or a hut booking.

A day tour by super jeep typically includes hiking time and a stop at the hot springs where relevant, with the driving itself taking up a large share of the day: Landmannalaugar alone is 182.4 km (113.3 mi) each way, about 2 h 57 one way by road. A traveller comparing a day tour against the scheduled bus should weigh a guided day, with stops chosen by the driver, against a cheaper seat on a fixed timetable with no guiding included.

Whichever option is booked, the same seasonal limit applies: no day tour into the highlands runs before Vegagerdin has opened the relevant F-road for the year, and none continues once the roads close again in mid-September.

Common questions

Can Landmannalaugar be visited in May?

Not by road. F208 has opened around 2 June on average and F225 around 16 June, and Vegagerdin sets the exact date each year rather than a fixed calendar day.

Do highland tours run in winter?

No. The F-roads into Landmannalaugar, Thorsmork and Kerlingarfjoll close again from around mid-September and stay closed until the following summer.

Is a rental car enough to reach Landmannalaugar?

A standard rental car is not suited to the F-roads or the river crossings on the approach, and safetravel.is publishes the guidance on fording that operators work to; tours use super jeeps built for the fords, some no deeper than 30 cm but one crossing near Eldgja deeper still.

How long is the drive to Landmannalaugar from Reykjavik?

About 182.4 km (113.3 mi) one way, roughly 2 h 57 by road before any stops.

Is there a bus option instead of a jeep tour?

Yes, a scheduled highland bus has run daily from 19 June to 4 September in a recent season, departing Reykjavik at 07:00 and arriving around 11:00.