Kerlingarfjöll day trip from Reykjavík: which tour

Short answer: yes, you can do Kerlingarfjöll in a day from Reykjavík, and it’s one of the better long days in Iceland. Book Gravel Travel’s small-group jeep tour from €339 unless you’re four or more, in which case a private car starts to make sense. The cheaper big-group hiking day we used to list is no longer sold. Go between late June and early September. Expect twelve hours door to door, and most of them in a vehicle.

What Kerlingarfjöll is

It’s a mountain range in the middle of the country, south-west of Hofsjökull, on the Kjölur route between the south and the north. The reason people go is Hveradalir, the “valley of hot springs”: a steep geothermal valley of orange, yellow and white rhyolite, with steam vents, mud pots and snow patches side by side well into summer. Boardwalks and marked paths take you down into it. It looks like Landmannalaugar’s colours with more steam and fewer people.

At the edge of the range is the Highland Base in Ásgarður, a mountain hotel with the Highland Baths, a set of geothermal pools. Some tours stop there at the end.

The day, honestly

You leave Reykjavík around 08:00, drive past the Golden Circle to Gullfoss, and then the tarmac ends. From there it’s the Kjölur road north across a black gravel desert, with Langjökull on your left, and a rougher spur into the mountains. Roughly three and a half hours each way.

On site you get about two hours on foot. Expect a moderate walk: steady climbs and descents on loose, sometimes muddy paths. Anyone comfortable on their feet for two hours will manage. Weather in the highlands turns faster than on the coast, and even in July you can walk through sleet at the top of the valley. Bring waterproofs and a warm layer whatever the forecast in Reykjavík says.

The downside is plain. It’s a long day for two hours of walking, and if cloud sits on the ridges you’ll see the valley floor and not much else. It’s not a first-trip priority if you only have four days.

The tours

The one we’d book. Gravel Travel’s Kerlingarfjöll Super 4x4 Small Group Hiking Adventure, from €339, twelve hours with pickup in Reykjavík. A smaller vehicle, a guide who can adjust the day, the Hveradalir walk, and the option to finish in the Highland Baths (entry not included, bring swimwear and a towel). Minimum age 8. It’s now the only shared way in that we list, so it is also the cheapest, and the walk is the point of the day.

Private. Iceland Adventures’ Kerlingarfjöll and Golden Circle Private Tour is from €1,314 for the car, twelve hours. It adds Geysir, Gullfoss and Þingvellir, which sounds efficient and means less time in the valley. Pack lunch; food isn’t included. Icelandic Roamers’ private super jeep tour with a photo package is from €1,909 and includes 15 edited photos. It has no open dates in our calendar at the moment, so check before planning round it.

Split between four, the €1,314 private car is about €329 each, close to the small-group jeep price. For two people it’s poor value.

When it runs

The small-group tour runs from June to mid-September. The private Golden Circle version shows dates from May into October, but the highland roads open when the snow and the rivers allow, often late June, and close again with the first autumn storms. Bookings at the edges of the season are the likeliest to move. Operators cancel when the road isn’t safe, and you get a refund or another date.

Our honest take

If you have a week or more and you’ve already done the Golden Circle, book the small-group jeep tour for a clear day in July or August. It’s the cheapest option and the walk is what you came for, with the baths at the end if you want them. Skip the private Golden Circle combination unless you’re four people who haven’t seen Gullfoss yet. And if you only have one highland day, compare it honestly with Landmannalaugar first. Kerlingarfjöll is quieter; Landmannalaugar has more walking.