Yoga and wellness retreats in Iceland: what's on offer
Iceland has a handful of bookable yoga and wellness trips, from a €43 one-hour class in Þórsmörk to six-day retreats at €3,300 to €4,400. Here is what each includes.
The short version
- The cheapest way to try it: a one-hour yoga class in Þórsmörk, from €43, minimum age 12.
- Midgard's six-day yoga and mindfulness retreat is from €3,299, small groups of up to ten, all meals included.
- Viking Women's six-day wellness retreat is from €4,032 in winter and €4,398 in summer, minimum age 18, and no refund once booked.
- Few dates are open at any time, so book months ahead and read the cancellation terms first.
Iceland is not a yoga-retreat country in the Bali sense, and the bookable options are few. If you want to try it, do the one-hour class in Þórsmörk. If you want a week, choose between two six-day trips that each combine yoga with hiking, hot pools and a lot of walking.
The one-hour option
Volcano Yoga is from €43. It is an hour of outdoor yoga at 08:00 in Húsadalur, in the Þórsmörk valley, led by a yoga teacher who also works as an outdoor guide. Mats are provided and there is a tent as a backup if it rains. Minimum age 12. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
It is cheap and there are plenty of open dates. The catch is that Þórsmörk is a long way from anywhere. You will reach it by a highland bus, a super jeep or an overnight stay in the huts, so the class is really a bonus for people already there. Do not drive to Þórsmörk for it.
Midgard: six days in the south
Adventure Inward: 6-Day Yoga and Mindfulness Retreat is from €3,299. The group is at most ten people, and the hosts are Icelanders who run Midgard in Hvolsvöllur. It is all-inclusive from pick-up to drop-off: super jeep and Sprinter transport, meditation and yoga workshops, guided hikes, three meals a day and a dinner at the hosts’ home. Alcohol is not included.
Cancelling costs 30% of the price once you book, and 50% inside 28 days. Our availability snapshot shows no open dates right now. That may change, so check the booking page rather than assuming it is full.
A shorter weekend format, the 3-Day Yoga Retreat, appeared in the catalogue with May dates and has since gone quiet. Do not plan around it.
Viking Women: six days in the highlands
The 6-day SUMMER Wellness Retreat is from €4,398, the 6-day WINTER Wellness Retreat from €4,032. Both start in Reykjavík with a guided city walk, then add hiking to waterfalls, snorkelling at Silfra, yoga, natural hot pools and meals together. Summer is based in Kerlingarfjöll, winter near Selfoss.
Both have a minimum age of 18. The terms are strict: no refund once booked. Open dates are very few, four or five in the next four months, so there is little room to choose.
Airport pickup, flights, insurance and tips are not included.
How to choose
If you want the retreat feeling and the money is not the question, Midgard is the more relaxed of the two and has the smaller group. If you want a social week with other travellers and a lot of different activities, the Viking Women trip covers more ground. Both are active. If you imagine six days of lying on a mat, neither is for you.
If you only want something calm, a day at a hot spring will do more than a class. The guide to hot springs beyond the Blue Lagoon lists the quieter ones.
Our honest take
For most travellers, try the Þórsmörk hour and save the €3,000. A six-day retreat only makes sense if you were already planning a week in Iceland and want the group, the meals and the guiding built in. Compare it against a normal six-day small-group tour, which is much cheaper.
The strict cancellation terms are the real risk. Do not book either six-day trip without reading them, and do not book it with flights you cannot change.
