The Laugavegur & Fimmvöröuháls Trails
The Laugavegur Trail offers the best of Icelandic trekking.
The Laugavegur Trail offers the best of Icelandic trekking. Stunning waterfalls, brooding volcanoes, geothermal hot springs, powerful rivers, and deep canyons are just a few of the wonders you’ll discover on this hike. Traversing this spectacular region by foot is one of the best ways to experience the incredible diversity of landscapes that define Iceland.
“This beauty combined with easy accessibility make the Laugavegur Trail one of the most popular hiking destinations in Iceland.”
As a photographer I always like to be outside my comfort zone and as much as the subject matter, it’s the sense of adventure that can be present in these trips that makes me want to spend my time outdoors in this way. So this, lead me and Davide, to hike and photograph the Laugavegur trail earlier this year. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time researching as much as I could about the hike and the locations along the way, so I thought it would be worth trying to relay some of that information in a posts here, before posting the images from the trip.
The Laugavegur trail is a very popular through-hiking route in south west Iceland. Depending on where you look, it’s anywhere from 53-55km and is usually hiked across four days (though, people do ultra run it in one, or hike it in two). The common route is to start at Landmannalaugur, in the highlands, and hike south to Þórsmörk (or Thórsmörk, meaning Thor’s wood) – this has the advantage of being a slow descent of around 700m across the hike, though still climbing to above 1000m on the first day. Once in Thórsmörk, you have the option of extending the hike by following the Fimmvörðuháls trail to Skogar, which is another 22km. Is traditionally completed in the southbound direction because during summer you can only book the hut this way, but it is very possible to walk in the opposite direction if you’re using the tent. Camping is permitted only outside every hut along the Laugavegur.
The MapWHEN AND WITH WHOM
The Laugavegur trail is only open from June through September, with early August being optimal for snow path and weather in general; we chose the second week of August for our journey.
As it’s a 3/6 days hike along the Iceland’s Highland it’s very important to decide who’s going to be the fellowship. There are plenty of organised treks along the trail and , depending on your level of confidence, these may be a good idea, but they are generally quite expensive. We were keen to do it by ourselves so we had total control over our schedule.
HOW TO GET THERE
Getting from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar and back from Thórsmörk/Skógar is incredibly easy, but not cheap. There are (WiFi enabled) buses that run from Reykjavik bus station, by Reykjavik Excursions that costs around 60€ ar. You do need to book specific journeys, to guarantee a seat, around 1 week before.
PREPARATIONS
If you fly to Iceland take an extra day prior to the start to finish all the preparation on-site. We stayed at the KEX hostel for 1 night before the start and 1 night when back to Reykjavík so we had the chance to put our extra luggage there for free. It’s a pretty nice hostel with a nice coffe inside, the price is also very reasonable for high season in Iceland. We used the electric scooter to gather some stuff around Reykjavík and, as you can see below, we had our dinner the night before with our italian cheese and ham. It’s pretty easy to spend a fortune for food in Iceland, so, if you can, put some in your luggage from your hometown.
ITINERARY
I mentioned above that the hike is usually done in 2 to 4 days (plus 1/2 for the Fimmvörðuháls)… so since this is still an holiday/fun trip, we decided to give ourselves six days /five nights to do the full hike:
Day 1 – Bus from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar and hike to Hrafntinnusker hut (approx. 11km)
Day 2 – Hrafntinnusker hut to Hvanngil hut (approx. 16km)
Day 3 – Hvanngil hut to Botnar/Emstrur hut (approx. 11km)
Day 4 – Botnar/Emstrur hut to Thórsmörk camping site (approx. 15km)
Day 5 – Thórsmörk camping site to Fimmvörðuskáli hut (approx. 12km)
Day 6 – Fimmvörðuskáli hut to Skógar (approx. 12km)
Neither of us had been to the highlands of Iceland before this trip, so we took our bus ride to enjoy the view (and sleep a little since the start is at 6am). Once on the trail, the first stop is Hrafntinnusker, about 11-12km from Landmannalaugar at around 1000m, and it’s always snow covered. We decided to use the hut as a stop and it was a good idea. We walk to Hvanngil next day, having luch at Álftavatn in a slow steep but rainy discent. We also slept in the Hvanngil Hut as we mis-organise this, thinking it would be a bad spot. Then we camped at Botnar/Emstrur and finally in Thórsmörk before heading up to the Fimmvörðuskáli hut (about 1000m of ascent) and finally arriving just above the famous Skógafoss waterfall to get the bus back to civilisation.
HUTS OR CAMP
That is the most important choice in the trail. Being in a wild environment for 5 nights without shelter was too much for us so we decide to split 3 night in the hut and 2 in the tent… was supposed to be the other way but at the end we luckily decided to sleep in the hut in Hrafntinnusker. Camping would give us the most flexibility, with respect to having the freedom to come and go as we please (in early August, sunset was around 10:30pm and sunrise around 4:30am) and being able to change our plans on the fly, but at the cost of around 5kg of additional weight to carry. Huts would give us warm and dry lodgings each night (and the opportunity to dry clothes!) as well as cooking facilities and that all important 4kg weight saving but at the cost of cash-money (the huts cost around 75€ per person per night, while camp 23€), and having a fixed itinerary. It’s very easy to book the hut, but you need to be very early and sort of luck to get all of them; this can be done via the Ferðafélag Íslands (FÍ) website.
If I have to say my opinion, now that I’ve done it, it’s probably worth to book the hut and save yourself that weight over your shoulder. Though the huts aren’t what I would call spacious (often getting 18-20 people into one dorm), nor having fairy tale mattresses, I can assure with a pair of earplug this will feel like the best 5 star hotel at the end of the day. The shower/toilet facilities are all shared between the people in the huts and the campers but are still excellent given the remoteness.
The many huts/camping site present in Thórsmörk areaThere are a few different hut and camp sites in Thórsmörk, but the one run by FÍ is at Langidalur. This is an ideal base for the day hikes around Thórsmörk and for who want to take the bus the next day. We stayed here but for everybody who want to continue to the Fimmvörðuháls I suggest book a spot at the Básar one. Instead, if you would like to enjoy a good meal, have some electricity and have a more “glamping experience”, book the Húsadalur hut managed by Volcano Huts.
WHAT TO PACK
This is too big a subject to cover in this post, so I’m going to split that out into a separate post that I’ll publish next.
WEATHER/SAFETY
The weather, like the rest of Iceland, is likely to be changeable along the trail. Add in the higher altitudes around Hrafntinnusker, the black sand desert between Hvanngil and Botnar and the two ice caps over Mýrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull and it has the potential to be pretty grim, to the point of being dangerous under some conditions. It is important to talk to the wardens at each site before leaving to the next. Fortunately, there are a number of resources to call on:
vedur.is – fantastic weather forecasting website, with detailed wind and precipitation forecasts covering the region around the Laugavegur trail. You’ll want to pay close attention to the wind forecast if camping, but if the wind speeds exceed 16-18m/s, you may want to reconsider your hiking plans full stop.
safetravel.is – run by the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, this site gives travel advice, including for hiking the trails, based on the current weather and forecasts. If in doubt, there is a very useful chat function to get the latest information for your needs. They also have an app that allows you to register and then check in every day, as well as raise alerts to your location in an emergency, which may be useful if travelling alone.
MAPS
Whilst it’s advisable to travel with some form of GPS (more than just your phone, as charging options are virtually zero), a map isn’t a necessity from a navigation perspective. During the entire hike just follow the pole you will find every 50/100m and hope for the best when it’s really foggy or rainy. However, for planning/finding photography locations a map is indispensable. There are a handful of books and maps focussing on the Laugavegur and surrounding hikes on Amazon.
RIVER CROSSINGS
This still need some thought before you go. You’ll likely see them mentioned in every article you read about the trail and, while they have the potential to be dangerous, it just take some attention to be safe. Take in your backpack some appropriate footwear and some hiking poles (if you know you’re not very steady) and you approach them with some sense, they’re absolutely fine.
Take a few minutes to locate the best area to cross, hopefully you’ll see other hikers cross just before you and so can gauge whether they chose wisely. Look for the widest section for the shallowest crossing narrower may be tempting but it will likely be deeper and so you may get wetter and have a more challenging crossing.
Change into a separate pair of shoes (like Crocs or Hiking Sandals) and either roll up, or remove, trousers.
Unclip your rucksack, in case of a fall.
Cross choosing a clear route slightly diagonal to the current. Move into the current and walk downstream, side on to the current. This prevents the legs buckling at the knee. Slow and steady.
“Pissing in your shoes won’t keep your feet warm for long.”
LAUGAVEGUR TREK TIPS LOOKING BACK:
Bring lots and lots of energy/granola bars. I usually ate around 4 a day – great for on the move snacks.
I almost never used hiking sticks, but they genuinely help during steep ascend/descend.
For the photographers, bring a zoom lens and a camera shoulder/chest strap – you continuously want to take pictures and having an easy access to your camera has you not doubt whether you want to take the shot.
Bring a bunch of Icelandic cash just to be sure.
There’s no electricity along the whole trails, except for Volcano Hut. Plan accordingly, bringing many battery packs.
Reservations are not necessary for any of the campgrounds.
You can buy small snacks and beer only along the trek if you need to, though prices are high.
If you have the time, take an extra day at the Landmannalaugar campsite and in Thórsmörk. Not only does Landmannalaugar offer the only swimmable hot spring along the trek, it is also one of the most beautiful regions along the Laugavegur Trek. An extra day without the pressure to get somewhere under time constrain will really give you the opportunity to explore the area.
That’s all that I’ll cover in this post. I hope there are some useful insights into the decisions we made when planning our trip, and some of the resources we called upon ahead of going.
Laugavegur Day 01
You can start the journey here.
