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An ice-blue lake in the Askja caldera, ringed by brown volcanic slopes

Sample journey · 8–10 days

Iceland's empty middle: Kjölur, Askja and the highland tracks

Reykjavík, Kerlingarfjöll, Kjölur & Hveravellir, Akureyri, Askja & Mývatn

Photo: Ronan Furuta / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

The Ring Road keeps to the coast, and the Laugavegur crosses the Highlands on foot. This journey drives straight through the middle, through the empty heart of Iceland that for centuries people crossed only in summer and only when they had to. There are no villages here, no trees and barely any roads: just mountain tracks marked with an F that open for only two or three months a year, glacial rivers to ford, and landscapes where Apollo astronauts trained in 1965 and 1967. The journey climbs the old Kjölur route between the Langjökull and Hofsjökull ice caps, pauses in the steaming mountains of Kerlingarfjöll and at the hot springs of Hveravellir, and, after a breather in Akureyri, heads out for the big day: Askja.

The key choice on this journey is how to drive. An experienced driver can manage the Kjölur route themselves, but for Askja and the Sprengisandur crossing we travel with a driver-guide in a modified 4x4 who knows every ford and how to read the weather. That's why we suggest travelling as a small group, or privately with friends. It suits active and experienced travellers happy to spend long days on the road with a moonscape outside the window; stays range from simple mountain huts to the new highland hotels where they exist.

The route

The journey

  1. Reykjavík
  2. Þingvellir & Gullfoss
  3. Kerlingarfjöll
  4. Kjölur & Hveravellir
  5. Akureyri
  6. Askja & Víti
  7. Mývatn & Krafla
  8. Sprengisandur
  9. Reykjavík
  1. The Gullfoss waterfall with a rainbow above its spray in south Iceland

    01Days 1–2 · Reykjavík & the Golden Circle

    The last trees before the Highlands

    After the flight, a night in Reykjavík and a meeting with your guide, who explains how the coming days will run, what to bring and why plans in the Highlands always have slack. In the morning you head east via Þingvellir, where Iceland's general assembly, the Althing, met from 930 in the rift between the North American and Eurasian plates. Then the Geysir valley, where Strokkur fires a column of water every few minutes, and Gullfoss, falling in two steps into a narrow canyon. Here the tarmac ends and the F35 begins: the Kjölur route. Within minutes the farms vanish, then the grass, and the Langjökull ice cap rises on the horizon. Another hour of a different world and you reach Kerlingarfjöll, where you stay two nights in a mountain base.

  2. A walker on a narrow ridge path between steaming slopes and snow in the Kerlingarfjöll mountains

    02Days 2–4 · Kerlingarfjöll

    Mountains that steam

    Kerlingarfjöll is a range of rhyolite mountains at the very centre of the island, stained yellow, pink and green, with patches of snow even in August. We give a whole day to Hveradalir, the 'valley of hot springs': paths and steps wind among steaming vents, bubbling mud pots and streams that run hot on one side and ice-cold on the other. It isn't a long walk, but the paths are steep and often muddy, and the weather turns within minutes, so your guide chooses the route on the day. For stronger walkers, a climb to one of the higher summits, from which on a clear day you can see the Langjökull, Hofsjökull and even Vatnajökull ice caps. In the evening, a soak in a natural hot spring beside a stream and dinner at the mountain base, its windows facing the empty plateau. The bright summer nights here barely end.

  3. Akureyri on Eyjafjörður, with its buildings, harbour and boats beneath green slopes

    03Days 4–5 · Kjölur, Hveravellir & Akureyri

    The old road between the ice caps

    Kjölur was one of the old routes across the island: messengers and bishops rode it in the Viking Age, and the way between the ice caps was the shortest crossing but also the most dangerous. In the morning, Hveravellir, a geothermal oasis in the middle of the desert: clear blue springs, a small geyser and a hot pool under the open sky. Nearby is a stone shelter where, in the island's telling, Iceland's most famous outlaw, Fjalla-Eyvindur, hid with his wife Halla in the eighteenth century. Then the F35 runs north past dark lava fields and glacial rivers until the first green valley and the farms of Skagafjörður appear. In the evening, Akureyri, a small northern town at the head of Eyjafjörður. One night here, with a pool, a restaurant and a proper bed before the big day. The next morning, about an hour and a half east past Goðafoss to Lake Mývatn.

  4. The milky water of the Víti crater, with Öskjuvatn lake and the snow-streaked caldera walls beyond, Askja

    04Days 5–6 · Askja & Víti

    Into the caldera through ash and rivers

    Two nights at Mývatn, and between them the longest and most important day of the journey. You set off early in a modified 4x4 with your driver-guide: first across Ódáðahraun, Iceland's largest lava desert, where the black ash is broken at times by a single yellow flower, past Herðubreið, the table mountain Icelanders call the queen of mountains. Along the way, fords through glacial rivers that often rise in the afternoon, so the guide always keeps an eye on the clock. From Drekagil, a walk of about half an hour through snow and ash to the rim of the Askja caldera. Below lies Öskjuvatn, one of the country's deepest lakes, formed after the eruption of 1875, and beside it the Víti crater with its milky, warm water. Whether you can bathe in it depends on the day's conditions and rules, and the guide decides. You return in the evening, often after ten or twelve hours on the road.

  5. The turquoise lake of the Víti crater among bare, rocky slopes in the Krafla caldera

    05Days 7–9 · Mývatn, Krafla & Sprengisandur

    A gentler day and the desert road home

    After Askja, a gentler day at Mývatn: the lava labyrinths of Dimmuborgir, steaming mud pots on the slopes at Hverir and, in the Krafla caldera, another Víti crater, a turquoise lake inside a volcano. If you like, the road to Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall, and an evening in a warm geothermal pool. The last day of the journey is back in the Highlands: Sprengisandur, the F26, about two hundred kilometres of gravel between the Vatnajökull and Hofsjökull ice caps, the emptiest road in Iceland, once used by farmers driving sheep and avoided for its ghost stories. It's a long day, but gentler than Askja: a few fords, lunch at the mountain hut at Nýidalur and the outlines of ice caps on either side. In the evening, Reykjavík, a hot bath and a long dinner. The next morning, the flight home. If Sprengisandur is closed, you fly from Akureyri to Reykjavík instead.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Hveradalir

    A steaming valley of coloured mountains at the heart of Kerlingarfjöll, where hot and ice-cold water run side by side.

  2. 02

    The springs of Hveravellir

    A hot pool in the middle of the desert, and the story of the outlaw Eyvindur's shelter.

  3. 03

    The rim of Askja

    Milky Víti and dark Öskjuvatn: the view a whole day across ash and rivers has led to.

  4. 04

    Sprengisandur

    Two hundred kilometres between two ice caps: Iceland's emptiest road as the journey's finale.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a gentler pace

    An extra night at Kerlingarfjöll or Mývatn gives rest between the long days and slack for the weather.

  • For a group of friends

    A whole 4x4 and driver-guide just for you: your own pace, stops where you like and more time in the hot springs.

  • By season

    The mountain roads usually open around late June and close in early September, but it varies every year. July and August are the most reliable.

  • With the Laugavegur or the Westfjords

    After the 4x4 days, four days on foot on the Laugavegur, or a slow week in the Westfjords, making about two weeks in all.

Practical considerations

  • The Highland F-roads open only in summer, usually from roughly late June to early September, but the dates depend each year on snow and road conditions. We plan the journey for July and August and check which roads are open before you travel.
  • The roads to Askja and across Sprengisandur include fords through glacial rivers whose levels can rise quickly. We drive these stretches only with an experienced driver-guide in a modified 4x4; rental-car terms for river crossings are usually very strict.
  • Askja and its surroundings are an active volcanic area: access is sometimes restricted or trails changed. We check current information and advice before you travel and on the ground.
  • Highland weather can swing from sunshine to sleet in a day, even in July; facilities are few, stays simple and days long, so warm layers, waterproofs and sturdy boots are essential.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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