Four Day Tour - Around the Volcano
The tour goes over the black lava fields of the volcano Hengill into the green, hidden Valley of Horses. We ride along the the Jórukleif range of mountains and continue along the largest lake in Iceland, Thingvallavatn. This lake lies near the Thingvellir where, beginning in 930, Icelanders held their parliament. We follow the lava plain leading down to Reykjadalur Valley with its hot springs, where we can relax in the valley´s geothermal river. Bed & breakfast at Eldhestar guesthouse.
Pick up from our Reykjavík Hostelsl at 17:30. Then we drive to Hveragerði, 30 min. from Reykjavík, and use the first night for presentation of the tour and the Icelandic horse.
Caution: Used boots, riding wear, saddlebags etc. must be disinfected before arrival in Iceland. This is because infectious diseases can easily be brought into the country, which pose a great danger for the horses. Riding wear is normally washed, and shoes are cleaned with iodine or some other fluid disinfectant. All used leather articles are prohibited.
Day-by-day Description
Day 1: The tour starts in the evening. You will be picked up at your hotel/ guesthouse in Reykjavik between 17:30- 18:00 and driven to our farm Vellir in Hveragerði. There you will be lodged in our new guesthouse. We will get to know each other during the dinner at our Hotel Eldhestar. The day will end with a detailed description of the tour.
Day 2: Vellir - Kolvidarhól. lWe start the day by getting to know the horses in the paddock. After an early lunch we follow the old route from Hveragerdi to Hellisheidi. After reaching the moor, we continue to the Hengill volcano along the Kristnitökuhraun lava field. This lava came from the eruption of Hengill in the year 1000, the same year Iceland officially became Christian. The old folktales say that the eruption was the revenge of the old gods Thór, Ódinn and Freyr. We continue on the track between lava and hills ("milli hrauns og hlidar"), down to Kolvidarhóll, where people have stopped to rest for hundreds of years. We spend the night at the farm Vellir. 21 km, 4 hrs.
Day 3: Kolvidarhóll - NesjavellirWe continue north below the Húsmúli and Hengill mountains. We dismount and lead the horses through a narrow cleft to Marardalur (Valley of Horses). We ride through Dyrfjöll (Door-Mountains), and when we reach the mountaintop we have a view over Lake Thingvallavatn. The lake is by the cleft where Icelanders had their democratic meetings called Althing for hundreds of years. The track continues to Nesjavellir, where the tour ends. We leave the horses at the farm Villingavatn, but drive the participants to Vellir for overnight. 30 km, 6-7 hrs.
Day 4: Villingavatn- Reykjadalur- Vellir
We ride into the mountains on the east side of the Hengill volcano and ride first along a mountain called Súlufell and gives away a beautiful view over Lake Thingvallavatn. After riding along side Kattatjarnahryggir, we come to two crater lakes, the big and the small Kattatjörn. We climb up a hill and reach first the lake Álftavatn- the Swanlake- and than the green land of Ökuelduháls with all its Hotsprings. After a while we can see Klambragíl, the steep lava path leading us down into Reykjadalur Valley, with its hot springs. We take a bathe in the valley’s warm rivulet before leaving for Hveragerði. Before we ride down the mountain we have a magnificent view over the sea and the Westman Islands. The tour ends on the new riding path between Hveragerði and Reykjafjall that leads us back to our farm Vellir where the tour ends. After some refreshments, we will go around 16.30 by car back to Reykjavik, where we spend the night in a guesthouse (bed & breakfast).
23,3 km, 5 -6 hrs.
Day 5: Tour ends after breakfast.
