Landmannalaugar is defined as an area of mountains in the south of Iceland, east of the Hekla volcano. Rarely can you find such a colorful and rich in extraordinary vegetation mountains. Landmannalaugar is perhaps the most beautiful region in Iceland and a popular destination of all tourists. Thanks to its delights countless colors and incredible rocks formation, Landmannalaugar is a place “out of this world”.
Mountain massifs are multicolored with a predominance of yellow and orange with black elements. Dark colors are due to lava. Those colors are the result of geothermal activity and high content of minerals in the earth.
You can reach Landmannalougar from June to the end of September. Other than that, the road is closed. The best option is the northern route which is the least bumpy one. You use the road F208, leading from Hrauneyjarfoss or F225 next to the Hekla volcano. Although both are not bad, I would say that more interesting and varied is the second one. The all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicle is highly recommended. Most of the route leads through the lava fields where you can encounter some large sized stones as well. There is no river to be crossed to get to Landmannalaugar. However, in order to reach a shelter and the campsite, you will need to defy quite a large river. There is also an option to leave the vehicle just there and overcome the rest of the route on foot.
The local hostel and campsite only operate during the summer time. The area has a large number of hiking trails. Now, you are already there, aspirating the gorgeous beauty of the nature, what to do next?
Landmannalaugar is a heaven for adventurous hikers and lovers of beautiful views. There are several day-long routes of different difficulty level. Some of them are Laugahraun – Grænagil which is around 4,5km which takes 2hours and Vondugil – Frostastaðavatn which is almost 18km long which can be made in 8 hours.
I recommend the beautiful walking route from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork. It will take you around 5 days to complete the trail. This is rather the most popular and most wanted trail. It consists of 4 stages with 4 nights spent in mountain hostels. You need to remember to take care of your accommodation reservation beforehand to make sure you have a place to sleep.
Landmannalaugar – A must see!
During your wander you will be able to experience the colorful rhodolite mountains, moss-covered lava fields, picturesque valleys, steams, hot pots and hot springs. You can admire the beauty of the nature and enjoy the fresh air of Landmannalaugar ground. After a long walk you can enjoy the time in hot springs pools powered by nearby geothermal springs.
There is also lots of organized tours with guides to Landmannalaugar but that might be a good idea for those who visit Landmannalaugar for the first time and are not entirely sure what to do.
Landmannalaugar seems a place where nature was pretending to be a painter as there is no other mountains with such a variety of colors. Landmannalaugar’s mineral color palette is simply staggering. If you would like to finally see the wild side of the island, you should definitely visit Landmannalaugar!
