Iceland Volcano TourLandmannalaugar Tours: The Highland Day, Compared
Landmannalaugar tours are the highland day most visitors mean when they say they want to see Iceland's colours. The rhyolite mountains in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve sit on volcanic ground, and a natural hot spring waits at the hut at the end of a walk. This page compares four listed day trips by price, duration, vehicle and inclusions, and it is plain about the limits. The F-roads in are open in summer only, so every option here is a summer product. No tour on this page promises lava or an eruption view. Iceland volcano tour listings across the site cover other volcanic sights, from crater descents to lava tunnels, and this one covers the long drive into the interior.
Quick answer Landmannalaugar day trips at a glance
Listed Landmannalaugar tours run from $194 for a coach or 4x4 hike day up to $446 for a small-group superjeep trip that also takes in Hekla. Durations range from 8 to 14 hours because the highland drive is long, and every option runs in summer only while the F-roads are open.
Key takeaways
- Compare the four Landmannalaugar tours on price, vehicle and inclusions in one table.
- See what changes between a coach hike day and a super jeep day with facility fees included.
- Read the honest limits first: season, weather and what these tours do not include.
- Looking for a different volcano day? Try Fagradalsfjall hikes or the Thrihnukagigur descent.
Landmannalaugar Tours Worth Comparing
Four day trips are listed here and they do different jobs. The first is the most reviewed way in from Reykjavik, with a wide duration range because the day is built around the drive. The second swaps the coach for a super jeep on the highland tracks and includes the facility fees you otherwise pay at the hut. The third is the longest day and adds the Haifoss waterfall to the same run. The fourth pairs Landmannalaugar with Hekla, which has no tour of its own. None of them includes lunch, and all four offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start. Figures current in Q3 2026.
from $194
Most reviewed highland day Reykjavik: Landmannalaugar Highland Hike and Hot Springs
The most reviewed way into Landmannalaugar, and the listing's duration range is wide because the day is built around the drive in from Reykjavik.
- Rhyolite mountains and lava fields on foot
- Steaming vents at Brennisteinsalda
- Bathing in the natural hot spring
- Fjallabak Nature Reserve with a guide
Reykjavik: Landmannalaugar and Icelandic Highlands Super Jeep Tour
The super jeep takes the tracks a coach cannot, and the listing includes the Landmannalaugar facility fees that you otherwise pay at the hut.
- Cancellation
- Free cancellation 24h
- Operator
- Arctic Adventures
from $200
Longest highland day Landmannalaugar Hiking, Haifoss Waterfall and Hot Springs Tour
The longest day on this page and the one that gets the most out of a single highland drive. Thirteen hours is a lot of vehicle time, so it suits people who would rather see everything once than come back.
- Landmannalaugar hike and hot spring
- Haifoss waterfall on the same day
- Thirteen hours from Reykjavik
- Summer season only
from $446
Hekla up close Landmannalaugar and Hekla Volcano Day Trip by Superjeep
Hekla has no tour of its own, so the superjeep days that pair it with Landmannalaugar are the practical way to see it at close range. Bring a swimsuit and a towel for the hot spring.
- Hekla seen from the highland road
- Landmannalaugar rhyolite mountains
- Bathing in the natural hot spring
- Runs in all weather, minimum numbers apply
Side By Side: Price, Time And Inclusions
This table puts the four listed Landmannalaugar tours next to each other so you can see at a glance where the money goes and how much of your day the highland drive takes. Prices come from the listings, durations are the operators' own published figures, and inclusion notes reflect what each listing states.
| Tour | What you get | Time | Book | Leaves from | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landmannalaugar Highland Hike and Hot Springs | Hike, vents and hot spring with a guide | 5-14 hours | Check Availability | Reykjavik | $194 |
| Landmannalaugar and Icelandic Highlands Super Jeep Tour | Super jeep, facility fees and bathing included | 11 hours | Details | Reykjavik | $269 |
| Landmannalaugar Hiking, Haifoss Waterfall and Hot Springs Tour | Hike, hot spring and Haifoss waterfall | 13 hours | Check Availability | Reykjavik | $200 |
| Landmannalaugar and Hekla Volcano Day Trip by Superjeep | Superjeep with Hekla on the highland road | 8 hours | Check Availability | Reykjavik | $446 |
What Landmannalaugar Actually Is
A nature reserve in the interior, not a single crater or eruption site.
Rhyolite Mountains And A Hot Spring At The Hut
Landmannalaugar sits in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, an area of rhyolite mountains on volcanic ground. The colours people travel for come from the rhyolite itself, and the terrain around the hut steams in places. At the hut there is a natural hot spring, and bathing in it is a listed highlight on three of the four tours here. Bring a swimsuit and a towel, because none of the listings says it provides them.
It helps to be clear about what this is not. Landmannalaugar is not an active eruption site and no listing on this page promises lava or a view of an eruption. The walks here cross volcanic ground and mountain paths, not fresh flows. If you want cooled lava under your boots from an eruption you can reach in a day, the Fagradalsfjall hikes on the Reykjanes peninsula are the closer option, about 30 km from Reykjavik.
Why The Season Matters More Than Anything Else
The single fact that shapes every Landmannalaugar trip is the road. The F-roads in are open in summer only, and they close for the rest of the year. That is why every tour on this page is a summer product and why none of them runs year round.
This also means the season decides your plan for you. If your trip falls outside the summer window, a Landmannalaugar day is simply not on the menu at any price. The alternatives that do run outside summer are mostly on the south coast and around Reykjavik: the Katla ice caves, the Raufarholshellir lava tunnel and the indoor lava shows. Askja in the highlands has the same problem, and the Askja and Viti page explains how that access works. If you have your heart set on the rhyolite colours, book your Iceland dates around the road, not the other way round.
Sources: Icelandic Met Office news and Safetravel
Getting There: The Drive Is The Day
Every listed option leaves from Reykjavik, and the vehicle decides how the long highland track feels.
How Long The Day Takes
Nobody should book a Landmannalaugar day thinking it is a short trip. The drive into the Fjallabak Nature Reserve from Reykjavik is the bulk of the day, and the published durations show it. The drive time on its own is not stated separately in any listing, so treat the total durations as the honest number. Here is what each operator publishes.
A dedicated drive-time figure from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar is not stated in the source material. What is clear is the shape of the day: even the shortest listed option, the 8-hour Hekla superjeep, is a full day out, and the longest stretches to 14 hours at the top of its range. If you are coming from the south coast towns instead, tours from Vik, Hella or Selfoss are a common search, but no listing on this page departs from those towns. All four leave from Reykjavik with hotel pickup.
Coach Or 4x4 Versus Super Jeep
The four tours split into two vehicle types, and the difference is real. The coach and highland vehicle options use a coach for the paved part and a highland vehicle for the tracks. The super jeep options take the highland tracks the whole way, which is why the super jeep listing says the tracks are ones a coach cannot take.
The super jeep trip also bundles in two things the others leave out: the Landmannalaugar facility fees, which you otherwise pay at the hut, and the geothermal bathing. On board there is WiFi. It runs as a small group. The Hekla superjeep day is also a small group and costs the most, at $446, but it is the only listed way to see Hekla from the highland road, since Hekla has no tour of its own on this site. Minimum numbers apply on that one, and it runs in all weather.
Which Option Suits Which Traveller
Same mountains, four very different days. Pick by fitness, budget and appetite for vehicle time.
The Four Days And Who They Fit
The cheapest way in is the $194 hike day, rated 4.7 from 762 reviews. It is the most reviewed listing here, with moderate hiking on mountain paths, steaming vents at Brennisteinsalda on the route, and the hot spring at the end. Its 5-14 hour duration range is wide because you can take it with a coach or a 4x4 depending on the option you pick.
The $269 super jeep day is rated 4.8 from 28 reviews and suits anyone who wants the tracks done properly and the fees paid upfront. It is listed as suitable for all fitness levels and has infant seats available, which makes it the natural pick with small children. The $200 Haifoss day is rated 4.7 from 143 reviews and packs the waterfall into the same 13 hours, best for travellers who would rather see everything once than come back. The $446 Hekla superjeep is rated 5 from just 5 reviews, so read the small sample for what it is.
What None Of Them Includes
It is worth reading the inclusions column carefully, because the gaps are identical across all four listings. Lunch is included on none of them. No listing states that drinks are included. No listing publishes a group size for the two coach options, and no listing states a minimum age except the super jeep day, which notes infant seats are available. Time actually spent at Landmannalaugar is not stated on any listing.
Practically, that means packing your own food and water for a day that can run to 13 or 14 hours. Bring a swimsuit and a towel for the hot spring unless you booked the super jeep day, where bathing is included but the listing still does not say a towel is. For what to put in the bag, the what to wear guide covers layers and footwear for a day on mountain paths in changeable highland weather.
The Honest Limits
What these tours will not show you, and what can close the day down.
No Lava, No Promises
No eruption is flowing at the time of writing, and every walk on this page crosses cooled ground in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve. That is what the operators sell even when their photographs show fountains. Book a Landmannalaugar day for rhyolite mountains, steaming vents and a hot spring, not for molten rock.
Access to any live eruption site in Iceland is decided by the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, not by the operator, and that applies to the Reykjanes sites rather than this reserve. On the Reykjanes peninsula the Icelandic Met Office reports continued uplift at Svartsengi, with the land risen about five centimetres over the past three months, and while uplift continues the most likely scenario stays a magma intrusion from Svartsengi into the Sundhnukur crater row. None of that affects the Fjallabak roads directly, but it is the context for any volcano day in the country. Our safety during an eruption page explains how closures work.
Who Should Not Book These Days
Anyone with a low tolerance for vehicle time should think hard. The published durations are 5-14, 11, 13 and 8 hours, and much of that is the drive. If a full day on roads sounds like a chore rather than a adventure, a nearer volcano day will serve you better.
Also think twice if you are travelling outside summer, since the F-roads close the rest of the year and every listing here says so. The Hekla superjeep day adds a further condition: minimum numbers apply, so a booking can fail to reach the threshold. The two coach-and-highland-vehicle options do not publish group sizes, so if a guaranteed small group matters to you, the super jeep at $269 or the superjeep at $446 are the only listed ones that say small group. The emergency number in Iceland is 112, and ICE-SAR publishes 599-0112 as a backup line after the 2G and 3G shutdown.
How Landmannalaugar Compares With Other Volcano Days
A highland day competes with crater descents, lava tunnels and eruption hikes for the same slot in your itinerary.
Landmannalaugar Versus The Closer Sites
The main trade is drive time against scenery you cannot get anywhere else. A Fagradalsfjall hike puts you on lava from the recent Reykjanes eruptions, roughly 30 km from Reykjavik, so the vehicle time is a fraction of a highland day. The Thrihnukagigur descent takes you inside a magma chamber, which is a different experience again and also leaves from the capital area. The Raufarholshellir lava tunnel is an easy half day.
Landmannalaugar wins on scale and colour. The rhyolite mountains and the Fjallabak reserve are interior landscapes that the Reykjanes and south coast sites do not offer, and the hot spring at the hut is unique to the highland listings here. If you cannot choose, note that the highland day is season locked, while the Reykjanes options and the tunnel run on a longer calendar. Do the highlands in summer and the closer sites any time.
The Highlands Beyond Landmannalaugar
Landmannalaugar is the accessible highland volcano landscape, but it is not the only one. Askja and its Viti crater sit deeper in the interior and need a bigger commitment, which the Askja and Viti crater tours page covers. There the measurement story is calmer: readings by the lake show the uplift episode that began in 2021 has ended.
For south coast volcano interest that pairs naturally with a Landmannalaugar booking, the Katla ice caves under Myrdalsjokull and the Eyjafjallajokull pages cover the same road corridor you will drive partway along. The Kerid crater is a quick stop on the Golden Circle side and the Eldfell hike on Heimaey needs the Westman Islands ferry. If your interest is heat rather than hiking, the indoor lava show or a helicopter flight are the shorter alternatives.
Is It Worth It, And How Long To Stay
The two questions every reader asks, answered with the published numbers.
Is Landmannalaugar Worth Visiting?
The review numbers argue yes within their limits. The most reviewed option carries a 4.7 rating from 762 reviews, and the super jeep option sits at 4.8 from 28 reviews, so travellers who go generally rate the day highly. What they are rating is the combination of rhyolite mountains, a guided walk through the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, steaming vents at Brennisteinsalda and a soak in the natural hot spring.
The honest counterweight is effort. You pay between $194 and $446 and give up most of a day to roads, in a season that only exists in summer. It is worth it if the highland landscape is high on your list and you are there when the F-roads are open. It is not worth forcing into a short itinerary where a Reykjanes hike or the Thrihnukagigur descent would give you a volcano experience with far less driving. Read the comparison table again with your own dates in hand before deciding.
How Long To Spend At Landmannalaugar
No listing on this page states the time actually spent at Landmannalaugar, which is a real gap worth knowing before you book. What is published is the total day length, and the ratio tells you what to expect: on a 13-hour day with a long drive each way, time at the hut is a hike and a soak, not a full day of exploring.
If you want more time on the trails than a day trip allows, the listings here do not offer it, since all four are day trips from Reykjavik. Independent travellers can drive in when the F-roads are open in summer, but conditions on highland routes change and the ICE-SAR Safetravel service publishes warnings for highland trails, as it currently does for Fimmvorduhals, which it advises people not to hike while conditions stay dangerous. Treat Landmannalaugar as a half day on foot at most within a day tour, and plan a return trip if the mountains grab you.
Which Landmannalaugar Tour Should You Book?
If You want the cheapest reviewed way in from Reykjavik
Take the $194 hike day with a guide, the vents at Brennisteinsalda and the hot spring.
If You are travelling with small children or want fees and bathing paid upfront
The $269 super jeep has infant seats available and includes facility fees and geothermal bathing.
If You want the most out of one long highland drive
The $200 Haifoss day adds the waterfall to the hike in 13 hours.
If Seeing Hekla matters to you
Book the $446 Hekla superjeep, since Hekla has no tour of its own and minimum numbers apply.
If You are travelling outside summer
None of these tours runs, because the F-roads close, so look at the Katla ice caves or a lava tunnel instead.
Landmannalaugar Tours: Questions And Answers
Is Landmannalaugar worth visiting?
The ratings say most travellers think so. The most reviewed listed day carries a 4.7 score from 762 reviews, and the super jeep option holds 4.8. The case against is the long drive and the summer-only season. See the full worth-it breakdown before booking.
How long should I spend at Landmannalaugar?
No listing states the time spent on site, so plan on a hike and a hot spring soak within a total day of 8 to 14 hours. The published durations are compared here.
How long does it take to drive from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar?
A dedicated drive time is not stated in the listings. What is published is the total day length, from 8 hours on the Hekla superjeep to 13 hours on the Haifoss day, with most of that being the drive. Compare the four listed days.
What is the best Iceland tour company for Landmannalaugar?
Three operators appear on this page. Arctic Adventures runs the two highest rated listings at 4.7 from 762 reviews and 4.8 from 28, BusTravel Iceland runs the Haifoss day at 4.7, and Iceland Activities runs the Hekla superjeep at 5 from 5 reviews. Compare them in the side-by-side table.
Are there Landmannalaugar tours from Vik, Hella or Selfoss?
No listing on this page departs from Vik, Hella or Selfoss. All four leave from Reykjavik with hotel pickup. For south coast based volcano days, see the Katla ice cave tours.
Can I visit Landmannalaugar in winter?
Not on these tours. The F-roads in are open in summer only and every listing states the season closes the rest of the year. Winter alternatives are covered on our Iceland volcano tour homepage.
What should I bring on a Landmannalaugar day tour?
Lunch and drinks are included on none of the four listings, and no listing says a towel is provided, so pack food, water, a swimsuit and a towel. The what to wear guide covers the rest.