On foot · Laugavegur, Iceland · August 2025
The Laugavegur, from Landmannalaugar to Þórsmörk
The great adventure we had talked about for more than ten years, booked at the start of the year, and largely the reason we came back to Iceland a fourth time: the Laugavegur trail. 55 kilometres in three stages, three nights in huts, and outrageously generous weather. With the hikes around it, 90 kilometres in five days.
- Date
- August 2025
- Distance
- 55 km
- Route
- Landmannalaugar → Álftavatn → Emstrur → Þórsmörk · 3 days
The route · indicative
From Landmannalaugar to Álftavatn
The coloured mountains
On the first day, at Landmannalaugar, a loop of about 8 kilometres over Bláhnúkur, the "blue peak", a 943-metre volcano. Up in the fog, no view at the top, then the clearing on the way down: the famous coloured mountains, and to finish, the crossing of the lava flow, a must-do.
The next day, the first Laugavegur sign, a brilliant sky, ideal temperature. Small gorges, the Stórihver hot springs, a detour up Brennisteinsalda and its fumaroles, then the pass at 1,050 metres after a big snowfield. Past the Hrafntinnusker hut, a long sandy plateau, black, blue and red rocks, snow bridges, rhyolite canyons, and finally the green Álftavatn area, the lake of swans, with a flight of whooper swans. 25 kilometres, eyes shining.
From Álftavatn to Þórsmörk
Deserts, fords and canyons
Breakfast by the lake, among the reflections of mountains and sky. Then the desert stage: two icy fords, deeper than expected, the Hvannagilshraun lava field, a green desert, a brown one, a black one, the Innri-Emstruá waterfall and the endless Mælifellssandur plain. Arrival at Emstrur, and the hike not to be missed: the Markarfljótsgljúfur canyon. At night, the first northern lights of the trip.
The last day, cold and grey, but still no rain or fog. A long descent into the gorge, a bridge, vast expanses, a last deep and icy ford, then the birch forest guarding the entrance to Þórsmörk. An incredible ending to an incredible adventure. The next day, the climb up Valahnúkur and its panorama, and the photo at the official end of the Laugavegur.
