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This ranch-style hotel is perfectly located, and your best option, for exploring southwest Iceland.
There are seven bizarre but dazzling suites, taking the world’s continents as their themes and containing items from them all – apart from the Antarctica Suite, which is black and white like a penguin. Weird but wonderful.
There’s also an excellent restaurant in-house, serving locally-sourced food inspired by Nordic cuisine. The menu features plenty of Icelandic specialities, including smoked puffin (which tastes a bit like duck), Icelandic lamb, langoustines and skyr (a type of natural yoghurt) cheesecake. The salmon river provides wonderful fish too.
Located miles from anywhere, it’s a great spot for stargazing. The hotel has set up a special ‘observatory’ with a couple of high powered telescopes, and from September to April, on clear nights, a local astronomer visits to give talks about the stars, explaining the various constellations.
With Iceland being in the Aurora Belt, it’s also one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights in all their glory (when they decide to appear – most often between September and April). Stay for at least four nights to give yourself the best chance of seeing them. NB The hot tubs are perfectly placed for midnight dips and views of the Northern Lights.
The hotel is surrounded by fields and farms, with a salmon river running to the sea nearby and volcanoes in the near distance. It’s a quiet part of Iceland, where you’ll see the Northern Lights through an unpolluted sky in winter, and can enjoy hiking and exploring the nearby national parks in the summer. It’s just off the main route around Iceland, making it a good stop if you want to explore the south.
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Other worthwhile experiences in this destination if you have the time or the interest, closest first
Hvolsvollur, Iceland[4.4 miles]
You probably wouldn’t be wise to get too close to a real-life volcanic eruption – but this immersive museum gives you a pretty good idea of what it might be like through interactive displays, spectacular films and live camera feeds from Hekla, one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes. Open daily.
Best for ages: 6+ | £22
Iceland[23.9 miles]
Another impressive 60m-high cascade on the south coast which has one unique reason to visit: it’s one of the only waterfalls in Iceland which you can walk behind. Be prepared to get wet.
Best for ages: 4+ | Free
Destination guides including or relevant to this place to stay
Iceland
From volcanoes and glaciers to black beaches, geothermal pools and the Northern Lights, Iceland is one of the world’s wildest, weirdest destinations. A paradise for adventurous travellers.
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Multiple countries
A remarkable, ethereal light display that’s one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles. Pair it with other bucket list experiences – a thrilling husky ride, a cruise on the Norwegian fjords, or gazing up from bed in a luxury glass igloo. Unmissable.
