Day 1 - Arrival
Riding: No riding.
Your itinerary starts in the evening. Riders who arrive the same day to Iceland should take the Flybus from the airport to the bus station BSÍ in Reykjavík. Your hosts will meet you at the bus station or at your hotel/ guesthouse in Reykjavik between 17:30- 18:00 and drive you to the farm Vellir near Hveragerði.
You will stay Hotel Eldhestar (or similar local hotel) or Guesthouse Eldhestar depending on your chosen itinerary for the whole of your ride and your breakfast and evening meals will be served in the hotel restaurant. On your first evening you will meet your fellow riders for dinner and your hosts will give you further information about your itinerary.
Day 2 - Vellir – Kolvidarhóll
Riding: 4 hours
You will start the day by getting to know the horses with a short ride in the paddocks at the farm. After an early lunch, you will ride the ancient route from Hveragerdi to Hellisheidi. After reaching the moor, you 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.
After visiting the volcano you 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.
Riding distance: 21 km
Day 3 - Kolvidarhóll – Nesjavellir
Riding: 6 - 7 hours
On your ride today you continue North below the Húsmúli and Hengill mountains. You will need to dismount and lead the horses through a narrow cleft to Marardalur (Valley of Horses).
The ride continues through Dyrfjöll (Door-Mountains), and when you reach the mountain top you 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. You and the horses will be driven back to the farm and hotel.
Riding distance: 30 km
Day 4 - Reykjadalur- Vellir
Riding: 5 - 6 hours
After breakfast you first ride along the slopes of Reykjafjall mountain and continue on nice riding trails surrounding the small village Hveragerði. The path then takes you through a green forest to a colorful geothermal valley with hot springs, an area which expanded dramatically during an earthquake in 2008.
On your way towards the green hills surrounding the volcano Hengill you will have a good opportunity to try the “tölt”, the special gait of the Icelandic horse. The horses then take us on a leisurely pace following narrow trails up into the valley Reykjadalur.
You pass the beautiful waterfall Djúpagilsfoss and some hot springs before we reach Reykjadalur valley and will have the opportunity to take a relaxing bath in a warm stream. During the ride down the valley enjoy fascinating panoramas over the surroundings, the village Hveragerði, picturesque farmland and all the way down to the coastline, where you might see the Westman Islands, weather permitting.
The final part of your ride continues along the mountain slopes again back to the farm where the tour ends. After some refreshments, the bus takes you back to Reykjavík at about 16:15.
Riding distance: 19 km
Note: All programmes and itineraries are weather dependent; in the face of adverse, or unexpected, weather conditions reasonable attempts will be made to provide equivalent riding. All programmes are accurate at the time of writing. However, the team may adapt or modify details, whilst aiming to provide a similar experience.
