Where you stay
Lodging is part of the trip, not somewhere to crash. We pick Icelandic hotels and guesthouses run by locals, placed along the route so you can go out after the lights without an extra hour of driving.
8 days with chef · Andrés Moline and Carlos Serrano
This route sleeps two nights in Borgarnes so Snæfellsnes can be done without rushing, drops south through the Golden Circle and stays two nights in glacier country before closing near the airport.
West Iceland, the base for Snæfellsnes
The Hvítá Inn. A 26-room country hotel on the Hvítá river, half an hour from Borgarnes and an hour and a half from Reykjavík. It has its own restaurant and bar, and there is not a single light around it, which is exactly what you want when you go out hunting the northern lights.
South coast, gateway to the waterfalls
Hotel Hvolsvöllur. A family-run hotel in the middle of town, with generous rooms and the kind of welcome where they remember your name by day two. Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and Þórsmörk are all within reach, so the South Coast starts early without starting at dawn.
Glacier country, southeast
Arnanes Country Hotel. Running since 1995 at the gates of Vatnajökull National Park, with the glacier on one side and the sea on the other. It is our base for the two days in glacier country and for the aurora nights far from any town.
Heading back west
Hotel Hvolsvöllur. We come back to the same base as day 3 on the way west from glacier country, with the advantage that the group already knows the house and dinner feels like coming back to something familiar.
Closing the trip, next to the airport
Hotel Viking. The Viking village of Hafnarfjörður, by the harbour and fifteen minutes from Reykjavík. It pairs modern comfort with Nordic design, and its restaurant is where we say goodbye to the trip before the short transfer to the airport.
8 days · Fire, Ice and the South Coast
Same lodging philosophy: Icelandic hotels run by locals, well placed along the route, breakfast included.
Once we have the list for this route, every hotel gets its own page here, the same as on the chef route.
10 days · Full expedition
The ten-day routes add nights in glacier country and north of the Golden Circle, with the same selection of properties.
Once we have the list for this route, every hotel gets its own page here, the same as on the chef route.
Borgarbyggð · West Iceland
Nights 1 and 2 of the 8-day expedition with chef
The Hvítá Inn sits on the Hvítá river in Borgarbyggð, an hour and a half from Reykjavík. It is a 26-room country hotel with its own restaurant and bar, surrounded by open fields and no lights at all, which is exactly what you look for when you go out after the aurora.
The Deildartunguhver hot spring and the Hraunfossar waterfalls are half an hour away, and this is the natural base for a full day around the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Rooms are doubles with private bathroom, and there are family rooms too. Breakfast is included in your expedition and is served at the hotel.
Hotels may change subject to availability. They are always replaced by properties of an equivalent category.
Hvolsvöllur · South coast
Nights 3 and 6 of the 8-day expedition with chef
A family hotel in the centre of Hvolsvöllur, run by the same family for years. The rooms are generous and the welcome is close, the kind where they remember your name by the second day.
Its advantage is the location: almost everything the South Coast is famous for sits within a hundred kilometres. Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Þórsmörk and the Golden Circle are all in reach, so you leave early without leaving at dawn.
It has its own restaurant and a lounge with a fireplace, so you can wait for the aurora alert without standing out in the cold.
Hotels may change subject to availability. They are always replaced by properties of an equivalent category.
Höfn · Southeast Iceland
Nights 4 and 5 of the 8-day expedition with chef
Arnanes has been running since 1995 at the gates of Vatnajökull National Park. It is a country hotel of the kind where the landscape comes in through the window: the glacier on one side, the sea on the other and the mountain behind.
It is our base for the two days in glacier country, with Jökulsárlón and Diamond Beach close by, and for the night we go out after the aurora far from any town.
It has its own restaurant, where the Höfn langoustine is the thing to order, and common areas to gather in once the day is done.
Hotels may change subject to availability. They are always replaced by properties of an equivalent category.
Hafnarfjörður · Near Keflavík
Night 7, the last one of the expedition
Hotel Viking sits in the Viking village of Hafnarfjörður, by the harbour and the sea, fifteen minutes from Reykjavík and half an hour from the airport. It is the right way to close: you sleep near your flight without giving up the last night.
The hotel mixes modern comfort with Viking decor and Nordic design, and its restaurant is known for the Viking dinner, which is usually where we say goodbye to the trip.
From here the transfer to Keflavík airport is short, so the last day does not begin in the middle of the night.
Hotels may change subject to availability. They are always replaced by properties of an equivalent category.
Or the rural boutique equivalent, with Icelandic character.
Shared, with a single room available for a supplement.
Outdoors, wherever the property has one confirmed.
Included at every hotel on the route.