Iceland Highland Day Trips: 5 Unmissable Adventures From The Ring Road

Iceland’s highlands are one of the country’s best-kept secrets—a vast wilderness of otherworldly landscapes that few people experience. This guide covers 5 achievable adventures into the highlands.

By: Paul Healy | Last Updated: November 11, 2025 | Jump to Comments

The Ring Road and popular coastal attractions are fantastic—we’ve been 5 times.

But to truly appreciate the geological spectacle that is Iceland, you need to venture into the highlands.

The vast interior reveals an entirely different side of Iceland: remote mountain ranges, steaming geothermal fields, dramatic volcanic craters, and endless expanses of black sand punctuated by volcanoes.

The highlands are only accessible during summer months (typically July to September) when the snow melts enough to open the F-roads, but the rewards are extraordinary.

We’ve been to a lot of places in the highlands and always on day trips from the Ring Road. We think this is the best way to experience these incredible landscapes without camping.

You need a 4×4 vehicle to drive in the highlands, and it pays to be prepared. We cover everything you need to know in our guide to visiting the Icelandic Highlands.

But if you are prepared, have a healthy sense of adventure and don’t mind bumpy roads, you’re in for a treat. Here are the best day trips into Iceland’s highlands.

Table of Contents show

MAP: HIGHLANDS DAY TRIPS

We have marked each day trip on the map below in a different colour, along with the main roads and attractions at each location.

>

USING OUR MAPS. Click on the top right corner to open in the Google Maps app. Click on the star to save to your Google account.

BEST DAY TRIPS IN THE ICELAND HIGHLANDS

1. LANDMANNALAUGAR

Landmannalaugar is a mountain region in the Fjallabak National Reserve on the southwest edge of the highlands. It’s one of the best and most accessible regions in the highlands.

It’s one of our favourite places in the highlands. The driving is straightforward with no difficult river crossings, and you can also visit three other incredible locations on a one-day trip.

Start at Háifoss, one of the most dramatic waterfalls in Iceland. It’s about 20 minutes from the junction of Route 32 and Route 332 and very easy to reach.

Next, stop at Sigöldugljúfur Canyon, a fairytale-like canyon with multiple waterfalls cascading over a moss-covered gorge.

After the canyon, drive to Ljótipollur, an incredible lake in a 4-kilometre-wide crater with superb views of the Landmannalaugar mountains.

Finally, you’ll arrive at Landmannalaugar. Our guide on Getting to Landmannalaugar has all the details. We also have a Complete Guide to Visiting Landmannalaugar, with more information on what you can do there.

HOW TO GET THERE

From the Ring Road, turn onto Route 30 and follow it until you reach Route 32. Turn off onto Route 332 to reach Háifoss.

Back on Route 32, continue to the Þjórsárdalur Valley and join Route 26. Turn onto Route F208 and take the short detour to Sigöldugljúfur.

Stay on F208 heading south. Near the junction of F224, there is a short detour west to the car park for Ljótipollur Crater.

Back on the F208, turn right onto the F224 and follow it for about 15 minutes to reach Landmannalaugar.

ljotipollur iceland highlands — LJÓTIPOLLUR

sigolduglifurfur canyon in iceland — LJÓTIPOLLUR

2. THÓRSMÖRK

Thórsmörk is a remote area where three valleys converge under three imposing glaciers, forming a dramatic wilderness of spectacular scenery.

Huge moss-covered mountains, dwarfed by even bigger glaciers, are divided by a swathe of black gravel carved out by rivers charging along the valleys.

You get a great impression of the scale of the place from the viewpoint at Mount Valahnukur, and the Tindfjöll walk was one of our favourites in Iceland.

We wouldn’t recommend driving to Thórsmörk as there is a very large river crossing on the route. We took the highland bus, and our bus driver had to stop and help a carload of tourists who were stuck in a river.

All the information about getting there and what to do is covered in our Guide to Visiting Thórsmörk.

HOW TO GET THERE

As mentioned above, we suggest you take the Highland Bus to Thórsmörk or opt for a private tour.

Reykjavík Excursions runs two services daily in either direction, costing roughly $80 USD per person return to Hvollsvöllur.

This Super Jeep Tour is not cheap, but it lets you reach areas you wouldn’t be able to reach in a normal car.

Iceland trip planning Highlands — THORSMORK

3. KERLINGARFJÖLL & HVERAVELLIR

Kerlingarfjöll is a small but stunning mountain range with snow-capped summits wedged between two mighty glaciers. In the centre, there is an otherworldly geothermal area.

You’ll find gurgling rivers, red and brown mountains, bubbling mud pots, and steaming vents.

There are several great hikes in the area, which we cover in our guide to Hiking at Kerlingarfjöll.

Hveravellir is a field of hot springs about 1 hour north of Kerlingarfjöll, an excellent place to relax after visiting Kerlingarfjöll.

HOW TO GET THERE

Kerlingarfjöll is accessed via the F35 Kjölur.

The easiest route is from Blönduós in the north, travelling south on the F35 Kjölur, which takes around 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach Kerlingarfjöll.

Alternatively, you could take the F35 from Gullfoss and travel north. This is much closer, but the road is much rougher. Allow around 1.5 hours.

Turn onto the F347 from the F35 to reach Kerlingarfjöll.

Hveravellir is around 60 kilometres north of Kerlingarfjöll on the F35. Turn off onto F735 to reach the thermal pools.

kerlingarfjoll iceland highlands 2 — KERLINGARFJÖLL

kerlingarfjoll iceland highlands 3 — KERLINGARFJÖLL

4. ASKJA & HOLUHRAUN

Askja is the most challenging self-drive highlands itinerary on this list. It’s the limit of what you can do in a medium-sized 4×4, and the sights are not as good as the rest of the location on this list.

But the drive itself is worth it for the adventure alone.

Askja is a series of calderas and craters, the largest over 30 square miles wide, formed when a massive magma chamber collapsed during a volcanic eruption.

A smaller crater, called Víti, is tucked into the edge of the larger caldera.

The whole area is fascinating, and we cover it in detail in our guide to Getting to Askja.

The road to Askja continues on to the Holuhraun Lava Field, which was last active in August 2014 when a massive eruption expanded the existing lava field to an area of 85 square kilometres.

However, it’s a sandy track which is very deep in places. It also adds quite a bit of time to an already long day trip. We wanted to present the option, but we would probably recommend you skip it.

HOW TO GET THERE

From the Ring Road in the north, turn onto Road F901 towards Möðrudalur, then onto the F905 south. Turn right onto the F910, following it west towards Drekagil, then take the F894 south to reach the Askja caldera car park.

From Askja, take the F910 east for around 50 kilometres to reach Holuhraun.