Wilderness Center

Top choice


This brilliant attraction opened in 2016 and defies easy classification. It's a remote farm that offers museum exhibits, unique accommodation, local food, horse riding and hiking trails, and the opportunity for tailor-made tours, all year-round. It's 12km past Skriðuklaustur on Rte 934, at the end of Norðudalur valley, on the edge of the eastern highlands. The historic exhibits here were designed by the farm's owners (a filmmaker and historian) so are of superb quality – as is the entire farm concept.

Accommodation is offered in simple farmhouse rooms with shared bathroom (double 18,600kr) or – more intriguingly – in a dormitory room styled as a baðstofa, the traditional living/sleeping room on old Icelandic farms (bed for two 14,100kr to 15,100kr). Food is available all day (mid-May to September). There are new hot-pots, and a glorious Northern Lights–viewing hut for winter. Guided tours range from three-hour horse rides (15,000kr) to exploration of an abandoned nearby farm (8500kr). You can rent a mountain bike, or join a super-Jeep tour. Multiday activities are also possible; see the website for information.

If you're staying, give yourself a couple of nights here, and consider walking the Waterfall Trail, an easy six-hour riverside hike (one-way transfer possible) to Laugarfell.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Aðalból

6.87 MILES

Rte F923 (off Rte 910, for 4WDs only) leads you to the valley of Hrafnkelsdalur, full of sites relating to Hrafnkell’s Saga. The remote farm Aðalból was…

2. Skriðuklaustur

7.91 MILES

Skriðuklaustur is the site of both an excavated, late-15th-century monastery and the photogenic home of an Icelandic author feted by the Third Reich. The…

3. Hengifoss

11.88 MILES

Crossing the bridge across Lagarfljót on Rte 931, you’ll reach the parking area for lovely Hengifoss, Iceland’s second-highest waterfall. The falls…

4. Kárahnjúkar Dam

18.73 MILES

A scenic 60km drive from the Rte 910 turn-off takes you to the Kárahnjúkar dam and Hálslón reservoir, where information boards and viewing areas allow you…

5. Öxi Pass (Route 939)

21.64 MILES

At the head of Berufjörður, the 19km Öxi mountain pass (Rte 939) offers a summer short cut to drivers en route to or from Egilsstaðir. The pass cuts about…

6. Sænautasel

23.2 MILES

The remote, reconstructed turf farmhouse Sænautasel, dating from 1843, brings the past to life…plus it sells pancakes and coffee. This is one of several…

7. Flögufoss

24.93 MILES

From Rte 966 take the turn-off to Flögufoss, a 60m-high waterfall (19km west of Breiðdalsvík), if you feel like a scenic leg-stretch.

8. Íslenska Stríðsárasafnið

28.16 MILES

During WWII around 3000 Allied soldiers (10 times the local population) were based in Reyðarfjörður. At the top end of Heiðarvegur you’ll find the…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "iceland/lagarfljot/attractions/wilderness-center/a/poi-sig/1545283/1325608",
      "position": "superzone"
    }