Kerlingarfjöll Elopement

Where

Central Highlands – about 3.5 hours from Reykjavík, 2 hours from Gullfoss

Best for

Elopements with a stay of a night or two in the Highlands

When

By car from early June to autumn; in winter only by super-jeep

Good to know

Above 600 metres – the weather can change in minutes, in any season

Getting there

In summer you drive past Gullfoss onto Kjalvegur, the gravel road across the Kjölur plateau, and then turn onto the F347 for the last stretch to the valley. The F347 has no river crossings and is passable in any 4x4. Kjalvegur usually opens in late May or June, depending on snow. There is no fuel on the way – fill up at Geysir. In winter the area can only be reached by super-jeep with a professional driver, booked in advance.

Highland Base

Highland Base, in the valley below the mountains, has hotel rooms and suites, lodges, simple huts and a campsite open in summer, a restaurant and the Highland Baths – geothermal pools by the river with a cold plunge and a sauna. Hotel guests can use the baths all year; the public from mid-June to the end of September. A short walk up the river there is also a natural hot pool.

Hveradalir

The heart of Kerlingarfjöll is Hveradalir, the “hot spring valleys”: steaming vents, hot streams and clay slopes in every shade from white to deep red. A marked circular trail of about four kilometres leads through the valleys in one to two hours, with steps cut into the steepest slopes and bridges over the river. Stay on the paths – the ground around the hot springs can be dangerously hot.

For an elopement, the valleys and the ridges above them are spectacular places for vows, and the walk itself becomes part of the day. Kerlingarfjöll has been a protected landscape since 2020; organised projects such as filming need a permit, which I take care of in advance.

Light and weather

Up here the weather really does change in minutes – sun, rain, fog and wind in a single afternoon – so the plan stays loose and we go where the light is. In the long summer evenings the light over the valley lasts for hours, and by September the nights are dark again.

• Stay: spend at least one night at Highland Base – the drive is long and the best light is often late.
• Season: June to September by car; outside that, a super-jeep transfer turns the journey into an adventure of its own.
• Pack: warm layers, waterproofs and hiking boots, even in July.
• Combine: Gullfoss and Geysir lie on the way, and the Golden Circle is easy to add on the day you arrive or leave.

For more remote places, see my guide to Highland elopements – Þórsmörk, Landmannalaugar and Þakgil.