Landmannalaugar Tour from Hella
Every Reykjavik departure spends around seven hours driving to give you three in the valley. Start from Hella and that arithmetic changes: Southcoast Adventure meets at the bus stop on Þjóðvegur and has you back in eight hours, the shortest guided day into Fjallabak on sale. It costs $395, which is the highest price on this page and, for anyone already sleeping on the south coast, often the best value on it. Two Reykjavik tours also stop in Hella if you would rather join one of those, and every guided Landmannalaugar tour on sale is compared on the homepage.
Quick answer
One tour meets in Hella rather than passing through it: the Southcoast Adventure super jeep, 8 hours at $395 per person, rated 4.8 from 112 reviews, meeting at the bus stop on Þjóðvegur 3. Starting here removes the 95-minute Reykjavik leg in both directions, so you get the same three hours in the valley in an eight-hour day instead of a 13-hour one. Two Reykjavik tours also stop at Hella if you want a cheaper seat.
Key takeaways
- The only Hella departure: Southcoast Adventure super jeep, $395, 8 hours, minimum age 6, small group
- Meeting point is the roadside bus stop at Þjóðvegur 3, 850 Hella, not a hotel or an office
- Cheaper alternatives that stop here: Nordur Travel at $204.97 picks up at Olís Hella 08:20 to 08:45; Arctic Adventures lists Olís Hella and Selfoss N1 as drop-offs
- Named stops include Ljótipollur, whose name means ugly puddle, plus Laugahraun and Brennisteinsalda
- Lunch is excluded and nothing is sold in the valley, so buy food at the Hella supermarket first
- Reviews run into October in 2023 and 2025, so this operator often outlasts the standard road season
About the Hella Departure
The same valley and the same F-roads as the Reykjavik days, with about three hours of driving removed from each end of your day.
Against 11 to 14 hours on the Reykjavik departures, for the same time on the ground
The meeting point is the roadside stop, not a hotel or an office. Use Google Maps to find it
The most expensive tour into the valley. Free cancellation up to 24 hours out, nothing paid at booking
Reviews run from 2023 to June 2026, including several written in October
Lifted 4x4 on oversized tyres. Reviewers describe it handling swollen crossings in bad weather
The lowest of any tour into the valley, alongside one Reykjavik super jeep
Live Dates from Hella
Availability for the 8-hour Southcoast Adventure super jeep. Departures follow the F-road season, roughly 20 June to mid September, and reviews suggest this operator keeps going into October some years.
Why Start From Hella
Three hours of your day, back
Hella is the last town before the highlands and the point every Reykjavik tour passes through anyway. The Arctic Adventures itinerary puts 95 minutes of driving between the capital and Hella, then another 75 minutes from Hella into the valley. Join at Hella and you skip the first leg twice over.
What that buys is not more time at Landmannalaugar. It is the rest of your day: an 8-hour tour leaving mid-morning gets you back with the evening intact, on a route where the Reykjavik alternatives return at ten or eleven at night.
It only makes sense if you are already out here
Driving from Reykjavik to Hella to catch a tour is an hour and a half each way in your own car, which puts you back where you started on total hours and adds the parking. This tour is for people sleeping in Hella, Hvolsvöllur, Selfoss or along the south coast, or working their way around the Ring Road with the highlands as a detour.
If you are based in the capital, take a Reykjavik super jeep instead and let somebody else do the driving on both legs.
$395 is the highest price on the page, and it is a small group
Nothing else into the valley costs this much: the cheapest super jeep from Reykjavik is $189, and the waterfall minibuses sit around $220 to $230. What the money buys here is a short day and a genuinely small vehicle. More than one reviewer has ended up on their own: "We were the only ones on the tour so it was basically a private tour," one wrote in September 2025, "we got to decide how long to stay at each location".
The listing includes a local guide and excludes lunch. Bring food from Hella before you meet, because there is nothing to buy in the valley.
Two Reykjavik tours also stop in Hella
If $395 is more than you want to spend, two of the Reykjavik departures pick up or drop off here. The Nordur Travel hiking day stops at the Olís station in Hella between 08:20 and 08:45, roughly 80 minutes after leaving the capital, and it costs $204.97. The Arctic Adventures highland hike lists Olís Hella among its drop-off points along with Selfoss N1.
The catch is the return: on both, the vehicle carries on to Reykjavik afterwards, so check with the operator that a Hella drop-off works for your booking before you count on it. Both are covered on the guide to the two hiking days.
The Hella Super Jeep
One tour meets here rather than passing through. Eight hours, small group, and the shortest day into Fjallabak on sale.
from $395 Hella Against the Reykjavik Departures
| Option | Price | Day length | Book | Starts | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southcoast Adventure super jeep | $395 | 8 hours | Bus stop, Þjóðvegur 3, Hella | Super jeep, small group | |
| Nordur Travel hike, Hella pickup | $204.97 | 13 hours from Reykjavik | Olís Hella, 08:20 to 08:45 | Small group minibus | |
| Arctic Adventures highland hike | $190.67 | Up to 14 hours | Reykjavik, drops at Olís Hella | Highland bus | |
| Cheapest Reykjavik super jeep | $189 | 11 hours | Central Reykjavik | Super jeep |
The Road You Skip Half Of
F208 into Landmannalaugar driven end to end, including the crossings. This is the stretch that follows Hella.
What the Eight Hours Cover
Ljótipollur, the ugly puddle
The name translates literally as ugly puddle, which is Icelandic understatement at work: it is a deep blue explosion crater lake ringed by red scoria, and it holds trout. The tour stops above it, and reviewers remember it by name. One traveller in June 2026 listed "the 'Ugly Puddle' and 'Valley of Tears'" as the highlights of the day.
It sits north of the campsite on the way in or out, depending on how the guide runs the loop.
Laugahraun and Brennisteinsalda on foot
The walking is the same as everywhere else in the valley: out across the black obsidian of Laugahraun, formed in an eruption around 1477, then up the sulphur-streaked flank of Brennisteinsalda to 855 m. That is 6.5 km return and two to three hours with about 200 m of climbing, which fits an eight-hour day if the group moves.
- Laugahraun: 550-year-old obsidian, sharp underfoot, almost nothing growing on it
- Brennisteinsalda: active sulphur vents, yellow and orange crusting, 855 m summit
- Grænagil: the green-walled gorge between the lava field and Bláhnúkur
- The People's Pool: 36 to 40°C, free to bathe in, a few minutes from where the jeep parks
- Bring a swimming costume — the operator lists it under know before you go
Grænihryggur, named but not promised
The listing mentions Grænihryggur, the green ridge, which is one of the most photographed features in Fjallabak: a seam of moss-green rhyolite running through grey and rust rock. Reaching it properly is a long hike from the campsite and is normally sold as part of a multi-day trek rather than a day tour.
Treat it as scenery the route passes rather than a summit you will stand on in eight hours. If it is the reason you are booking, ask the operator directly before you pay.
Bad weather is where this vehicle earns the price
Reviews of this tour are unusually specific about conditions, and they read well. "Guide was great — informative, witty but most importantly excellent in the adverse weather conditions we had! He expertly handled swollen river crossings high winds and more!" wrote one traveller in August 2025. Another went in October with snow and sandstorms and still recommended it.
River levels rise through the afternoon as the day's meltwater arrives, and they rise fast after rain. A super jeep with a local driver is the difference between that being a story and being a problem.
How the Day Runs
Shape of an eight-hour departure. Exact times come from the operator when you book.
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Meeting
Bus stop, Þjóðvegur 3, Hella
The roadside stop on the Ring Road through town, not a hotel lobby or a ticket office. Park nearby and arrive early: this is a single pickup, not a circuit.
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0:15
Off the Ring Road
North out of Hella and inland along the Rangá valley. Farmland gives way to gravel within half an hour.
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1:00
Tyres down, F-roads
The driver drops tyre pressure before the first crossings. From here the road is the tour as much as the destination.
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1:45
Ljótipollur
Stop above the crater lake: deep blue water inside red walls, with the highland plateau spreading out behind.
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2:30
Landmannalaugar
Around three hours on the ground. A guided walk across Laugahraun toward Brennisteinsalda, then the hot spring, in whichever order the weather suggests.
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5:30
Out through Fjallabak
Back across the fords with more stops on the return leg, which is when most groups get the better light.
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8:00
Hella
Back at the same bus stop, with the evening still yours. The Reykjavik tours are two hours from finishing at this point.
Before You Book
What is and is not included
A short listing, so it is worth reading closely.
- Included: a local guide and the super jeep for the whole day
- Excluded: lunch. There is no shop, café or vending machine in the valley
- Not suitable for children under 6
- Alcohol and drugs are not allowed on board
- Bring a swimming costume if you want the geothermal pool, plus a towel
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, nothing paid at booking
Where to eat before you go
Hella has a petrol station and a small supermarket on the Ring Road, and both sit within a couple of minutes of the meeting point. Buy lunch, water and anything you might want on a long gravel road before you get in the jeep, because the next opportunity is eight hours later in the same town. The packing list covers the rest of the day.
The season, and how far into autumn this one runs
Standard access to the valley runs roughly 20 June to 15 September, with Vegagerðin setting the dates each year after inspecting the route. Super jeeps often keep going past that, and this operator's reviews bear it out: several are dated early and mid October, in 2023 and 2025 alike. What each month gives you is in the best time to visit.
Late-season departures mean an empty valley, a closed hut and weather that decides the itinerary, which several of those October reviewers seemed to enjoy.
Driving yourself from Hella instead
It is the shortest self-drive approach, and it is still an F-road drive with the two largest fords sitting on F224 right before the campsite. Icelandic law allows only 4x4 vehicles on F-roads, no rental car insurance sold in Iceland covers water damage from a river crossing, and you need a parking reservation through parka.is for arrivals between 09:00 and 16:00 between 20 June and 13 September 2026, on top of the 1,500 ISK fee. Plenty of drivers stop short of the last crossings and walk the final ten minutes over the footbridge.
Where You Meet
Questions About the Hella Departure
How long is the Landmannalaugar tour from Hella?
Eight hours, against 11 to 14 on the Reykjavik departures, and you get roughly the same three hours in the valley. The saving is entirely driving: the Arctic Adventures itinerary puts 95 minutes between Reykjavik and Hella, so starting here removes that leg in both directions. The tour meets at the bus stop on Þjóðvegur 3 in Hella and returns to the same place.
Where exactly does the tour meet in Hella?
At the bus stop on Þjóðvegur 3, 850 Hella, which is the roadside stop on the Ring Road through the town. The operator asks you to use Google Maps to find it, because it is not a hotel, an office or a car park with a sign on it. Arrive a few minutes early: this is a single meeting point rather than a pickup circuit, so the jeep does not come looking for you.
Why does it cost more than the Reykjavik tours?
Because the group is smaller and the vehicle is a super jeep rather than a minibus. At $395 it is the most expensive Landmannalaugar tour on sale, against $189 for the cheapest super jeep from Reykjavik. Reviewers regularly report groups of two or three, and more than one has had the jeep to themselves, which turns it into a private tour at a fraction of what a private booking normally costs.
Can I join a Reykjavik tour at Hella instead?
Two of them stop here. The Nordur Travel hiking day picks up at the Olís station in Hella between 08:20 and 08:45 and costs $204.97, and the Arctic Adventures highland hike lists Olís Hella among its drop-off points. Both continue to Reykjavik at the end of the day, so confirm with the operator that a Hella drop-off is available on your date before booking. It is a real saving, but the day is still 13 or 14 hours long from the operator's clock.
Is there a Landmannalaugar tour from Selfoss or Vík?
From Selfoss, yes in effect: the Arctic Adventures highland hike lists Selfoss N1 among its drop-off points, so you can join and leave the day there. From Vík there is no scheduled departure, despite what some booking-platform categories suggest. The southern approach on F208 from near Vík is longer, emptier and carries more water than the northern route, which is why operators avoid it. Tours filed under Vík generally still gather their passengers further west.
Do I need to bring food?
Yes. Lunch sits in the excluded column on this listing, and there is nothing to buy in the valley: no café, no shop, no vending machine. Hella has a petrol station and a small supermarket within a couple of minutes of the meeting point, which is the last chance for eight hours. Bring more water than you think you need if you plan to walk up Brennisteinsalda.
Does the tour run in bad weather?
Usually, with the route adjusted. This operator's reviews describe swollen river crossings, high winds, snow and sandstorms handled without drama, and several of the strongest reviews come from days when the weather was poor. The tour is cancelled when the road is genuinely unsafe rather than when the forecast looks bleak, and you are refunded in full in that case. You can also cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before departure.
What Recent Passengers Wrote
Our guide was knowledgeable, friendly, funny, and enthusiastic. He took care of us and kept making sure that everyone was comfortable and having a good time. He showed us so many beautiful, scenic spots, like the "Ugly Puddle" and "Valley of Tears," and he led a hike once we got to Landmannalaugar.
Guide was great - informative, witty but most importantly excellent in the adverse weather conditions we had! He expertly handled swollen river crossings high winds and more! Highly recommend the trip and the guide!
We were the only ones on the tour so it was basically a private tour and the most amazing experience of our lives! It was rainy but we still enjoyed all the stops along the way. We got to decide how long to stay at each location […]
Quotes reproduced from the GetYourGuide listing for this tour, as written, shortened with an ellipsis where marked.