Staying Rustic Cool in Iceland with Icelandic Farm Holidays

Welcome to the magical country of Iceland!

Iceland has long been on my list of places I needed to see with my own eyes. I was lucky enough to take an EPIC road trip recently with Captain & Clark in Iceland. Even though we had several days to dedicate to driving around the island country, Icelanders kept saying it would be impossible to do everything in our allotted time. So, we decided to focus on the southern & eastern parts of Iceland. In retrospect, this was a very wise decision. Let’s just say things take longer to travel to than expected and especially with the dramatic ever-changing Icelandic weather. Plus, never having visited the country before, we really weren’t sure where to start. Thank goodness for Icelandic Farm Holidays is ALL I have to say!

Not only was Icelandic Farm Holidays able to find us a variety of accommodations to sample in rural Iceland but they were also able to give us guidance and loads of tips on things to do, see and places to eat. I always say finding the right place to stay really sets the tone and I don’t think we could have planned our road trip any better ourselves or with anyone else.

A little bit about Icelandic Farm Holidays: it’s an award-winning, leading expert in rural Iceland with over 30 years of experience and has a vast accommodation network (183 members) of bed and breakfasts & country hotels to apartments and traditional working farms all around Iceland. In addition to accommodations, they also offer a variety of tours. Bottom line, if you’re looking for an authentic holiday of meeting locals and enjoying the local cuisine and culture, Icelandic Farm Holidays is for you too.

Now, onto where we went and stayed. For our road trip we decided to drive the southern part of the Ring Road to the eastern part of Iceland making stops in Vik, Hofn, Egilsstaðir and back to Kirkjubæjarklaustur. All our stays were cozy & clean and all included breakfast. Three out of 4 had restaurants on property, which was helpful given the touch and go March weather in Iceland.

On the road to Vik we stopped to see a few spectacular waterfalls, Seljalandfoss, Gljuafrabui and Skogafoss. Each so stunning it’s difficult to pick a favorite.

Once in Vik, we settled in at Hotel Katla, a friendly 72 room hotel with a cozy restaurant and an awesome hot tub/sauna about 2.5 hours from Reykjavik. Besides spending several hours soaking in the hot tub, drinking vodka and literally having it snow on our heads, my favorite thing about Hotel Katla was my fantastic dinner of local trout.

As we left Vik, we stopped off at the Vik Wool Factory Store, a perfect place for Icelandic souvenirs, where I purchased my authentic lopapeysa – a traditional Icelandic sweater made from Icelandic sheep wool. We also took in beautiful black sand beaches, the unreal Svinafellsjökull Glacier and Glacier Beach before arriving at our next destination, Hofn.

Our next Icelandic Farm Holidays stay was with Hoffell, a traditional 8 double & triple room farmer’s guesthouse. Quaint, comfortable and rustic, Hoffell offers private rooms with shared baths and a shared kitchen area. Perfect for a group traveling together to be sure. Oh, and let’s not forget the geothermal hot pools onsite as well. Hoffell was the only property without a restaurant onsite but nearby Hofn is known as the Lobster Capital of Iceland so you can guess what we dined on that evening in town. I had the most delicious lobster pizza at Kaffi Hornid along with a one-of-a-kind local beer, Vatnajökull, only available in that region. MMMM.

Leaving the Lobster Capital, Hofn, behind, we drove eastward toward the incredible fjords of eastern Iceland. Tucked into these inlets carved by glaciers over time are adorable fishing villages. As charming as they were in the wintertime, I can’t even imagine the beauty of this part of Iceland in the summertime.

Our next stay was at Guesthouse Egilsstaðir, a charming country hotel with a very relaxed atmosphere that’s located along side Lake Lagarfljót in East Iceland. This beautifully restored 19th century farmhouse has 18 bright rooms with private baths and was nothing short of perfect. Onsite there’s an inviting restaurant that is a destination not just for hotel guests. I throughly enjoyed my lobster salad meal and especially felt welcome in the cozy bar/lounge area where we sipped cocktails for a few hours keeping warm. I found the decor at Guesthouse Egilsstaðir exceptionally inspiring.

Leaving Egilsstaðir and heading back south toward Vik, we traveled past the gorgeous fjords of the eastern Iceland once again, stopped off in Brunnholl for the popular farmhouse ice cream, passed by the Glacier Lagoon once more and made a special stop for some elf whispering in mossy covered lava fields where it’s said the elves make their homes. We also visited “The Church Floor” which is a national monument nearby made of basalt columns and is really cool to see as is the Viking cave, Hjorleifshofdi, which was the home to the brother of the first Nordic settler of Iceland, Ingolfur Arnarson.

Our final Icelandic Farm Holidays stay was with Hotel Geirland in Kirkjubæjarklaustur – a spacious country hotel surrounded by stunning cliffs. Hotel Geirland has 40 rooms with private facilities and is an excellent property for groups. The restaurant onsite offers authentic Iceland food and host Erla’s country-wide famous homemade skyr cake. I have to say I really enjoyed my lamb burger and the skyr cake very much. It’s said you can often spot the Northern Lights near Hotel Geirland during Northern Light spotting season from September to March.

As you can see Iceland is full of so much natural beauty. These lovely properties certainly didn’t take anything away from that but only added to the local feel of our road trip. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change anything about our journey or accommodations.

Important things to note:

• Rooms with these Icelandic Farm Holidays properties vary. Their price range starts from 78 € to 114€.
• Some of these properties are open year round while others are closed in December & January.
• Iceland high season is from May to September.

TAKK to Icelandic Farm Holidays for hosting us. We loved the variety of accommodations and, in particular, your above & beyond attention and care. I completely ‘Lola Approve’ Icelandic Farm Holidays AND Iceland. The views here are mine!