Skarðshyrna hike and northern lights

About the tour

When driving to the north of Iceland you see a lot of beautiful glacier-shaped mountains along the way. We offer a hike to one of those peaks, Skarðshyrna. The hike takes you through a valley, ending at the peak of Skarðshyrna with the view on the picture seen above.

We begin our hike roughly at 100m above sea level and then progress upwards to the summit of Skarðahyrna at 923 m. The total distance covered is about 11 km.

After the hike, we at Fjallhalla transport you to hotel Laxárbakki where a hot tub and a three-course dinner awaits you! It is cooked by a master chef and is highly recommended by the staff of Fjallhalla.

After the hike, you have time to relax and eat before we start the northern lights tour! If the forecast is in our favour we head out there to hunt for the northern lights. We bring blankets for you so you can warm up in the car while we wait for mother nature to give its best. Once (and if) the elusive lights appear its time to pull over, set up the chairs and blankets, and take in the spectacular swirling overhead light show. Now is the time we break out the hot chocolate and Icelandic pastries known as ‘kleina’ (a sort of twisted, yummy doughnut) – all of which are included in the tour price.

Your driver-guide is also a photographer, which will teach you how to use your phone or camera to capture the spectacular lights! It is one of the first things we do when looking for the aurora, take a photo in the direction where something seems to be appearing. The camera captures more than the human eye, so it is very smart to bring a camera to see where and if the show is about to start.