Fire and Ice Trail

5 Days | From £1398pp

Iceland ( Best airport: Reykjavik)

Stay in a unique area of exceptional beauty with volcanic formations, green valleys and hot springs while you spend four days riding over Iceland’s varied landscapes of meadows, waterfalls and black sand beaches.Discover the fast-flowing, glacial waters of the Ölfusá river and see the hot, geothermal streams of Reykjadalur. This short break culminates with a day of fantastic beach riding.

The Riding

Ride one of the friendly and willing Icelandic horses in its natural environment. Every rider gets the chance to try 2 or 3 different horses each day. You’ll be covering almost 100 km over the course of the 4 days with between 4-6 hours riding per day.

In Iceland you’ll ride mostly in the tölt, a comfortable, smooth gait somewhere between trot and canter. Participants must be able to mount a horse with little assistance and hard hats are mandatory.

Level of Riding and Fitness

These tours are for confident novices onwards, but do require very good physical condition as you will be covering 20-25 km per day and the riding is not slow, most of the ride is in tölt (about trot speed). All riders must be able to mount a (relatively small) horse with little assistance.The weight limit is 95kg.

Guides and Group Size

You’ll be accompanied by professional guides who will show you the ropes with the Icelandic horses and help you to get used to their special gait, tölt. There can be up to 20 riders in your group.

Any questions?

The Horses

The only horses allowed in Iceland are Icelandic horses. This native breed is tough and hardworking and great fun to ride. Ideal mounts for the challenging terrain and changing weather. The horses are around 13.2hh but are very strong, capable of carrying adults at speed for much of the day. All the horses are home-bred by your hosts and live a very natural existence in a large herd roaming huge meadow expanses.

Tack and Riding Equipment

All the horses are ridden in simple, Icelandic style tack. The saddles are built close to a dressage saddle, with a relatively flat seat. The riding style is very close to English riding, but stirrups are worn longer.

Accommodation and Dining

Accommodation during the trail is at a cosy countryside hotel in the south of Iceland, close to your host’s farm. There are double, twin and family rooms available, all are spacious, warm and light-filled. There is an onsite restaurant and traditional hot tubs to relax in at the end of the day. The hotel’s interior is inspired by the colours and materials found in Icelandic nature, genuine craftsmanship and age-old traditions. It was built in accordance with ecological guidelines and is the first lodging in Iceland to be awarded the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. All rooms are fitted with luxurious Hästens beds, offering unrivalled comfort and each room has a door to the garden, allowing you to step outside and observe the scenery and northern lights depending on the time of year. Please note that on occasion other similar hotels will be used.

Full board is included starting with dinner on arrival day and ending with lunch on the last riding day. Dinner is traditional Icelandic home cooking, stews and casseroles are common and ingredients are locally sourced with an emphasis on fresh produce. Lunch is either a picnic packed in your saddle bags or the cook meets the group. Allergies or special dietary requirements can be catered for with advance notice.

Gallery

Itinerary

Day 1 You will be met by your hosts at the BSI bus station or at your hotel/ guesthouse in Reykjavik between 17:30- 18:00 and will transfer to the farm Vellir in Hveragerði. Get to know your fellow guests and hosts over dinner and finish the day with a briefing on the upcoming trail.

Day 2: Ölfusá River Delta Your guide meets you after breakfast for a short introduction before you get to know the horses. The program starts with a practical riding demonstration, followed by a few rounds in the riding hall or paddock. You’ll then ride out between the volcanic mountains and the Atlantic ocean in southern Iceland. The tour begins on wide riding trails alongside green meadows, which are ideal for trying the special gait of the Icelandic horse, tölt. The trail continues along the river Gljúfurá to an old cemetery close to the mighty glacial river Ölusá, where you’ll stop for a lunch break and enjoy the panoramic view of the river delta and the famous volcanos Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull, weather permitting. Follow a grassy path further down to the soft, black lava sand on the river banks and through shallow water to the green islands in the river delta. You’ll ride on soft ground on the islands, across sand and water, spotting various kinds of birds living in the wetlands of the nearby bird sanctuary Ölfusforir and ending the ride on trails along meadows before relaxing with coffee and home-baked cake at the hotel. Afterwards, you can relax in the comfortably warm hot tubs at Hotel Eldhestar.

Day 3 Today offers spectacular views as you ride along the slopes of Reykjafjall mountain and continue on riding trails surrounding the small village Hveragerði. The path then takes you through green forests to a colourful geothermal valley with hot springs. On the way towards the green hills surrounding the volcano Hengill, you’ll have an opportunity to try the “tölt”, the special gait of the Icelandic horse. The horses then take you at a leisurely pace up into the valley Reykjadalur. You’ll pass the beautiful waterfall Djúpagilsfoss and some hot springs before reaching the Reykjadalur valley where you can experience a relaxing dip in a geothermal stream. During the ride down into the valley, enjoy panoramic views over the surroundings, the village Hveragerði, picturesque farmland, all the way down to the coastline, where you might see the Westman Islands. Continue along the mountain slopes again back to the farm, where coffee and home-baked cake are waiting for you. Today's ride includes about 30 minutes of hiking (four short walks).

Day 4: Ingólfstrail After breakfast you’ll start the day riding through a small river, a lava field and along meadows. On the way you’ll enjoy the fascinating scenery of volcanic mountains towering over green hills and pastures, riding between large fields with grazing horses on excellent paths that are ideal for a brisk tölt. After lunch, head towards the table mountain Ingólfsfjall where the landscape changes dramatically at the foot of the mountain, and you can take a break between huge rocks, soft pillows of green moss and even some grazing sheep. On the way back to the farm, you’ll ride along the mountain Reykjafjall, where both sheep and horses graze in the summer, with views over the surrounding area and the village of Hveragerði.

Day 5: The Beach Ride After breakfast and check-out we take the horses in the trailer to the small fishing town Thorlákshöfn, where we start the tour with a ride on the long, black beach. We follow the scenic beach along the surf of the North Atlantic for a few kilometres, riding on soft black lava sand until we reach the beautiful area where the mighty glacial river Ölfusá meets the sea in a large delta. We then continue through shallow water at the edge of the river delta and ride on grassy river banks and along wetlands and meadows towards the farmland in the Ölfús area, where our farm Vellir is located. On our way we have plenty of opportunities to try the smooth gait of the Icelandic horse “tölt” on nice trails in beautiful scenery which seems to be far from civilization and enjoy spectacular views of mountains and the volcanos Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull, weather permitting. We also have good chances to see the sea- and wetland birds of various kinds living in the Flói Bird Reserve between the ocean shore and the river. After riding the bus takes you back to Reykjavik at about 16:15.