A sister property to The Retreat at Blue Lagoon—complete with geothermal baths—lures travelers to Iceland’s glacial interior
Visitors to Iceland tend to stick close to the coastal Ring Road, but Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll is enticing them inland. Last summer, the famed Retreat at Blue Lagoon opened this sister property, which draws on Nordic sporting heritage and a local love of hot springs. Here are four reasons to check in now.
The Secluded Site
The lodge is set deep in the island’s rugged central highlands, a landscape of reddish rhyolite mountains, vast glaciers, and steaming geothermal features. It takes about three and a half hours to drive the 125 miles of paved and gravel roads from Reykjavík, and in the winter guests must be shuttled up in a 4×4 with serious snow tires. The location is so remote and under-explored that it was once rumored to be a haven for trolls; an eccentric Italian engineer even searched the surrounding hills for the Holy Grail.
The Assorted Abodes
Envisioned as much for outdoorsy Icelanders as international vacationers, the property offers many styles of accommodation, including campsites, A-frame huts, basic bunk rooms, sleek hotel suites, and standalone lodges. The latter two feature a Nordic minimalist design that’s more hygge than hard-edged, with cross-laminated larch wood, cozily crumpled linens, and pillows propped inside framed window seats—perfect for taking in the aurora borealis in the winter or reading by the midnight sun in the summer.
The Beauty of Bathing
Befitting its connection to the Blue Lagoon, the property draws on the volcanically heated waters of the Hveradalir hot spring valley to fuel a trio of steaming pools. Guests can even avoid the cold on the way to the bathing complex by navigating a series of underground tunnels. Off property, adventurous types can ride snowmobiles, cross-country ski, or take a hike to mountainous peaks such as Ásgarðsfjall and Mænir.
The Communal Canteen
The hotel’s hub is the restaurant, where families plot out their hiking routes in the morning and warm up by the made-to-order vöfflur (waffle) bar in the afternoon. The dinner menu leans toward comforting local classics such as lamb soup, cured goose with blueberries, and pan-fried arctic char, although a stealth standout is the butter whipped with tangy skyr, a treat that’s also on the menu at Moss Restaurant, the Michelin-starred dining venue at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon. After meals, satiated guests ascend to A-frame huts from the upstairs lounge one of the property’s to cozy up by the wood-burning stove and sip hot chocolate spiked with Jökla cream liqueur.
From $430, highlandbase.is
