Hiking and folk high school in Iceland

Day-by-day programme

Day 1: Tuesday 18/8: Travel day and welcome to Iceland and to our folk high school

• 8.20: Departure from Copenhagen Airport.
• PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to bring a packed lunch from home or buy one at Copenhagen Airport. We won't eat together until dinner.
• 9.40: Arrival at Keflavik Airport.
• We drive from Keflavik in our 3 minibuses to our folk high school. The journey takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
• We take a short walk behind our folk high school and admire our very own waterfall, Drifandi, which lies in the back garden.
• Relaxation.
• 16.30: Who's who and a couple of songs from the Folk High School Songbook
• 17.30: Dinner. We're served a tasting menu by the owners of the place, Davide and Lucia. The menu consists of smoked salmon with geothermally baked rye bread, plokkfiskur (cod), fish balls, fermented shark, lamb/vegetable soup with bread, and a traditional cake for dessert.
• 19.00: Talk by Hanne Viemose, who is an author and our hiking guide on all the hikes. She will give us a personal talk about her 19-year, ongoing love affair with and fascination for Iceland, which was kindled when she came to the country for the first time in 2007 as a Master's student in anthropology to carry out anthropological fieldwork among the Icelandic horse people. Here she fell in love with an artist who was allergic to horses… (whom she later married). In the talk Hanne will present the Iceland she has fallen for through her personal experiences of the country, the people, the nature and the literature, and she'll give examples of how her life and writing have taken shape in and with Iceland.

Hanne also tells us about the hikes we'll be going on during the week.

Day 2: Wednesday 19/8: Skogar waterfall hike or horse ride on the Black Beach

• 8.00: Morning exercises and morning song.
• 8.30: Breakfast and make a packed lunch.
• 9.30: Departure for those who want to hike and those who want to ride.

About the hike

A roughly 16-kilometre, moderately demanding hike of 4-5 hours in the highlands along the meltwater river Skógaá, which drains from the scenically spectacular and today world-famous glacier volcano Eyjafjallajökull, whose name news reporters the world over struggled to pronounce on live TV back in 2010, when it unexpectedly erupted and sent an ash cloud disruptive to air traffic out over the whole of Europe. We'll hike from the foot of the river's lowest and largest waterfall, Skogafoss, and up into the highland along and against the roaring, trickling, splashing, tumbling, streaming ice water. We walk along gorges, through ascents and descents. There will be somewhere between 20 and 30 waterfalls on our route, and if we didn't know it already, we'll soon discover that a waterfall is never just a waterfall - no two waterfalls are alike, and few people know exactly how many we pass, as most are distracted from their counting by the overwhelming views and landscape scenery. The route goes out and back, but you don't see the same thing - it makes a world of difference whether you move up against or down along the river, whether you go up or down the mountain.

Difficulty of the route: There are no steep ascents on the route apart from the first 466 steps up to the viewing platform above Skogafoss, where the hiking trail starts and ends. From here it's mostly a gentle uphill on predominantly firm ground, but in places muddy and in places with loose gravel. Hiking boots (not shoes, as support around the ankles is crucial) are recommended, and this goes for every day.

The route climbs about 500 metres of elevation in total, most steeply during the first stretch up the steps.

Elevation: We reach up to 617 metres above sea level.

Horse riding on the black beach (own payment for this excursion)

We drive 15 minutes to Hestar og Fjoll - a family-run farm specialising in horse rides on Icelandic horses. From here we'll experience beautiful Iceland from horseback across open expanses and rivers - all the way out to Reynisfjara, Iceland's world-famous black sand beach. We ride for 3 hours with views of glaciers, mountains and waterfalls and get a genuine Icelandic nature experience, where we can connect with the landscape, the animals and the people who live in Iceland.

The ride is for beginners and requires no riding experience.

Bring clothing (layers) and shoes/boots for the weather, a thin hat, warm socks and a pair of gloves, plus a small belt bag for your camera/phone (rucksacks may not be brought on horseback).

• After the hike and the ride there is time for a little relaxation and a bath at our hostel.
• In the evening we have dinner at the restaurant Gamla Fjósið, which lies a quarter of an hour's drive from the folk high school.

Day 3: Thursday 20/8: Full-day trip to Landmannalaugar

• 8.00: Breakfast and making packed lunches.
• 9.00: Departure for Landmannalaugar.
• It's a 2½-hour drive from the folk high school to Landmannalaugar. We drive into the interior behind the flanks of Hekla, the queen of the Icelandic volcanoes. Hanne will tell us about her (the volcano) and the day's landscapes along the way and read out passages selected for the occasion from Icelandic literature. You'll of course also get time to sit in silence and form your own impressions of the raw and at times overwhelming nature and/or chat with your fellow travellers.

About the hike

We arrive at Landmannalaugar around midday and begin the day's hike, which stretches through unique volcanic landscapes with lava fields, gorges, peaks and the area's trademark: the rainbow-coloured mountain ridges formed by the volcanic rock rhyolite. Back at Landmannalaugar we finish the excursion in a natural spring, where we can rest our weary limbs in the mineral-rich water, said to be good for both skin and soul.

Difficulty of the route: We'll hike about 11 km over 4-5 hours on varying surfaces that are in places raw and slippery. There will be climbs of 300-400 metres; we start at 550 metres above sea level, and the highest point we reach lies at 850 metres above sea level.

• We have dinner in Landmannalaugar, and afterwards we drive home to the folk high school.

Day 4: Friday 21/8: Hvammsvik Hot Springs and Reykjavik

• 8.30: Morning exercises and morning song.
• 9.00: Breakfast.
• 10.00: Departure for Hvammsvik Hot Springs.
• We drive two hours north of Reykjavik to the natural geothermal baths at Hvammsvik Hot Springs. Hvammsvik opened in 2023 and consists of a total of eight natural pools of typically 35-40 °C, laid out right by the coast so that some of them almost merge with the sea at high tide. There is a mix of geothermal water (from about 1,400 metres' depth) and salty seawater, which creates varying temperatures and a unique bathing experience. While you sit in the warm water and enjoy the view over the fjord, you can be served a cold drink from the place's outdoor bar, which lies right beside the thermal baths.
• There are changing facilities and lockers for your things. Bring a swimsuit. Towels are available on site.
• 14.30: We drive 45 minutes to Reykjavik, where you can explore the city on your own. Dinner is eaten here at your own expense.
• 20.30: We drive back to the folk high school. It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Day 5: Saturday: Full-day trip to Thorsmörk

• 8.30: Morning exercises and morning song.
• 9.00: Breakfast and making packed lunches.
• 10.00: Departure for Thorsmörk.
• It takes about an hour to get to Thorsmörk. We'll travel in a specially raised bus with four-wheel drive to get in through the glacial river delta, where no fewer than three glacial rivers cross the track to the valley of Thorsmörk, named after the thunder god Thor in Norse mythology.

About the hike

Thorsmörk is a paradise of a valley surrounded by high green mountains and the three glaciers: the famous and notorious volcanic glacier Eyjafjallajökull, the smaller and unblemished Tindafjallajökull, and the broad, beautiful Myrdalsjökull, which covers the country's most feared volcano, Katla. Here we'll set out on the day's hike, which goes through widely varied landscapes from open, broad river deltas, through idyllic birch groves, up onto the bare mountain, and down bare slopes, steeply up to spectacular views from peaks and summits. If you have a fondness for hiking poles, they are a must on this excursion.

Difficulty of the route: moderate-hard. The hike will involve steep passages in places - both on ascent and descent, firm ground, but we have time to relax and enjoy the views along the way, and there will also be long stretches with even, moderate ascents and descents. We'll cover about 12 km over 5-6 hours. We climb a total of about 800 metres of elevation.

• We finish by having dinner in Thorsmörk before heading home to the folk high school.

Day 6: Sunday: Full-day trip to the Westman Islands

• 8.00: A couple of morning songs.
• 8.15: Breakfast and making packed lunches.
• 9.15: Departure from the folk high school. It takes 15 minutes to drive to the ferry.
• 10.00: Departure for the Westman Islands.
• 10.40: Arrival at the Westman Islands.

About the hike

We begin the day's first hike directly from the ferry berth, where we set course for the New Lava, which formed during the eruption in 1973 and buried 417 of the town's 1,350 houses and damaged 400 others. We follow a route through the lava, which also formed the island's new red volcano, Eldfell. From the top we can, in clear weather, see across to glaciers on the mainland, the shining ice caps that lie on top of the south coast's volcanoes, and we can see out over the Westman Islands' new land side by side with the old land with the volcano Helga, which last erupted 5,000 years ago.

The hike is easy-moderate, firm ground on the first stretch through the lava and reasonably firm, but also with places of loose stones and gravel on the last stretch up onto Eldfell. We eat our packed lunches along the way. It will take about an hour and a half to walk from the harbour through the new lava to the top of Eldfell.

• Climb through the New Lava: 200 metres.
• Climb up onto Eldfell: 120 metres.
• From the top of Eldfell it's a half-hour walk down to Eldheimar, a unique and internationally known and acclaimed museum that tells the dramatic story of the volcanic eruption, which began one winter night in 1973 when the ground opened without warning in a one-and-a-half-kilometre-long fissure through the eastern part of the town of Heimaey, and out of it rose fountains of fire and burning stone. The museum is built around a house that has been dug free of the ash, so you move quite literally around inside the history when you visit the museum.
• After the museum visit and lunch we take a bus out to the island's southern and highest-lying part, where we may be lucky enough to see puffins on the bird cliffs.

Difficulty of the route: Easy-moderate strenuous

• 18.00: Departure from the Westman Islands.
• 19.30: Farewell dinner with cosy company and songs at the folk high school.

Day 7: Monday: Departure day

• 9.00: Breakfast and morning song.
• 10.30: Departure from the folk high school.
• On the way to the airport we see a little of the area around the new lava, the sulphur springs at Krysuvik and/or Grindavik, conditions permitting.
• 15.00: Arrival at Keflavik Airport.
• 17.05: Departure for Copenhagen Airport.
• 22.10: Arrival at Copenhagen Airport

We reserve the right to make changes

The folk high school

When we go to Iceland in the summer of 2026 with Annas Højskole, we'll be staying at an atmospheric and scenic hostel close to Hvolsvöllur on Iceland's south coast.

The moment you step outside the door, you have access to a landscape filled with silence, fresh air and raw Icelandic beauty. The folk high school lies surrounded by dramatic landscapes and the place's very own hidden gem - the waterfall Drífandi in the back garden.

A 10-minute drive from the folk high school you'll also find Seljalandsfoss, one of the country's most famous waterfalls, where you can walk behind the roaring cascade. Right next to it lies the hidden Gljúfrabúi waterfall, tucked away behind rock walls and accessible via a short path.

We eat our breakfast and make packed lunches for the hikes at the hostel.

The rooms

You stay two people together in shared double rooms, 3-person rooms or 4-person rooms. Or you can stay in a dormitory, which is actually for 12 but where only 3 course participants sleep together. The prices are the same, and we allocate rooms on a first-come, first-served basis. So the largest rooms are used first. For all rooms, the bathroom and toilet are in the corridor. There are a total of 5 bathrooms with toilets and 5 toilet-only rooms.

It is possible to separate the beds so that they become single beds. In addition there are cosy lounges and a shared dining hall.

The place is run by Italian Davide and Lucia, who both speak fluent English and are two very lovely people.

The folk high school lies about 2 hours and 15 minutes' drive from Reykjavík and is the perfect base for experiencing the nature of southern Iceland.

Bodil Pugholm

The course leader and planner of the trip is Bodil Pugholm. Bodil holds a Master's degree in psychology and communication and is also a trained nature therapist. She runs courses for Annas Højskole both in Thy and in Sicily. When she isn't away with the folk high school, she works as a consultant at an NGO.

Iceland holds a very special place in Bodil's heart, and in her view no more beautiful country exists. She has visited the country many times and loves the unique and raw nature with open expanses and intense, characteristic colours.

Bodil is in her 16th year as a singer in the Copenhagen a cappella choir Vokalkompagniet, and she also has a soft spot for the Folk High School Songbook, which she gladly brings out for any occasion. Together with Anna, Bodil will lead the morning and evening singing, and Bodil will lead the morning exercises.

Privately Bodil lives with her husband Jacob and their two boys aged 4 and 6.

Hanne Højgaard Viemose

Hanne is our hiking guide on the hikes. She is an author and tour leader based in Reykjavik. She holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and trained at the Danish Academy of Creative Writing in Copenhagen. She has written novels, drama, poetry, essays, articles and songs, most recently a genre hybrid of a travel novel in collaboration with saga scholar Annette Lassen. Since 2020, through the Iceland-savvy travel agency Team Island, she has run and developed Hanne's Travels with the literary journey around Iceland as her signature. Hanne is a capable amateur ornithologist, a happy mountain rambler and an eager water-splasher in Iceland's natural as well as man-made - cold as well as warm - springs and pools.

She has had Iceland as her second home since 2007, when, during an ethnographic field study of the Icelandic horse people, she met her ex-husband, with whom she has the boys Björn (16) and Dagur (13).

Since 2018 she and the boys have lived permanently in Reykjavik, today also with her partner Martin.

Anna Katrin Nørgaard, principal of Annas Højskole

Together with Bodil, Anna will lead the folk high school singing and help out with various things. But otherwise she is coming along because it's the first time Annas Højskole is running a trip to Iceland.

Anna is a trained journalist and in 2017 she founded Annas Højskole. Here Anna has been course leader on a whole host of courses, many of them hiking courses. Anna has been to Iceland twice, but both times it was because the plane to Greenland couldn't land there, and she had to spend a single night on the island each time. SO now it's finally going to happen…

Anna is the mother of two grown-up children. She lives partly with her husband on Læsø at the couple's large bed & breakfast and partly with her 20-year-old son in Snekkersten in North Zealand.