Accommodation
10 double / twin en-suite rooms in a separate house at the farm with a large porch. Four double / twin rooms that share a bathroom in the ‘old house’ (built in 1939) that has two bathrooms, a common sitting room and a kitchen. Free Wi-Fi in the dining room. Laundry facilities.
Board
There’s a shared dining room / canteen in the annex to the farmers’ house. Breakfast is included and dinner is served from 7-9 pm. Refreshments can also be served during the day if pre-ordered. Fully licensed.
Service and recreation
The same family has lived at Sólheimahjáleiga since 1850 and farm cattle, sheep, horses and chickens. Guests are more than welcome to get to know the ropes at the farm – just ask your hosts to show you around. Marked hiking trails nearby and further afield in the lovely Mýrdalur region. Riding tours, between one and four hours, at Vellir (7 km / 4.5 mi) and Mið-Hvoll (13 km / 8 mi). To explore Sólheimajökull glacier, you can join snowmobile tours, jeep tours, glacier walks or try ice climbing with the operators at Ytri-Sólheimar. Skógafoss waterfall and the Skógar district museum are nearby (12 km / 7.5 mi). The nearest village is Vík í Mýrdal (24 km / 15 mi) where you’ll find a swimming pool, a tourism information centre, a supermarket and diners, as well as a nine-hole golf course.
Dyrhólaey, Reynisfjara
Dyrhólaey (16 km / 10 mi) is a protected promontory. Rising from the surrounding black sand shore, it turns its impressive cliff façade out to the ocean. One of its defining features, the gap in the promontory, plays with bouncing waves day in and day out. In summer, birdlife is quite rich, meaning you might see the elusive puffin if you’re lucky. Just a little further east is beach Reynisfjara (23 km / 14 mi), where awe-inspiring columnar basalt and curious caves ornate the black sand. Just off the shore, the two columns known as Reynisdrangar stand guard. According to legend, they are the petrified forms of two trolls who fell victim to the rising sun.
Sólheimajökull
Iceland’s longest icefall, Sólheimajökull (12 km / 7.5 mi) crumbles along the landscape all the way from Mýrdalsjökull’s ice cap and to the lowlands (9 km / 5.5 mi to the ice fall’s tip). Turn off route no 1 (the ‘Ring Road’) to reach the car park near the glacier. If you go to neighbouring farm Ytri-Sólheimar, you can join snowmobile tours and super jeep tours to Mýrdalsjökull glacier. If you feel like coming in proper contact with the glacier, you can also join guided glacier hikes (all necessary equipment is provided).
Hikes in Mýrdalur
The mountains, valleys and moors that line the Mýrdalur community are ideal for both short and long hikes that most will be able to enjoy. You can also try out the trails close to Sólheimahjáleiga, for example to Mt Reynisfjall that towers over village Vík, or through the area by Höfðabrekka (5 km / 3 mi east of Vík). It’s easy to reach, as the main road from Mýrdalur to the eastern regions used to pass by here. You can thread various interesting hikes all the way to Þakgil canyon and Mýrdalsjökull glacier, where volcano Katla lies in wait under the ice cap.
Skógafoss, Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Skógar district museum
The infamous Eyjafjallajökull glacier is clearly visible from Sólheimahjáleiga. Other natural attractions include waterfall Skógafoss by the glacier’s eastern foothills (10 km / 6 mi) – one of those oddly symmetrical natural beauties – and the beautiful Seljalandsfoss, that’s only 28 km / 17.5 mi west. If conditions are favourable you can walk behind it and marvel at its power from an unusual vantage point. The drive to Seljalandsfoss is charming and varied and when you drive between the two waterfalls, consider that most of what you see was covered in ash following the 2010 eruption. If you want to learn more about the eruption, visit the Eyjafjallajokull Visitor Centre (20 km / 12.5 mi) and immerse yourselves in photographs from these turbulent times. You can also learn about other eruptions in the area that have made their mark on the landscape. At Skógar by Skógafoss (10 km / 6 mi), there’s an interesting district museum that includes several old houses, and it’s an ideal stop for the whole family.
Hosts: Elín and family