Transfer and Other Options:

Day 1: Arrival
Tour members arrive at Keflavik Airport, Iceland. They take the bus from Keflavik to Reykjavik (BSÍ). Our representatives will greet you at 17:30 - 18:00, and arrange further transportation to the farm Vellir near Hveragerdi. In Hveragerdi the tour members will be lodged in guesthouses. The first evening, we dine together, and Eldhestar provides details about the next few days.

Day 2: Hveragerdi – Reykholt - Geysir
We go by car to a place near the farm Reykholt  in the beautiful area Biskupstúngur. We ride on soft paths until we reach a river which we cross. We end our tour at the farm Kjarnholt, just south of  the hot springs at Geysir..
20 km, 4 hrs.

Day 3: Kjarnholt  - Fremstaver.
We start the riding from Kjarnholt and our first stop will be at Gullfoss.  From Gullfoss we ride into the wilderness, in a black desert of stones and sand. We follow the river Hvítá west until we come to the Mt. Bláfell, 1160 m above sea level, which gives us a beautiful view over Kjölur. We see the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Hofsjökull and the volcano Hekla and, on the right, Mt. Hlödufell and the Langjökull Glacier . We spend the night south of Bláfell in the mountain hut, Fremstaver.   35 km, 7 hrs.

Day 4: Fremstaver - Árbúdir
We continue east along Bláfell. We cross the Hvítá Rver over a bridge, pass the waterfall Ábóta, and there Kjölur starts. Kjölur is the oldest road between South and North Iceland. It is mostly even and is about 700 m above sea level. We have a view over the Langjökull and Hofsjökull glaciers and the Kerlingafjöll mountains - Kjölur's flagship. We follow the Svartá River to Árbúdir, where we spend the night.   40 km, 8 hrs.

Day 5: Árbúdir - Hveravellir
The tour starts toward Hvítárnes, a grass-rich area changing its character in the summer when the green flower Fifa gets white and fluffy. We come to the lava field, Kjalhraun, which many people think gave Kjölur its name. It looks like the keel of a ship. West of Kjalhraun we ride through a narrow cleft to the valley Thjófadalur (the Valley of Thieves). The valley is circular and hidden behind the mountains. It is one of the few places along Kjölur rich with grass. From the valley, we ride over a little mountain comb called Thröskuldur, and from there, we follow a smooth path to Hveravellir, where we can bathe in the hot springs.
40 km, 8 hrs.

Day 6: Hveravellir - Áfangi
Today we have enough time to explore the beautiful nature surrounding Hveravellir before we saddle the horses. Hveravellir is one of the biggest geothermal areas in Iceland. There was an outlaw hideout here in the old days, and south of the area we pass the ruin of the hut of the outlaw Fjalla-Eyvindur. We continue north over the river Seydisá and along the mountains Sandkúlufell, Hanskafell and  Saudafell and spend the night in a mountain hut.
28 km, 5-6 hrs.

Day 7: Áfangi – Vatnsdalur
We continue north over the Eyvindarstadaheidi Moor . We are now not very far from civilization in North Iceland. We ride with the mountains behind us and the glaciers all around us. On our right we have the big lake, Blöndulón, which was made by the power plant by the Blanda River. We continue on soft riding paths and mountain roads and end up in the green valley Vatnsdalur. From there we return to Reykjavik and spend the evening together.

Day 8:Departure
The tour  members take the Fly bus on their own  to Keflavik airport. 

          Subject to change

We provide the following:
·         Safety helmets
·         Rainwear
·         During the wintertime we also provide winter overalls
·         Rubber boots

You should bring:
·         A waist bag is useful when riding. (A backpack is not good because it bumps around when you are riding and it may hurt you if you fall off).
·         Please note, sleeping bags are not provided. Please bring your own with a pillow. 
·         Please bring your Travel Insurance Card information.
·         Normal street-clothes are not necessary except for your stay in Reykjavik the last night.

Cameras:  
We recommend to bring a small camera that can be taken in a pocket, a waist/hip bag or in the saddle bag.
Large camera equipment we can not allow on the horses for security reasons. Tours are operated with a free running herd - at speed of tölt or trot for most of the day. We take breaks to relax the horses and then it is possible to take pictures. While on the horse taking pictures is rather difficult since the horses are constantly moving. Because of the herd instinct it is not possible to stop an individual horse, they all will follow each other.
You can leave larger Digital SLR with your luggage at the farm or put it in their luggage that will be transferred to the new accommodation. 

It is not yet legally mandatory that riders need to wear riding helmets. Nevertheless we strongly recommend clients wear one. Clients will be experiencing a new breed of horses in new terrain, involving gravel, stones and rocks. Therefore it is in the clients best interest to take precautions. If they feel they do not want to wear a helmet after the first few days it is up to them. However, some insurance companies in Europe refuse to pay in case of an accident if the client has not been wearing a riding helmet. We provide helmets here in Iceland which clients are welcome to use but if you want to bring your own it is fine with us. If you bring your own it has to be sterilized before bringing it into Iceland.

Regarding the sterilization: What can be washed in a washing machine at medium temperature or dry cleaned is fine (even riding trousers). But what can not be washed or dry-cleaned or is a full leather garment needs to be sterilized.
You should be ready for all kinds of weather as it can change very quickly. We provide you with good rain-clothes, a riding helmet and at winter time a thermo overall, gloves and rubber boots. 
Luggage that is not needed on the tour can be left at the office and recovered at the end of the tour.

Caution: Used boots, riding wear, saddlebags etc. must be disinfected before arrival to Iceland. That is because infectious diseases can easily be brought into the country, which pose a great danger for the horses. Riding wear is normally washed and shoes and cleaned with iodine or some other fluid disinfectant. All used leather articles are prohibited.

Passports
Passport valid for at least three months beyond length of stay required by all except:
(a) 1. nationals of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden who are only required to produce national identity cards issued by the competent authorities in their countries of origin.
Passport Note
Iceland is a signatory to the 1995 Schengen Agreement.

Visas
Not required by all nationals of referred to in the chart above for stays of up to 90 days.
2. EU nationals staying longer than 90 days will need to apply for a residence permit from the directorate of immigration in Iceland.
Note: Nationals not referred to in the chart above are advised to contact the embassy to check visa requirements (see Contact Addresses).
Visa Note
A stay in another Schengen-Zone country counts as the same as a stay in Iceland.