Accommodation
68 double, triple and quatruple en-suite rooms, all well furnished and with a TV. Beautiful ocean or mountain views. Easy wheelchair access. Free Wi-Fi in rooms and common areas.
Board
Breakfast is included.
The dining area accommodates between 150 and 200 people. In addition to a breakfast buffet, guests can enjoy an á la carte lunch and dinner, or just stop by for a cake and a cup of coffee. A fully licensed bar with a lovely lounge next to the dining hall. The premises are ideal for meetings and conferences, and well suited for annual celebrations, birthdays and other events.
Service and recreation
Many marked hiking trails nearby. Birdwatching. Reindeer herds are often found roaming in the area, and northern lights are a frequent sight from late August/early September and through March. Jeep and snowmobile tours to glacier Skálafellsjökull (route no 985, 2 km/1.2 mi). Boat tours on Jökulsárlón lagoon (35 km/22 mi). Quad tours along an icefall depart from Hoffell (25 km / 15.5 mi), where you can also enjoy soaking in the hot tubs. Puffin spotting tours to cape Ingólfshöfði (16 km / 10 mi). Visit the Huldusteinn rock museum and the Höfn Glacier Museum (which is also the local tourism information centre; 44 km / 27 mi). Höfn is the nearest town, where you’ll find a swimming pool, golf courses, supermarkets, restaurants, tour operators and various other services. Smyrlabjörg is a sheep farm, and guests can also get to know the horses, dogs, ducks and chickens that live at the farm.
A good place to explore the outdoors
The Smyrlabjörg country hotel is just off route no 1 (the ‘Ring Road’), in the eastern part of region Suðursveit. Glacial river Kolgríma flows nearby and separates Suðursveit from neighbouring region Mýrar. The hotel is therefore ideally located if you wish to explore this part of the country further. Adjacent to the farm you’ll enter into the magical landscape of Vatnajökull National Park, shaped by icefalls and glacial rivers. The park is Western Europe’s largest national park (13,600 km2/5250 mi2), and it´s rangers oversee numerous and varied hiking trails in the area, like the marked trail that starts by neighbouring farm Skálafell (4 km/2.5 mi). That particular route goes on to the popular Hjallanes area, which is close to Skálafellsjökull, the southern tip of icefall Heinabergsjökull. Nearby Smyrlabjörg (2 km/1.2) you can join jeep and snowmobile tours to Skálafellsjökull.
Local hikes and outdoor areas
The Heinabergssvæði area, at the southern perimeter of Vatnajökull National Park, is also a good hiking area and it is breathtaking in it´s own right. Most vehicles can reach the area’s car park by driving a 7.7-km-long gravel path (5 mi) after turning off route no 1 just east of river Kolgríma (5 km/3 mi from Smyrlabjörg). There’s another popular outdoor area close to the icefall Fláajökull a little further east, reachable by a 10-km-long gravel path (6 mi) after turning off route no.1 by Hólmur (15 km/9 mi from Skálafell).
Suðursveit, natural beauty and the tranquil glacial lands
Smyrlabjörg farm is located in the eastern part of the Suðursveit region that includes the black sand beaches by the southern foothills of glacier Vatnajökull, all the way to Jökulsárlón in the west (35 km/22 mi). Nature lovers, outdoor enthusiasts and mountaineers are spoilt for choice here when exploring the alternating grand and cosy landscapes, guarded by the stoic ice cap of Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull. Head to Vagnsstaðir (7 km/4.5 mi) to go on jeep tours. Just on the other side of the road to Vagnsstaðir is farm Lækjarhús where you can find a horse rental.
Hosts: Laufey and Sigurbjörn