Accommodation
52 double and triple en-suite rooms, all well furnished and with a TV. Beautiful ocean or mountain views. Easy wheelchair access. Free Wi-Fi in common areas.
Board
The dining area sits between 150 and 200 people. In addition to a breakfast buffet, guests can enjoy an á la carte lunch and a splendid dinner buffet in the summer months. The dinner buffet includes a range of homemade courses, prepared with first-class local ingredients, such as lamb, fish and reindeer. In winter, guests can enjoy the á la carte lunch and dinner service. 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 lagoon Jökulsárlón (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 Hornafjarðarsveit. The hotel is therefore ideally located if you wish to explore this part of the country further. Just above 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 /3,360,633 acres), and its rangers oversee many 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 just by Skálafellsjökull -- the southern tip of icefall Heinabergsjökull. Close to Smyrlabjörg (2 km / 1.2) you can join jeep and snowmobile tours to Skálafellsjökull.
Local hikes and outdoor areas
The Heinabergssvæði area, just by the southern perimeter of Vatnajökull National Park, is also a good hiking area and is breath-taking in its 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 icefall Fláajökull, a little further east, reachable by a 10-km-long gravel path (6 mi) after turning off route no1 by Hólmur (15 km / 9 mi from Skálafell).
Suðursveit, natural beauty and the tranquil glacial lands
Smyrlabjörg are 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 Lækjarhús in Borgarhöfn (7 km / 4.5 mi) to go on various tours like jeep tours, coach tours and mini bus sightseeing tours around the region. From there, you can travel 12 km (7.5 mi) to Hali í Suðursveit, where you can visit a museum about one of Iceland’s most beloved 20th century authors, which is only 14 km / 9 mi from Jökulsárlón.
Hosts: Laufey and Sigurbjörn