Accommodation
The accommodation is in two houses on the farm. In the older house (built in the middle of the last century) are single and double / twin rooms, all with sinks and shared bathrooms. The older house also has a little kitchen that is exclusively for guests. The newer house has double / twin, three-person and family rooms with en-suite bathrooms, a dining area and a living room. There’s also a porch with views over the countryside and to the mountains.
Board
A generous breakfast buffet with an emphasis on homemade fare including 8-12 types of jam and marmalade, all made at Hjarðarból (these are also sold at the reception). Other meals are available if ordered in advance. There’s good selection of supermarkets and restaurants in the countryside and also in Selfoss (5 km / 3 mi) and Hveragerði (6 km / 3.7 mi).
Service and recreation
There are many hiking trails around the valleys and mountains overlooking the greenhouse town of Hveragerði. Iceland Activities in Hveragerði offers scheduled guided hiking tours as well as bike and surfboard rental. Horse riding tours at Sólhestar (1 km / 0.6 mi) and Eldhestar (5 km / 3 mi). In Stokkseyri (20 km / 12 mi) you can go kayaking or visit the Icelandic Wonders Museum, which has exhibitions about elves, trolls and the northern lights. Geothermal Park (Hveragarðurinn) in Hveragerði (5 km / 3 mi). Nine-hole golf courses by Selfoss and Hveragerði. Good geothermal pools in Hveragerði (Laugaskarð) and in Selfoss. The nearest towns with shops, supermarkets, restaurants and various other services are Selfoss (5 km / 3 mi) and Hveragerði (6 km / 3.7 mi). It is 40 km / 25 mi to the capital area from Hjarðarból.
Hveragerði, the greenhouse town and natural hot pools
Set amidst steaming hotsprings, Hveragerði is a place like no other. The town was actually established when people started using the area's geothermal energy to farm vegetables and flowers, and greenhouse cultivation remains the town’s main industry. This fertile region is also home to the Agricultural University of Iceland.
At the outskirts of the town is Reykjadalur valley, a popular hiking and recreational area known for its hot springs, grassy dells and colourful ravines, and where geothermal waters combine with pure mountain streams to form natural hot pools. Relaxing here, in unspoiled nature, is an unforgettable experience.
Geysir, Gullfoss and Þjórsárdalur
You can see all of South Iceland’s most famous attractions on day tours from Hjarðarból. Inland, where Mt. Hekla volcano dominates its surroundings, are world-renowned places such as the geothermal area around Geysir (66 km / 41 mi), where the Strokkur geyser erupts at 10-15 minute intervals, and Gullfoss (76 km / 47 mi), Iceland’s most beautiful waterfall. A lovely hiking and recreational area, Þjórsárdalur valley, is just by the foothills of Hekla at the southern edge of the central highlands (70 km / 43 mi), where you can visit the Reconstructed Farm (Þjóðveldisbærinn), a reconstruction of a typical dwelling from around the year 1100.
Þingvellir National Park and the Blue Lagoon
Þingvellir National Park (38 km / 24 mi) is a spectacular location, a natural structure like no other and one of the places in Iceland where it’s possible to see the division between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which drift apart at a rate of about 2 cm / 1 in per year. Þingvellir is a sacred historical area to Icelanders, as it was here that the ancient Alþingi (or ‘Althing’, the Icelandic parliament) was established in the year 930 and where the Republic of Iceland was founded in 1944. West of Hveragerði is a good road along the south coast of the Reykjanes peninsula (route no 427). The journey to the Blue Lagoon from Hjarðarból is about 81 km / 50 mi, and it’s around 110 km / mi to Keflavík International Airport.
Hosts: Helga