1

Hi, Brenda, there are several local companies for your needs. Feel free to PM me for more info

2

Unless the translation of that is "we have a tent and sleeping bags", that probably won't help because the mountain hut gets horrendously booked out.

The bus you take from Hella is the same bus, so you get the same length of time there. Unfortunately, this is the deal if you go on a day trip on the bus. You are aware, I hope, that the bus only starts running this year from 15 June, and the first few days of operation cannot be guaranteed if the thaw is slow.

Yes there are mountain taxis and the possibility of arranging private tours, eg through mountainguides.is, and #1 is apparently offering to supply you with further info on such things. But the PM system has been disabled, so it might be better if he offered his further info in public view.

3

Hi there! I'm from Hella myself and will be working in the Mountain Mall in Landmannalaugar this summer, so feel free stop by and say "hi!" ;-)

First, just remember that the road to Landmannalaugar doesn't open until 15th June and stays open until the middle of September, more or less.

As to your question... iviehoff is right - the bus that goes to Landmannalaugar from Hella is the same as the one going from Reykjavík, you just have a shorter bus journey and slightly cheaper ticket taking it from Hella, and you get the same amount of time in Landmannalaugar; 2 hours only. Which is in my opinion ridiculous because Landmannalaugar is too vast and too beautiful just to spend 2 hours there.

You are also not allowed to go there with a normal rented car, it must be a 4x4 because of legal matters. However, it is totally possible to go there via the Hrauneyjar by normal car, but the car rental agencies won't let you - if you return the car with a slight scratch, they will charge you outrageous amount of money for it and there seems to be someone in Landmannalaugar who LIKES scratching "illegal" rental cars there with a key. I suspect the car rental agencies themselves, cause the "legal" 4x4s are not scratched. So be careful if you rent a car to make sure it is allowed to go there.

Another option is to hire a Mountain Taxi in Hella (I recommend this more than mountainguides.is, it's WAY cheaper!) with a local, humble and friendly guy called Jón Pálsson (call his cellphone: +354 862 1864 to request a price for your itinerary). If you decide upon calling Jón, ask him if he can stop in "Ljótipollur" crater lake on the way, as it's stunning!! And it would be a rather long hike from Landmannalaugar but there's a road going all the way to the top of the hill, not to be missed !!!! You may even include a short detour up Hekla Volcano, as it is on the way to Landmannalaugar via Dómadalur Route.

If you want to make a slighly longer trip out of it, you may go to Veiðivötn on a drive-around. It is a fishing spot for Icelanders so foreigners generally don't sleep there, but it's got the most stunning scenic driving route in Iceland, with lava lakes, mountains, deserts, volcanoes and incredible amount of bird life for bird watchers! But bring your mosquito head-net !!