Every kind of stay
Not sure where to start? Pick how you want to travel Iceland and we'll show you the stays that fit.
Boutique
Design-led independent stays with character.
Budget & guesthouse
The simplest way to sleep around Iceland is the guesthouse, gistiheimili in Icelandic: a family-run house or farm with a handful of rooms, often a shared bathroom down the corridor and a guest kitchen. Hostels add dorms and private rooms with the same shared facilities. We list 238 of these simple stays across 59 destinations, with an average score of 8.83 out of 10 over 100,491 guest reviews. Vík leads with 18, the obvious overnight stop on the south coast, then Hvammstangi, Höfn and Fellabær, across the Lagarfljót from Egilsstaðir, with 12 each. Read each listing for two things. First the bathroom: 30 of the descriptions say it is shared, and in a farmhouse that can mean one bathroom for several rooms. Then the kitchen: 80 mention a shared or guest kitchen, and that matters more than in most countries, because outside the towns restaurants are rare and close early. I would stock up at a Bónus or Krónan supermarket in the last town before a rural guesthouse and cook in. Breakfast is named in 49 descriptions, often as an extra to order the night before. For hostels, HI Iceland runs a network of 18 across the country, including Loft and Dalur in Reykjavík, with private rooms as well as dorms. The other daily habit worth adopting is the municipal pool, the sundlaug, found in most villages: you shower without a swimsuit before entering, and a soak in the hot pots replaces the bathtub a simple room lacks.
Cabin
A cabin is the most Icelandic way to sleep in Iceland. Icelanders call them sumarbústaðir, summer houses, and many are owned by trade unions that rent them to members, which is why whole clusters of wooden cabins sit on farmland outside Selfoss, Flúðir or Akureyri and are heated and used all year. We list 111 of them across 38 destinations, with an average score of 9.1 out of 10 over 25,662 guest reviews. The East leads, with 8 around Egilsstaðir and 6 in Fellabær across the river, followed by Selfoss and Akureyri with 7 each, then Vík, Hella, Hvolsvöllur and Flúðir with 6. For a romantic or remote cabin, I would look at the East and the North before the Golden Circle, where the cabins stand closer together. The kitchen matters more than the view: 86 of our listings mention one, and outside the towns restaurants are rare and close early, so you will cook most nights. The hot tub is the other reason to book. The heitur pottur is almost standard in Icelandic summer houses, 35 of our descriptions name one, and geothermal water can smell of sulphur, which is normal. Two winter traps catch visitors. Several hosts close their hot tub during the frost months, roughly November to mid-April, or during weather warnings, and many cabins sit at the end of a gravel track where hosts ask for a 4x4 in winter. Read the access notes and the cancellation terms together: a road blocked by snow rarely counts as a reason to cancel.
Coastal
A coastal stay in Iceland is about watching the sea, not swimming in it: the North Atlantic stays cold all year, so choose the coast for what it shows you, whether seals, whales, a harbour or a mountain over a fjord. We list 198 seaside stays across 53 destinations, with an average score of 9.09 out of 10 over 55,153 guest reviews; 83 of their descriptions mention a sea or fjord view and 30 a hot tub. Akureyri leads with 13, on the Eyjafjörður fjord, then Grundarfjörður with 10, Reykjavík and Hvammstangi with 9 each. For a first or last night, Lighthouse-Inn in Garður sits near the Garðskagi lighthouses, about a 10-minute drive from Keflavík airport. On the south coast, Vík's beaches are for looking: at Reynisfjara, yellow and red warning lights at the entrance tell you how close to the water you may go, and sneaker waves reach far up the sand, so never turn your back on the sea. I would put the north ahead for wildlife. Around the Vatnsnes peninsula, a loop of about 90 km on Route 711 from Hvammstangi, seals are easiest to see around low tide, and the Illugastaðir seal-watching area closes in May and June for the eider nesting season; the Icelandic Seal Center in Hvammstangi is the place to start. In Húsavík, whale-watching boats such as Gentle Giants sail daily from April to November. Snæfellsnes suits couples who want a harbour village rather than a beach, with Grundarfjörður at the foot of Kirkjufell and Ólafsvík facing the open bay.
Couples
For a couple, the right stay in Iceland is less about rose petals than about three practical things: a dark sky between late August and April, hot water you do not share with a coach party, and a kitchen or a dinner table within reach, because outside the towns restaurants are rare and close early. We list 514 stays suited to two across 57 destinations, with an average score of 8.94 out of 10 over 240,728 guest reviews. Reykjavík has the most, 36, for couples who want restaurants and bars on foot; Hella and Egilsstaðir follow with 23 each, then Keflavík and Höfn with 22. Of these, 86 descriptions name a hot tub, jacuzzi or hot pot, 32 a sauna and 351 a kitchen. The private hot pool is what I would book first. At Torfhús Retreat, in the Golden Circle countryside near Selfoss, each turf-roofed house has its own basalt stone hot pool and a full kitchen. Nest Retreat's mirror houses stand on the bank of the Rangá about 2 km from Hella, each with a private hot tub, but the last stretch is a gravel track and the hosts ask for a 4x4 in winter. For the aurora from bed, Aurora Igloo North sits about 19 km from Hvammstangi, far from town lights: buy groceries and fuel in Hvammstangi before you drive out. A glass roof only helps under a clear sky, so I would follow the cloud forecast on vedur.is and keep a free evening rather than plan the whole trip around one night. For The Retreat at Blue Lagoon, near Grindavík, read the SafeTravel alerts before you travel: eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula closed the lagoon several times in 2023 and 2024.
Design
Architect-designed, minimalist Nordic interiors.
Family
For a family in Iceland, the number of bedrooms matters more than the star rating, and larger families usually do better in an apartment or cottage with its own kitchen, because outside the towns restaurants are rare and close early. We list 526 family stays across 59 destinations, with an average score of 8.99 out of 10 over 205,159 guest reviews. Reykjavík has the most, 39, then Keflavík with 23, Akureyri with 22, and Höfn, Selfoss and Hella with 20 each. Of these, 133 descriptions mention a family room, 373 a kitchen, 118 a hot tub and 15 a playground. For five or more, I would start with the 44 that mention two or three bedrooms. Plan the car before the beds: in Iceland, children under 135 cm must ride in a car seat, and children under 150 cm may not sit in front of an active airbag, so book the seats with the rental car. In Reykjavík, I would choose a base within reach of Laugardalur, where Laugardalslaug, the city's largest pool with water slides and hot tubs, sits beside the Family Park and Zoo, home to Icelandic farm animals, foxes, reindeer and seals; bus 14 stops at the pool. Outside the capital, the village sundlaug becomes the evening routine. Children learn the rule quickly: everyone showers without a swimsuit before entering the water. In June, the midnight sun keeps the sky light through the night, so check that the room has blackout curtains before booking for young children. At Reynisfjara near Vík, hold children's hands and stay behind the warning lights: sneaker waves come far up the black sand without warning.
Farm stay
Sleeping on a farm is an old Icelandic habit: farmers have rented rooms to travellers in an organised way since the Icelandic Farm Holidays Association was founded in 1980, and its travel agency, renamed Hey Iceland in 2016, is still mostly owned by the farmers. We list 14 farm stays across 13 destinations, with an average score of 9.19 out of 10 over 4,348 guest reviews, from the south coast to the Eastfjords and the Westfjords; only Hvolsvöllur has two. Brunnhóll shows what a good one looks like: a working farm about 6 km from the edge of Fláajökull, an outlet of Vatnajökull, and some 30 km from Höfn, where breakfast uses farm products and the farm makes its own Jöklaís ice cream. In the Eastfjords, Skorrahestar sits on the farm of Skorrastaður, about 7 km from Neskaupstaður, and its hosts run horse rides of one to two hours. Two things catch visitors out. Many farm guesthouses are seasonal: Brunnhóll opens from February to October plus Christmas and New Year, Skorrahestar from April to October, so check the dates before building a winter route around one. And dinner is not a given: only 2 of the 14 descriptions mention a restaurant or an evening meal, while 9 mention a kitchen. I would ask the farm when booking whether dinner is served, and otherwise shop in the last town on the way. A farm stay suits travellers who like early nights, animals and silence; for bars and late dinners, a town hotel will serve you better.
Geothermal
Hot springs, geothermal pools and natural baths at or beside the stay.
Glacier view
Wake up to ice — stays with glaciers and ice caps on the horizon.
Glass igloo
Yes, there are glass igloos in Iceland, but far fewer than the photos suggest, and only one on our list is a true transparent dome: Aurora Igloo North, at Víðihlíð in the north-west, scored 9.3 out of 10 over 98 guest reviews. It sits in open country about 19 km from the village of Hvammstangi, right by the Ring Road between Reykjavík and Akureyri, with a restaurant some 350 m away. Buy groceries and fuel in Hvammstangi before you arrive; the next town with a wider choice is Blönduós, about 39 km further on. The dome sleeps two, which suits a couple breaking the long drive north rather than a family. If you are on the South Coast instead, the nearest alternative we list is a glass cabin in Hvolsvöllur with its own sauna and hot tub, scored 9.9 but over only 10 reviews so far. Timing matters more than the roof. From roughly mid-May to early August the sky never gets dark enough for the aurora, so a summer stay in a glass igloo means midnight light, not northern lights. The season runs from late August to mid-April, and even then cloud decides everything: check the cloud map in the aurora forecast on vedur.is the day before, where white means clear sky. I would book the igloo for a single night inside a flexible winter itinerary, with a warmer room on either side, rather than build the whole trip around one glass roof.
Highlands
Remote interior stays for the summer highland season.
Hiking Basecamp
Well-located lodges serving as a base for Iceland's famous hiking trails.
Luxury
Luxury in Iceland is less about marble lobbies than about privacy: a hot tub nobody else uses, a terrace facing a mountain, a kitchen for the evenings when the nearest restaurant is closed. Of the 25 luxury stays we list across 14 destinations, with an average score of 9.33 out of 10 over 5,427 guest reviews, most are private houses, villas and apartments rather than hotels: 17 mention a kitchen, 11 a hot tub and 4 a sauna. Selfoss leads with 5, all in the Golden Circle countryside, then Akureyri, Keflavík and Reykjavík with 3 each. For full hotel service, the reference is The Retreat at Blue Lagoon, about 60 suites in the Svartsengi lava field near Grindavík, where stays include the Retreat Spa and the Retreat Lagoon; its Moss restaurant received a Michelin star in 2023. Read the SafeTravel alerts first, as eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula closed the lagoon several times in 2023 and 2024. In Reykjavík, Black Pearl Apartment Hotel stands 350 m from the Old Harbour, with heated marble floors and blackout curtains, which matter in June. In the Golden Circle, Kerbyggð rents modern houses and cottages, some with a private hot tub, and The Hill Hotel at Flúðir has ground-level rooms with private patios, a few with their own hot tub. I would split the trip: one or two nights of service at the lagoon, then a villa in the countryside, with the shopping done in town before arriving.
Midnight Sun
Hotels positioned to experience Iceland's magical midnight sun in summer.
Northern Lights
The best place to sleep for the northern lights in Iceland is a stay outside the towns with an open view to the north, used between late August and mid-April, when the nights are dark enough. We list 21 stays picked for the aurora across 16 destinations, averaging 9.1 out of 10 over 11,123 guest reviews. Be wary of the name: several carry the word Aurora, which tells you nothing about the sky above them. What counts is distance from street lights, a north-facing horizon you can walk out to, and a host or front desk that offers to wake you when the lights appear. The rural bases on our list are Hvolsvöllur (3 stays), Selfoss and Vík (2 each), and single stays around Hella, Flúðir, Höfn and Reykjahlíð by Mývatn. Hvammstangi in the north-west has the only glass igloo we list, and Hvolsvöllur a glass cabin with its own sauna and hot tub. Reykjavík is the weakest base: only strong displays break through the city glow, so if you stay there, plan the short drive to the Grótta lighthouse on Seltjarnarnes, which faces north over open sea. Clouds decide more than solar activity. The Icelandic Met Office publishes an aurora forecast on vedur.is with a cloud map, white for clear sky and green for cloud, and an activity scale from 0 to 9 at midnight; the Met Office itself notes that a level of 2 can already be beautiful. I would keep two or three flexible nights in winter and move towards the clear patch rather than book one night under a glass roof and hope.
Pet-friendly
Is Iceland dog-friendly? The stays are, but the border is strict: a dog or cat entering Iceland needs an import permit from MAST, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority, and spends at least 14 days in quarantine, and the same rules apply to a short holiday as to a move. There are two approved quarantine stations, in Reykjanesbær (Hafnir) and near Hella (Mósel); places must be reserved in advance, animals are admitted only during a three-day window roughly every three weeks, and the signed health certificates must reach MAST at least five days before arrival. In practice, these pages serve residents, people on a long stay and travellers who arrive with an animal already through quarantine. We list 135 pet-friendly stays across 53 destinations, with an average score of 8.92 out of 10 over 44,650 guest reviews. Stykkishólmur and Hella lead with 7 each, then Ísafjörður with 6, and Húsavík, Keflavík, Selfoss and Fellabær with 5. Of these, 65 descriptions state outright that pets or dogs are allowed. I would pick a cabin or farmhouse with its own entrance: it suits a dog far better than a hotel corridor, and the Snæfellsnes and Westfjords bases on this list put open walking country close to the door. Keep the lead on around farms: sheep graze unfenced along many rural roads from spring to autumn.
Private hot tub
A cabin or lodge with its own hot tub is the most Icelandic way to end a day on the road: Icelanders call it the heitur pottur, and most of their own summer houses have one. We list 12 stays tagged for a hot tub in 11 destinations, averaging 9.1 out of 10 over 7,005 guest reviews, and I would read the wording carefully before booking. Six of them describe a tub of your own: Ocean Break Cabins in Sandgerði and ÁLka in Njarðvík on the Reykjanes peninsula, close to Keflavík airport for a first or last night; EYVÍK Cottages and Kerbyggð near Selfoss on the Golden Circle, where only some of the Kerbyggð houses have one; Brimnes Bungalows in Ólafsfjörður, facing the mountains of Tröllaskagi; and Langahlid Cottages in Seyðisfjörður. The others share outdoor tubs with the rest of the guests, which is still worth it for the view: Aurora Lodge Hotel near Hvolsvöllur has two looking over the river towards the glaciers, Hotel 1001 Nótt near Egilsstaðir faces Lake Lagarfljót, and Hotel Hamar near Borgarnes sits by an 18-hole golf course. For a log cabin with a hot tub and dark skies, I would pick the East or the North over the Reykjanes stays, which sit nearer the airport lights. Two winter details matter. Some hosts close outdoor tubs during frost or weather warnings, and geothermal water can smell of sulphur, which is normal and harmless.
Puffin Island
Coastal stays close to puffin colonies and seabird cliffs.
Remote & secluded
Off-grid, far-from-anywhere stays for peace and quiet.
Reykjavík base
Central Reykjavík stays, walkable to everything.
Ring Road
Right on Route 1 — easy overnight stops as you circle the island.
Spa & wellness
In Iceland a spa break is built around geothermal water, so the best spa hotel is often the one closest to the right bath rather than the one with the biggest treatment menu. We list 227 stays tagged for spa and wellness in 57 destinations, averaging 9.1 out of 10 over 98,398 guest reviews. Read the descriptions closely: 138 of them mention a hot tub, 50 a sauna, and only 27 an actual spa. Hveragerði, Borgarnes and Selfoss lead with 13 stays each. Hveragerði is the hot-spring town, where Frost and Fire Hotel sits by geothermal springs with an outdoor pool, two hot tubs and a sauna. From Borgarnes, Krauma at Deildartunguhver, fed by Europe's most powerful hot spring, opened at the end of 2016. In the North, Akureyri has 12 stays and Húsavík has GeoSea, a geothermal seawater bath above Skjálfandi bay. In the East, Vök Baths floats in Lake Urriðavatn near Egilsstaðir and opened in 2019. If I had one spa night, I would pick it by the bath first and the room second. One rule applies everywhere, from the village sundlaug to the big lagoons: you shower without a swimsuit before getting in. Icelandic pools use little chlorine and rely on it. The lagoons have private shower stalls, the public pools rarely do. Hot tubs at rural guesthouses are usually outdoors, so a windy evening in winter can make a soak short.
Turf house
Traditional turf-roofed houses, the Icelandic way to sleep.
Waterfall view
Almost nobody in Iceland sleeps with a waterfall outside the window: you sleep in a nearby town and drive out early, before the tour coaches. We list 196 stays within easy reach of a foss, across 18 destinations, with an average score of 9.1 out of 10 over 48,259 guest reviews. On the South Coast, Hvolsvöllur (27 stays) and Hella (24) are the bases for Seljalandsfoss, about twenty minutes from Hvolsvöllur; the path behind the fall closes in winter when ice builds up, and Gljúfrabúi hides in a narrow canyon some 300 m to the north, where you may wade through a shallow stream. For Gullfoss and the Golden Circle I would sleep in Flúðir (18) or around Bláskógabyggð rather than Selfoss. Selfoss (27) suits Urriðafoss instead, a wide, low fall on the Þjórsá about 800 m off Route 1, 19 km east of town. In the East, Egilsstaðir (20) is 30 to 35 km from Hengifoss by Road 931: count on a steady climb of roughly 2.5 km each way, past the basalt columns of Litlanesfoss. In the North, Goðafoss sits on the Ring Road between Akureyri (18) and Mývatn, while Dettifoss, 45 m high on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum, is easiest from Húsavík (16) or Reykjahlíð. Its west road, 862, is asphalted but only gets winter service until the end of December and again from mid-March; the gravel 864 on the east bank has none. Check umferdin.is the evening before.