Getting to the start
Fly into Keflavik (KEF), get into Reykjavik, then take a highland bus to Landmannalaugar. Two separate companies run that bus and it is worth knowing they are two, because they board in different places and one selling out does not mean the other has. Reykjavik Excursions, now trading as Reykjavik Excursions by Icelandia, boards at the BSI bus terminal and the Reykjavik City Hostel and Campsite. Trex boards at Reykjavik City Hall (Vonarstraeti 4) and the Laugardalur campsite (Sundlaugavegur 32), and calls at Hella. Roughly four hours either way. THIS IS THE DEFINING TRANSPORT FACT FOR THIS TRAIL: the highland bus, and the F208 mountain road it uses, run only for a short summer window. Icelandia's own words are that the Highland Bus operates during the summer months, when Iceland's F-roads are open, and that in a typical year services run from early or mid-June until mid-September, with exact dates varying by weather and road conditions. Trex published a 2026 Landmannalaugar window of 19 June to early September. Outside that roughly ten to twelve week window Landmannalaugar is not thinly served, it is unreachable by road. Two consequences follow from the terrain. The vehicles are not ordinary coaches: Icelandia describes specially equipped Highland Buses designed to handle Iceland's rugged mountain roads, glacial river crossings and challenging terrain, because both approach roads ford unbridged glacial rivers, which is also why a hire car and an ordinary taxi cannot substitute. And because a child car seat cannot be fitted in those vehicles, Icelandia states that children under 135 cm cannot travel on the Highland Bus at all.
Leaving the finish
Skogar sits on Route 1, the paved year-round Ring Road, and that is the key asymmetry with the start. Two ways out. In season, the highland-bus operators serve it: Icelandia runs a Reykjavik to Skogar working aimed at Fimmvorduhals walkers, and Trex sells a Hikers Bus Pass built for exactly this walk, out to Landmannalaugar and back from Skogar or Thorsmork. Out of season, or once the hikers' bus has finished for the year, the scheduled public bus on the Ring Road still runs. Note a change that invalidates most older advice: from 1 January 2026 the old rural routes 51 and 52 were split, and the south-coast corridor is now route 52, Reykjavik to Hofn, which Straeto's own 2026 fare table names Skogar on. Route 51 now runs only Selfoss to Reykjavik and goes nowhere near the trail. Route 52 is not daily either, running about four days a week, so a late finish off the pass can mean a night at Skogar. The provincial buses are owned and operated by Vegagerdin, the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, with Straeto providing the passenger information, so straeto.is is still where the live times are checked.
The one-way journey
This is the sharpest one-way problem of any trail in this set. Landmannalaugar and Skogar are linked only by a road network that is itself seasonally closed in part, and no car-relocation or shuttle-your-car service was found. But the blunt conclusion that the answer is simply not to drive is wrong, because Trex's own FAQ answers the question directly. Asked whether a car can be left at its stops, Trex says yes at the Hella bus stop (Sudurlandsvegur 1, next to the service centre and the Kjarval grocery store), free of charge, yes at the Landhotel Hella car park, and yes at the Lava Centre in Hvolsvollur (Austurvegur 14). The catch is in the operator's own words: Hvolsvollur is only a stop to Thorsmork, and not to Landmannalaugar. So the workable driving plan for a Laugavegur through-hike is to leave the car at Hella, ride out to Landmannalaugar, walk, and ride back from Thorsmork to Hella. Trex publishes no maximum duration for leaving a car, so anything beyond the walk itself is worth confirming with them rather than assuming. Finishing at Skogar breaks that loop, since Skogar is on the wrong road for Hella, and the ordinary answer there is the year-round Ring Road bus back to Hella, Hvolsvollur or Reykjavik. Landmannalaugar's own car parks are priced and run as a day-visitor facility and are not a place to leave a car for a through-hike. The public car park at Skogar is capped at eight hours with no overnight parking, so it is not one either.
If you need to leave the trail early
Thorsmork, roughly 55 km in and served by huts at Basar, Langidalur and Husadalur, is the main mid-route escape, and a better one than the start because both bus companies serve it and Trex reaches it from a second direction through Hvolsvollur. The F249 road in fords the Krossa and follows the same open and closed seasonal pattern as F208, so there is no scheduled year-round vehicle access there either. Below Thorsmork, anyone continuing over Fimmvorduhals is committed with no vehicle access at all until Skogar. There is no casual call-a-taxi option anywhere on the route: Ferdafelag Islands states plainly that phone coverage is unstable along the trail, and the nearest transfer operators are Ring Road businesses whose vehicles do not ford glacial rivers. One nuance worth having straight. Midgard Adventure in Hvolsvollur markets a Thorsmork super-jeep day tour as running all year, alongside seasonal Landmannalaugar and Fjallabak tours. That is a guided day tour in a specialist vehicle, not a pickup service, so it shows the road is sometimes passable in the right vehicle rather than giving a walker a way off the hill. Treat private super-jeep access as something to negotiate in advance, never as a fallback to be summoned.
Useful access hubs
AirportKeflavik International Airport
Flybus and similar airport-transfer operators run to the BSI bus terminal in Reykjavik in roughly 45 minutes. BSI is where the Reykjavik Excursions by Icelandia highland bus leaves from. The Trex highland bus leaves instead from Reykjavik City Hall (Vonarstraeti 4) or the Laugardalur campsite (Sundlaugavegur 32), so check which company you booked before choosing a first night's bed. Self-service luggage lockers are available at the airport as well as at BSI.
Year-round. The airport and the transfer into Reykjavik are unaffected by the highland season that governs everything beyond it.CoachBSI Bus Terminal, Reykjavik
Departure point for the Reykjavik Excursions by Icelandia Highland Bus to Landmannalaugar, Thorsmork and Skogar, and one of the places that operator's baggage transfer to Thorsmork is paid for before departure. Self-service luggage lockers on site, listed as open 24 hours.
The terminal runs year-round. The highland buses out of it are strictly seasonal, see bus network.CoachReykjavik City Hall and Laugardalur campsite (Trex boarding points)
Trex's highland buses board at Reykjavik City Hall, Vonarstraeti 4, and at the Laugardalur campsite, Sundlaugavegur 32, not at BSI. Worth knowing, because turning up at BSI expecting a Trex bus costs a day: there is about one working out to each trailhead per day and no second chance.
Seasonal only, matching the Trex highland-bus window, see bus network.CoachHella
The Trex Landmannalaugar and Thorsmork buses call at the Kjorbudin supermarket stop (Sudurlandsvegur 1) and at Landhotel Hella, and Icelandia's baggage transfer to Thorsmork can also be paid for at Hella. Hella is also on the year-round Ring Road bus, route 52. This is the practical hub for anyone driving to the trail, because Trex's own FAQ says a car may be left at the Hella bus stop free of charge.
The highland bus connection is seasonal. The Ring Road bus through Hella is year-round.CoachHvolsvollur
Trex's Thorsmork route calls here, and Icelandia's baggage transfer to Thorsmork can be paid for here too. Two operator-direct pages name the Hvolsvollur point differently: the route pages list the N1 service station as the stop, while the FAQ names the Lava Centre (Austurvegur 14) as the place a car may be left. Both are recorded rather than reconciled, and the walking distance between them is small. Trex is explicit that Hvolsvollur is a stop for Thorsmork and not for Landmannalaugar, which matters if you were thinking of leaving a car here for a walk that starts at Landmannalaugar, although its own Landmannalaugar route page confusingly lists a Hvolsvollur N1 stop as well. Ask when booking rather than assuming. Hvolsvollur is also on the year-round route 52 and is the base town of the local transfer operators, see taxis.
The highland bus connection is seasonal. The Ring Road bus through Hvolsvollur is year-round.CoachLandmannalaugar
The trail start itself, reached by the seasonal highland bus from Reykjavik and Hella, by a private 4x4 or super-jeep transfer, or by self-driving the F208 mountain road in a proper 4x4. All three depend on F208 being open, and all three involve fording unbridged glacial rivers, which is why the scheduled service uses specially equipped highland buses rather than coaches. There is no scheduled public transport here outside the summer window, and Trex notes that Landmannalaugar does not store packages.
Reachable only when F208 is open and the highland bus is running. For 2026 Trex published a Landmannalaugar window of 19 June to early September, its own two pages differing by a couple of days on the end date. Icelandia describes its season more loosely as early or mid-June to mid-September in a typical year, with exact dates varying by weather and road conditions. F208 itself opens only when Vegagerdin declares it safe, typically mid to late June, and closes with the first serious highland snowfall, most often in the second half of September. Vegagerdin publishes live road and mountain-road status at umferdin.is.CoachThorsmork (Basar, Langidalur, Husadalur)
The natural finish for a Laugavegur-only walk and the main bail-out point for the full route. Served by both highland-bus operators, Icelandia offering baggage delivery to Husadalur, Langidalur or Basar, Trex serving Basar and Langidalur only. The road in is F249, which fords the Krossa. The huts sit on different sides of that river, so match the hut you book to the stop your operator actually serves.
Trex published a 2026 Thorsmork window of 19 June to 6 September on the route page, with its own tours index giving a start a couple of days later. Icelandia's Thorsmork service follows the same early-June to mid-September highland pattern. No scheduled year-round access exists.CoachSkogar
Skogar sits directly on Route 1, so it has two ways out where Landmannalaugar has one. In season, Icelandia runs a Reykjavik to Skogar highland bus and Trex's Hikers Bus Pass covers the return leg. All year, the scheduled Ring Road bus calls here: this is route 52 (Reykjavik to Hofn) since the rural routes were renumbered on 1 January 2026, not route 51. Straeto's own 2026 fare table names Skogar as a stop on 52.
Year-round via route 52 on the Ring Road, though at about four days a week rather than daily. The dedicated hikers' bus back to Reykjavik is seasonal only. Sources and research notes · 23 sources
- trex.isTrex boarding points (Reykjavik City Hall, Laugardalur campsite, Hella Kjorbudin, Landhotel Hella, Hvolsvollur N1), the 19 June to 6 September 2026 window, and the statement that Landmannalaugar do not offer storage of packages; also, on an earlier fetch, bus network Highland Bus 2026 season dates (operator's own, preferred over a conflicting secondary source), departure times, one-way price, F208 closure framingChecked 31 Jul 2026
- trex.isbus network Hikers' Bus Pass route/pickup pointsChecked 29 Jul 2026
- fi.isaccessibility, bailing out (unstable phone coverage), hut booking direction (Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork only), hut season; also, on an earlier fetch, accessibility and the unstable phone coverage that underpins the no-taxi findingChecked 29 Jul 2026
- southadventure.isSouthcoast Adventure hut coverage (Alftavatn, Emstrur, Thorsmork at Langidalur or Husadalur), the mid-June to mid-September season, bag and labelling requirements, the handover sequence starting at Hella, contact details, and the absence of any published rate; also, on an earlier fetch, luggage transfer coverage (Alftavatn/Emstrur/Thorsmork only), season, drop-off procedure, contactChecked 31 Jul 2026
- laugavegurtrailguide.comluggage transfer checked-negative confirmation for Fimmvorduhals/huts not covered, luggage transfer Reykjavik Excursions/Trex limited coverage, pricing band (flagged as 2024-dated); also, on an earlier fetch, secondary, 2024-dated indicative luggage transfer figures, and corroboration of the checked negative that nothing serves FimmvorduhalsChecked 29 Jul 2026
- landmannalaugar.orgparking Landmannalaugar P1/P2 day-use fee structure, 2026 reservation window, day-visitor framing; also, on an earlier fetch, Landmannalaugar P1 and P2 day-use fee band, the 2026 reservation requirement via parka.is, and the day-visitor framingChecked 29 Jul 2026
- whattodo.isgetting to start F208/F249 typical opening window, Vegagerdin as the authority, caution against relying on 'typical' datesChecked 29 Jul 2026
- iceland-highlights.combus network Highland Bus alternate/conflicting season claim (13 June-20 September), recorded as a disagreement rather than used as the primary figureChecked 29 Jul 2026
- guidetoiceland.isaccess hubs BSI Reykjavik coordinatesChecked 29 Jul 2026
- icelandia.comReykjavik Excursions by Icelandia as a distinct operator, its season in the operator's own words, the three highland destinations, the specially equipped river-fording vehicles, the under-135 cm rule, and the Thorsmork baggage transfer terms and per-item rateChecked 31 Jul 2026
- icelandia.comBSI and Reykjavik City Hostel and Campsite as the Icelandia boarding points, and the absence of any Landmannalaugar baggage-transfer offer on the operator's own pageChecked 31 Jul 2026
- icelandia.comthat Icelandia runs a Reykjavik to Skogar highland bus aimed at Fimmvorduhals walkers, its summer-only season, and that its baggage transfer does not extend to SkogarChecked 31 Jul 2026
- trex.isTrex 2026 season windows for Landmannalaugar and Thorsmork, the Hikers Bus Pass and its June to September window, and the fare bandChecked 31 Jul 2026
- trex.isTrex Thorsmork stops (Hella Kjorbudin, Hvolsvollur N1, Basar, Langidalur), the 19 June to 6 September 2026 window, package transport included in the ticket price, and Husadalur not being servedChecked 31 Jul 2026
- trex.isthe parking answers for Hella, Landhotel Hella and the Hvolsvollur Lava Centre, the Hvolsvollur-is-Thorsmork-only caveat, and the 24-hour booking leadChecked 31 Jul 2026
- straeto.isthe 1 January 2026 split of routes 51 and 52, route 52 becoming the Reykjavik to Hofn south-coast route, its four-days-a-week frequency, and Vegagerdin owning and operating the provincial buses with Straeto providing passenger informationChecked 31 Jul 2026
- straeto.isSkogar as a named stop on route 52, the stop order along the south coast, and the Reykjavik to Skogar adult single fare bandChecked 31 Jul 2026
- skogafoss.orgthe Skogar car park fee, the eight-hour limit and no-overnight rule, and the absence of any hiker long-stay provisionChecked 31 Jul 2026
- luggagelockers.isself-service luggage lockers at the BSI bus terminal and Keflavik airport, both listed as open 24 hours, with the price floor per 24 hoursChecked 31 Jul 2026
- sits.isSouth Iceland Transfer Services as a Hvolsvollur-based transfer operator serving Skogar, with direct phone, email and address, and the absence of any F-road claimChecked 31 Jul 2026