The valley of Þórsmörk (commonly spelled Thórsmörk) is a beautiful piece of land in the south of Iceland, made up of a huge and wide black lava field through which the river Krossa flows and many jagged ravines or rocks.

Þórsmörk is sandwiched between three glaciers - Mýrdalsjökull, Eyjafjallajökull and Tindfjallajökull, which creates a unique microclimate. The temperature in the valley is several degrees warmer than in the surrounding area because it is protected from the weather by the glaciers.

As a result, the main valley of Thórsmörk and the surrounding gorges are covered with many species of mosses and ferns, which, combined with the volcanic rocks, create a magical black-green combination.

The area is named after the Norse god Thor.

Hiking

In the Thórsmörk valley, you can go on an approximately 8km hike that takes you to the foot of the Tindfjöll glacier. You can shorten the route with a smaller circuit with a relatively small elevation gain.

Another trek takes you to the other side of the valley along the ridge that offers the best views, but there are plenty of shorter routes in the valley and you can have fun on easy circuits of up to 2 hours or challenging day glacier hikes.

One of the most famous long-distance trails also leads from Þórsmörk Laugavegur to the Landmannalaugar nature reserve. A map and full description of the 55 km long trail can be found on the Icelandic Tourist Board's website: fi.is/trails/laugavegur.

Accommodation

At the bottom of the valley you can stay in a beautiful country guesthouse Volcano Huts Þórsmörk with prices starting from 110 eur per night in rooms with bunk beds, or from 154 eur for a whole hut for 5 people.

How to get there?

Thórsmörk is about 140 km east of Reykjavík (route map: en.mapy.cz), but the last 20 km or so is on a dirt road with several fords that is only passable by off-road vehicles, and then only from June to September.

If you don't want to rent a car, you can also use tourist buses from Reykjavik or Hella. Return tickets are priced around 14 500 isk and you can use companies such as Reykjavík Excursions or Trex.