✦ HESTHEIMAR
Eight cottages, two hot tubs, and a very big sky.
Hestheimar sits on the flat farmland north-west of Hella, a couple of minutes off the Ring Road and far enough from the village that nothing puts a glow in the sky. Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull sit on the skyline, the horses wander the fields, and the cottages have their own doors to step out of at two in the morning.
Check dates on Booking.comSelf-drive · No sighting guarantee · Booked through Booking.com
Fabulous — across 1,143 guest reviews on Booking.com
- 9.4 Staff
- 9.2 Location
- 9.1 Comfort
- 9.0 Cleanliness
The guesthouse
Hestheimar is a family-run place rather than a hotel: eight separate cottages spread across the slope, plus rooms in the main building. It was picked for National Geographic's 100 Hotels of a Lifetime, which for somewhere this small says most of what needs saying. Breakfast and dinner are both available with a reservation, and the whole property runs on geothermal heat piped from Kaldárholt, 15 km away.
- Eight cottages · each self-contained, with its own entrance
- Rooms in the main building · including rooms with a private bathroom
- Two hot tubs · bookable for a fee, with a bathrobe, changing room and shower
- Breakfast and dinner · both by reservation
- Family-friendly · cribs, toys, board games and puzzles; free parking
What makes this a good place to wait
The plains around Hella are flat in every direction. That is unremarkable in daylight and the whole point after dark: nothing blocks the northern horizon, which is where the lights show first.
Hestheimar does not run a wake-up call or a sky camera, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What it has is the two things you cannot install later — a genuinely dark site with an open horizon, and your own front door to step out of. A cottage means you can check the sky at 01:00 without walking through a lobby, and two hot tubs on the property mean the waiting is not purely an endurance exercise.
The part we add is the hours before it: live scores for the spots around Hella, refreshed every five minutes, so you can decide over dinner whether tonight is worth driving for or worth staying in for. You drive, you decide, you watch the sky.
Where to point the car
On a decent night you will not need to go anywhere — the fields behind the cottages are already dark. These are the places we would try, in order, if you want something in the foreground.
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The fields behind the cottages 0 minutes
Walk past the last cottage and turn your back to the buildings. The farmland runs flat to the north with nothing on it, which is the whole reason this works. Give your eyes twenty minutes and do not look at your phone.
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Hella and the Ytri-Rangá 10 km south-east
The river gives you water to catch a reflection, and the bridge area is easy to reach in the dark. Keep away from the village lighting itself — the point is the foreground, not the town.
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Towards Hekla on Route 26 drive north
Route 26 runs north from the Ring Road into progressively emptier country with the volcano ahead of you. Pull off only where there is a proper lay-by, and do not take the F-roads that branch off it in winter.
Check road.is before every trip, and if it looks wrong, turn around — the fields behind the cottages are always there.
What you get
What you are paying for
- A cottage or a room — booked through Booking.com, on the property's terms
- The hot tubs — charged separately by the guesthouse, not by us
Free for everyone, guest or not
- The Aurora Iceland app — free, no account needed
- Live scores for the spots around Hella — refreshed every 5 minutes
- A recommended self-drive route — the list above, and where to start
Anyone can download the app, guest or not. It is not an extra you are paying for here, and it is not a guided service. You drive, you decide, you watch the sky.
Check dates
Hestheimar is listed on Booking.com, where you will find live availability, current prices and their cancellation terms.
Check dates on Booking.comWe earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which stays we list or how the spots around them are scored.
Questions
When is aurora season?
A usable window opens around 16 August and runs to late April — whenever the nights are properly dark. The genuinely dark stretch, with the sun a full 18° below the horizon, is 2 September to 8 April; either side of that you get nautical twilight, which shows a bright display but hides a faint one. Midsummer is too bright to see anything, however active the sun is.
How far is it from Reykjavík?
Roughly 75 km in a straight line, east on Route 1. The turn is onto Route 281 shortly before Hella, and the farm road is a couple of minutes more — about two kilometres in all off the Ring Road.
Does the guesthouse wake you up for the lights?
No. Hestheimar does not run a wake-up call or a sky camera — some of the other stays we list do, and this one does not. The app is what tells you when to look, and a cottage with its own door is what makes checking easy.
Do I need a car?
Yes. There is no public transport to the door, and the spots worth reaching are spread across the plains. In winter, check road.is before you set off anywhere.
Will someone take me out to see the lights?
No — this is a self-drive stay, not a tour. You get the cottage, and the app tells you when and where conditions look good. Where you go is your call.
Is it dark enough this close to the Ring Road?
Yes. It is about two kilometres off Route 1 and roughly 10 km from Hella, with open farmland in between and no settlement on the northern horizon. Passing headlights on Route 1 are the only real light source, and they are behind you once you walk past the cottages.
How many nights should I book?
More than one, if you can. The weather gets more chances to cooperate, and there is no way to schedule a clear sky in advance.
Get the forecast first
Free. 137 spots across Iceland, scored every 5 minutes. No account needed.