Multi-day horseback tours Iceland
If your idea of Iceland on horseback is a quiet farm lane and a quick photo stop, it’s time to widen the lens. The island opens up in layers when you ride it the way Icelanders always have, moving with a free-running herd, changing mounts to keep a lively pace, and following ancient tracks that cross canyons, rivers, and high black-sand plateaus. This summer, two new multi-day journeys invite confident riders to experience that deeper Iceland: Canyons & Hidden Waterfalls and Sprengisandur – Echoes of the Past. Each tour stands on its own, yet together they show the full character of the highlands, from sculpted lava country to the stark interior that sits between glaciers.
Iceland horseback riding tours
Let’s start with the canyons, because they’re the kind of landscapes that don’t give themselves away to casual travelers. Iceland hides a network of gorges and secret falls that you feel more than you see at first, the hush of a narrow valley, a cool breath rising from a river far below, the sudden appearance of water vaulting out of a cleft in the basalt. On Canyons & Hidden Waterfalls, your Icelandic horse threads these spaces with the confidence of a creature born to them. Sure footed and eager, he settles into an easy tölt on the open stretches and picks his way calmly when the track narrows. The rhythm of the day becomes simple and deeply satisfying: ride out with the herd, watch the scenery widen and contract like a set of lungs, stop for lunch with long views in every direction, and carry on to a cozy mountain hut where cozy dinner awaits. You’ll pass through broad, picture-perfect valleys and across ancient lava formations that look like time paused in mid-flow, following routes few visitors ever find. The waterfalls themselves are the kind you remember not because you’ve seen them a hundred times on social media, but because you had to earn them, by saddle time, by patience, by the quiet partnership with a horse who carried you there.
Everything about this tour is designed to make the most of Iceland’s highland riding season. The days are long, the air crisp, and the footing ranges from soft tracks to volcanic grit, which means there’s room for real, sustained riding. Guides are farmers who know these horses as individuals, they breed and train them themselves, so mounts are matched thoughtfully and the pace flows. You’ll cover enough distance to feel you’ve crossed a piece of the map, yet never so much that you lose the joy of looking around. For riders searching phrases like “Iceland horseback riding highlands,” “hidden waterfalls Iceland horse tour,” or “Icelandic horses tölt tour,” this is the ride that turns research into memories.
If the canyon tour is all about intimate discovery, Sprengisandur – Echoes of the Past is its heroic counterpoint. The name alone carries weight in Icelandic riding culture. Sprengisandur is the legendary interior route that cuts between the glaciers of Hofsjökull and Vatnajökull, a sweep of black sand and wild sky where travelers used to “sprengja” push on hard, to beat the weather and whatever the old tales said lived out there. Crossing it by horse is less a sightseeing trip than a rite of passage. The terrain is wide-open and elemental, the horizon runs unbroken for miles. For experienced riders, though, that’s exactly the appeal. You feel the horse gather beneath you and move out across the sand with purpose. You feel the history in your shoulders and the kindness of a warm hut at night.
The Sprengisandur tour strings together days that are big enough to be meaningful and varied enough to be absorbing. One morning you’ll leave the soft greens of the lowlands and enter country where color is reduced to strong strokes, coal-dark plateaus, white ice caps, a blue wedge of lake or river. Another afternoon you’ll crest a rise and see nothing man-made at all, just the lines of the land and the weather playing over it. When hot springs appear, the contrast is delicious: a soak under high, clear air after hours in the saddle is one of those Iceland moments that never leaves you. And because you’re traveling with a herd of horses, the horses stay fresh and the momentum stays honest. This is an advanced ride, the kind you search for when you type “Iceland highlands long-distance ride,” or “multi-day Icelandic horse adventure” and hope the results are real. This one is.
Both tours share the essentials that make riding in Iceland different. The tölt, that signature extra gait, lets you cover ground smoothly and efficiently; it’s easy to love on a long day. The horses themselves are as steady as they are spirited, quick to step out, quick to settle, and endlessly sure-footed on mixed terrain. The style of travel is authentic: you ride with working horsemen and women, you sleep in traditional highland huts, and you eat the kind of food that tastes best when you’ve earned it by the mile. Evenings are social without being forced; mornings begin with a bridle, not a bus timetable. It’s a rhythm that suits riders who want to feel the country as much as see it.
Choosing between the two depends on what you want out of your time in the saddle. If your dream is to discover places most visitors miss, tight river gorges, remote waterfalls, quiet valleys where the only sound is hoofbeats, then Canyons & Hidden Waterfalls is your match. If you’ve been waiting for a true crossing, a route with legend in its bones and distance under its hooves, then Sprengisandur – Echoes of the Past is the story you’ll tell for years.
From a practical point of view, these are summer highland rides, which means long daylight, stable conditions, and the freedom to range far from the crowds. The guiding teams prioritize safety without slowing the spirit of the day, and the horse matching is a point of pride, when mounts are bred and trained by the same families who lead the tours, the partnership shows. Bring your curiosity, and be ready for real saddle time at walk, tölt, and canter where the ground allows. You’ll return with the looseness that comes from hours of moving well, a camera full of landscapes that rarely make it to most travelers, and a new respect for a breed that carries the country’s history in every stride.
If you’ve been searching for Iceland horseback riding in the highlands, for multi-day tours with Icelandic horses, for routes that feel truly off the beaten path, these new itineraries were made with you in mind. Whether you choose the hidden canyons or the legendary crossing, you’ll ride the real Iceland—wide, wild, and wonderfully alive beneath your horse’s hooves.
