Iceland: The Highland Expedition
Like biking on the moon, but with more gravity.
Highland Base, Kerlingarfjöll
A 54-key lodge set between two glaciers in the heart of the highlands, built by the team behind the Blue Lagoon and holding a Michelin Key. Geothermal baths, a warm restaurant, rooms framing the mountains — all connected underground, so the weather never touches you. The option built for range: arrive by helicopter, then do something different every single day.
Deplar Farm, Troll Peninsula
Thirteen rooms on a remote farm in the north, run all-inclusive with adventure butlers, private guides, a 5,000-square-foot spa, and helipads on the property. Small enough that your group takes the whole place — a luxury lodge turned private home in the wilderness. The option built for intimacy.
Fourteen ways to spend a day
Snowmobiles across the ice cap and a blue ice cave beneath your feet. E-bikes over lava fields to places no vehicle reaches. Buggies to the black sand. The painted hills of Landmannalaugar. Hidden hot springs, Icelandic horses, salmon fly fishing, sea kayaking, whale watching from a private fast boat, the puffin cliffs, a photography day with someone who knows where the light breaks — and a wild-table lunch plated by a private chef, white linen against black rock.
Why it’s remembered
A welcome set to settle and gather, warm layers ready. Icelandic storytellers carrying the island’s lore into the evening. A remote highland barbecue under the midnight sun, the whole group around one table in the middle of nowhere. Every transfer, meal, and moment handled.
One of the most incredible backcountry experiences I have ever had.
The most perfect trip. I can’t think of anything I would improve.
It lived up to my bucket list expectations.
This was a pretty cool, lifetime bucket list experience. The terrain was amazing and surreal, like biking on the moon, but with more gravity. The challenge was just right: very manageable, but pushing some edges. The variety of the journey was incredible, from gale-force winds and glacial river crossings to biking crater lake rims and hiking up lava slopes, all followed by laughing and telling stories in a cozy cabin at dinner.