Hiking in Hornstrandir: A Guest’s First-Hand Expedition Review

Honestly, hiking in Hornstrandir wasn’t even on my radar.

I’ve always loved trekking, and I was looking for an expedition that was totally different. The second I saw this expedition combined hiking and sailing in a place that I’d never heard of, I was sold. I loved the idea of being able to move from anchorage to anchorage, waking up somewhere new every day, having a comfy bed to return to at night.

Iceland in general completely blew me away. I’ve travelled a lot, and this landscape is on another level. I don’t even know how to explain it, you just have to see it for yourself.
I was introduced to Amarok Adventures through a friend, and that referral is what got me looking in the first place. But what really sealed the deal was finding out how small the operation actually was.

Before this trip, I’d spent a lot of time searching for treks online, and every company’s website reads the same. “Small groups, unique experience, authentic adventure”, all the buzzwords you’d expect, but you have no idea who you’re actually booking with. I’d been burned by that before, showing up to a trip that was marketed as intimate and personal and realizing it was really just a big third-party operation running the same itinerary for hundreds of people a season.

Amarok Adventures is really just Albert and Monica designing and running expeditions in some of the more remote corners of the planet. With the exception of some marketing, logistics, and relief guide staff, it’s Albert and Monica running the show. When a company is that small, you know exactly who you’re supporting and exactly what you’re signing up for. I didn’t even read a review before I booked. I just trusted the referral, the small brand, and went.

Looking back on the 8-days we spent exploring and hiking in Hornstrandir together, I don’t think of Albert and Monica as just the people who run these trips anymore. At this point, I’d call them my friends.

Stepping onto the expedition sailboat, Byr, for the first time, I knew this trip was going to be epic. Siggi ran a tight ship but was an amazing captain, and it showed in every detail, from how smooth the anchorage moves were to how well the whole crew worked together. 

What struck me most about Byr itself was how much character she had. She’s been sailing the North Sea for over thirty years, and you can feel that history the second you’re on board. Worn wooden decks, sails you have to haul up by hand with the crew instead of pushing a button, nothing about Byr resembles some sleek modern charter boat, but that’s exactly what made her feel so unique. Every inch of her tells you this is a serious, highly seaworthy sailboat, built for this exact kind of expedition.

And then there was Annukka. She was fantastic. I loved when she taught us to sail later in the trip. Anyone who wanted to learn got pulled in, trimming sails, working the lines, even taking a turn at the helm. Her two kids were on board for the journey as well, who we all ended up befriending. We’d play chess in the saloon sometimes, and they even joined us on some of the day hikes. It didn’t really feel like a tour. It felt like we were all being folded into a week-long sailing expedition with someone’s family.

I was hooked on this concept of trekking and sailing before the trip even ended. I booked the back-to-back Svalbard and Northern Norway trekking and sailing expeditions before I even flew home.

Hiking in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The scenery shifts constantly, one day you’re strapping on mini crampons for hiking across ice and snow patches that haven’t yet melted over the terrain, the next you’re meandering along soft green slopes, the next across mossy marshlands in the valley below, and some stretches ran right along dramatic, exposed drop-offs with the ocean far below. We lucked out on the Hornstrandir weather conditions and had sun almost every day, which I’m told isn’t the norm out there. As I always say, it never hurts to manifest good weather! We spotted lots of seabirds and Arctic foxes more than once. Seeing Arctic foxes in Hornstrandir, in that kind of untouched, remote terrain, made it feel even more special.

You didn’t have to carry a heavy pack the whole trek because we could leave most of our belongings on the boat. We’d pack our lunches and water and set out for the day, no clothing or camp gear weighing us down.

Not knowing what a day’s hike would bring became one of my favourite parts of the trip. The guides give a solid debrief each morning on the distance, terrain, and what to expect, but there’s still an element of discovery once you’re out there. At home, I sometimes gravitate towards repeating the same hikes because I know exactly what I’m getting into, so this was a real change of pace.

The days were genuinely long. Some ran ten or eleven hours, and near the end we covered close to 25 kilometres in a single push. I trained hard beforehand, probably harder than I needed to, but it paid off for me. I could actually take in where I was instead of just grinding through each day physically exhausted.

I’d never even heard of the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve before this trip, and it turned out to be one of the most epic, off-the-beaten-path hiking expeditions I’ve ever done so far. Nothing about it resembled anywhere I’d been before. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.

On the first day, I was worried I wasn’t going to get enough protein doing that much hiking, and that I’d be eating food that I wasn’t used to. So I asked if I could get a couple hard boiled eggs the next morning, and the crew just made it happen. After day one, I stopped worrying about food entirely.

Breakfasts were awesome. Skyr, yogurt, good bread, all of it. Funnily enough, I’d cut bread out of my diet a few months before this trip, but that streak didn’t survive breakfast on day one. Freshly baked bread every morning made sure of that.

Lunches were ours to pack each morning before heading out, so you could load up on exactly what you needed for the day ahead. Dinners were the real highlight though, fish soup a couple of nights, and a lamb roast at one point that was some of the best I’ve had.

Considering we were dining on a sailboat in what felt like the middle of nowhere, the food was restaurant quality.

I booked the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve trek solo, and it turned out almost everyone else on board had too, which surprised me. There was only one couple in the whole group. A few other guests were married but travelling without their partner, since not everyone’s other half wants to sign up for eleven-hour hiking days. Everyone came from completely different backgrounds and places, but everyone ended up close by day two.

If you’re on the fence about doing this trek alone, don’t let that stop you. Some of my favourite moments from the whole trip came from the people I met on board, not just the hiking and scenery.

My one piece of practical advice to anyone considering booking this hiking expedition is to spend the money on proper waterproof hiking boots and outerwear. The ground out there holds water everywhere. It’s not only the stream crossings, the terrain itself is just soaked. I saw people with older boots really regretting it by the end of the week. 

We also got a heads up before the trip that snow was possible, but luckily we encountered abnormally sunny weather for our whole trek. That being said, if you’re already taking the time and energy to join a multi-day expedition like this, having quality gear makes a real difference out there.

Train beforehand too. I put in more work than I probably needed to before this trip, but it meant I got to actually enjoy the long days instead of just surviving them. When you factor in the Iceland hiking difficulty level, the varied terrain, the longer distance, the hours on your feet, being physically prepared is what lets you look around rather than just keep moving.

If anyone’s on the fence about the sailboat part specifically, I’d tell them there’s zero pressure in that department. Nobody makes you sail if you don’t want to. But Annika will teach you if you’re curious, and it’s definitely worth trying!

For those who want to experience Hornstrandir boat access, genuine wilderness, arctic fox sightings in untouched terrain, and the rare experience of returning to a characterful sailboat at the end of every long day in the field — this expedition delivers something genuinely hard to find anywhere else in the world.

Anyone considering hiking in Hornstrandir should expect full hiking days of six to ten hours, covering distances of approximately 15km / 9 mi (and up to 25km), and terrain that ranges from snowfields and ice patches to soft green ridges and waterlogged marshland. This is genuine Iceland remote hiking, and the difficulty level is tailored for individuals who are in good physical condition and feel comfortable hiking on uneven terrain, from snowfields to marshland while carrying a daypack. 

This is the perfect expedition for those who are at ease sailing and living aboard an expedition sailboat, however, no sailing experience is required.

See our Hiking & Sailing Hornstrandir adventure to learn more about this expedition.