Traveling with Kids at Hvítá Trucks: A Family Base in Borgarfjörður
For Iceland family travel in Borgarfjörður, the hardest part is usually keeping kids interested between the long drives. Hvítá Trucks solves half the problem before you even leave the site: the bed is inside a converted expedition truck, parked on the bank of the Hvítá river at Hvítárbakki. Sleeping in a truck is the sort of thing children talk about for months, and it means “going to bed” stops being a fight. The other half is that the surrounding valley is stacked with low-effort outings that reward small legs.
Why the trucks work as a family base
The appeal is the novelty. A truck cabin reads as a fort, a spaceship, or a pirate ship depending on the kid, and the riverside setting gives everyone room to run. Because the location is shared with The Hvítá Inn at Hvítárbakki, you get the same central-Borgarfjörður position without a hotel-corridor feel. One firm caution: the riverbank is open water with no fence. Keep young children within arm’s reach near the edge, and agree a boundary on arrival.
If you need cots, extra beds, or want to check the age policy and how many the trucks sleep, confirm directly when you book rather than assuming. In summer the near-constant daylight is forgiving of a late or scrambled schedule, but that same light makes bedtime hard, so pack eye masks for the children.
Easy wins within a short drive
The best family outings here are the ones that need little planning. Háafell goat farm, roughly 20 minutes away toward Reykholt, opens to visitors in summer (about June to August) with guided visits and a farm shop; getting up close to the kids and goats is an easy hit for younger children. Glanni waterfall, near Bifröst, is a genuine 5-to-10-minute walk on a maintained path from the car park, so it delivers a real waterfall with almost no effort. Víðgelmir, the large lava cave off the Húsafell road, runs family-rated tours of about 1.5 hours on lit, paved walkways with spacious chambers and no crawling, which makes it workable even for cautious kids.
Pools, and a backup for bad weather
Skip the pricey lagoons with children and use the local geothermal pools instead. Kleppjárnsreykir and Varmaland are calmer, cheaper, and closer, with the warm shallow areas kids actually want. If the weather turns, Reykholt and Snorrastofa make a short, dry, low-key culture stop that won’t test anyone’s patience.
- Getting there: Hvítárbakki is about 1.5 hours (roughly 100 km) from Reykjavík via Route 1, then a short turn into Borgarfjörður.
- Distances from base: Háafell goat farm about 20 minutes; Glanni waterfall about 20–25 minutes; Víðgelmir cave about 35 minutes; Reykholt about 15 minutes.
- Durations: Glanni walk 5–10 minutes each way; Víðgelmir tour about 1.5 hours; goat farm 30–60 minutes.
- What to bring: eye masks for bright summer nights, warm layers and sturdy shoes for the cave, swimwear and towels for the pools, and coins or a card for parking and small farm fees.
- When to go: June to August for the goat farm and the longest daylight; book the cave tour ahead in peak weeks.
Where to Stay
Hvítá Trucks puts you in the middle of all of this: a riverside site in central Borgarfjörður that is roughly 20 to 35 minutes from the goat farm, the easy Glanni walk, and the family-friendly cave, so you can do a full outing and be back for a truck-cabin bedtime without a long evening drive. The novelty of the truck itself does the heavy lifting for the kids. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.
Photo: Alexander Grebenkov via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.