Hotel Glymur, Where It Actually Is and What a Night There Is Like

Hotel Glymur Review: a Night at the Head of Hvalfjörður

Rain hits the window of the upstairs lounge as a container ship moves across the dark water. You are forty five minutes from Reykjavík by car, but the city feels like a different country. Hotel Glymur sits at the head of Hvalfjörður, a deep steep sided fjord that most visitors never see because the undersea tunnel cuts straight through. That isolation is the point. It is also the catch. Decide before you book whether a night here is a deliberate slow travel reward or a logistical mistake.

Hotel Glymur Review: Who This Stay is for and Who Should Book Something Else

This is a countryside hotel with twenty two rooms, no televisions in those rooms, and two outdoor hot tubs that face the fjord. The on site restaurant serves dinner with the water visible through the windows. There is no village, no fuel station, no grocery store, and no café along Route 47. Bring everything you need for the evening and the morning. The tradeoff is access to the Glymur trailhead in Botnsdalur, a quiet fjord that stays empty even in summer, and the chance to see the northern lights if the clouds clear.

Book It Or Skip It

Book this property if you have a car, want a base for west Iceland, and do not mind that your only dinner option is the one restaurant. Skip it if you are on a tight Golden Circle day itinerary, need evening choices beyond the hotel menu, or do not have a vehicle.

One point of housekeeping, because you may have arrived here by typing an old address. This page is isnet.is, an independent guide to Iceland. It is not the hotel and has no connection to it. Hótel Glymur publishes at glymurhotel.is, and that is where to go for current rooms, rates and bookings - which is also why you will find none of those numbers below. A rate quoted on a page like this one is out of date the week after it is written, and being wrong about what a night costs is worse than being silent about it.

Hotel Glymur Location: Where it Actually is and How the Tunnel Tricks You

The Hvalfjörður Tunnel is a 5.8 km undersea road tunnel that saves roughly 45 minutes on the drive from Reykjavík to Borgarnes. It also skips the entire fjord. A self drive traveller who takes the tunnel in both directions has not seen Hvalfjörður. To reach Hotel Glymur you must deliberately take Route 47, the old winding two lane road that follows the fjord shoreline.

Drive Times And The Missing Bus

The drive from Reykjavík via the tunnel is 45 minutes. Via the fjord road it is 1 hour 5 minutes. Both figures change in winter weather. The hotel is at the head of the fjord near the Botnsdalur valley. Akranes is 25 to 35 minutes away. Borgarnes is 30 to 40 minutes away via the tunnel. There is no direct public bus to the hotel. You need a rental car.

Where to Stay Near Hvalfjörður: Why the Fjord Itself is the Right Answer for Some Travellers

The alternative to Hotel Glymur is day tripping from Reykjavík. The drive is 45 minutes each way via the tunnel, so a day trip is doable. But the point of staying inside the fjord is the quiet. Hvalfjörður has no evening bustle, no streetlights, and no last minute dash for a forgotten item.

The Case For Staying Inside The Fjord

The hotel sits at the head of the fjord near Botnsdalur. Walk out to the Glymur trailhead in the morning instead of driving to it. Sit in the hot tub after dark without worrying about the drive back. The downside is that you cannot walk to anything once you arrive. The nearest reliable meals outside the hotel restaurant are in Akranes or Borgarnes. The nearest fuel is also in Akranes or Borgarnes. This is a choice against convenience. Make it deliberately.

Hotel Glymur to Reykjavík Drive: What the Return Trip Actually Involves

The distance from Hotel Glymur to Reykjavík is 50 km. You have two route options. The tunnel route takes 45 minutes. The fjord road takes 1 hour 5 minutes. The tunnel is free. The fjord road, Route 47, has narrow winding sections, unlit single lane bridges, and gravel patches. In wind or rain the drive is slow. Mobile signal is patchy on the inner fjord and inside Botnsdalur. Download offline maps before you leave Route 1. The return trip from a dinner reservation in Reykjavík feels like a real journey. Plan for it.

A Night Inside the Fjord: What the Hotel Actually Delivers and What it Does Not

The rooms are 25 square meters. Several rooms are split over two floors. The outlook is either the fjord or the mountain. There are no televisions in the rooms. The hotel states this policy directly. The two outdoor hot tubs are the main evening activity. The restaurant has a fjord view through its windows. The check in time is standard for a countryside hotel. Breakfast is included.

What You Cannot Get Here

There is no village. There is no shop. There is no second dinner option. The wind and rain arrive faster than the forecast suggests. The whaling station at Hvalstöðin and the Grundartangi aluminium smelter are visible from the road. The landscape mixes raw nature with industrial scenery. If you dislike that contrast, this is not the right stay.

Hiking, History, and the Practical Reality of the Fjord

The Glymur trailhead is in Botnsdalur. Glymur is Iceland's second tallest waterfall. The hike involves a log crossing over the Botnsá river. The log is removed outside summer. The trail is not a casual stroll. The river has powerful flow.

When To Hike And When To Stay Away

The best months for the hike are June to August, when the trails are snow free and the long daylight makes the lack of services easier. November to March is the avoid window. Trails are icy, river crossings are dangerous, and side roads can be impassable.

The fjord itself has more in it than the hotel and the trail - a wartime naval base, an abandoned whaling station, seals at Hvítanes, and the long shoreline road that most traffic now skips. That is a day of its own rather than an evening's reading, and it is covered on our guide to Hvalfjörður.

Who Hotel Glymur Suits and Who Should Stay in Reykjavík Instead

Hotel Glymur suits a self drive traveller who wants a quiet alternative to the Golden Circle. It suits hikers and trail runners who want empty routes near Reykjavík. It suits history and WWII visitors. It suits photographers who want waterfalls and fjord views without tour buses. It suits slow travellers based in Reykjavík or Borgarnes who want a half day escape. It suits a first or last night outside Reykjavík. It suits a west Iceland base. It suits dark sky aurora viewing.

Hotel Glymur does not suit visitors without a car. It does not suit tight Golden Circle day itineraries. It does not suit guests wanting dinner options beyond the one on site restaurant. It does not suit cruise passengers with only a few hours. It does not suit anyone who dislikes industrial scenery mixed with nature. If that sounds like you, book Reykjavík and day trip to the fjord instead.