Sarah LesslerFor equestrian travelers chasing the northern lights, Hotel Ranga blends serious Icelandic style with rides on the storied Icelandic horse, just two hours from Reykjavik.
Set on the banks of the Eystri-Ranga River, roughly two hours southeast of Reykjavik, Hotel Ranga is the kind of place that turns a vacation into a meditation on the natural world. The cedar-and-stone lodge sits low and long against the South Coast horizon, ringed by lava fields, glacial rivers, and three of Iceland’s most photogenic volcanoes: Hekla, Eyjafjallajokull, and Tindfjallajokull.
The hotel’s 52 rooms blend country-lodge warmth with serious Icelandic style. Seven suites are themed to the seven continents, with art and antiquities collected from each, from a hand-carved canoe in the Africa Suite to indigenous textiles in Asia. Wherever you stay, three outdoor geothermal hot tubs and a riverside terrace put the steam, sky, and silence within easy reach.
Hotel Ranga takes the northern lights seriously. The property has its own observatory with high-powered telescopes and a resident astronomer, plus a famous wake-up call service: a quiet phone alert when the aurora is dancing overhead. By day, guests are bundled into insulated suits for glacier hikes, paragliding, super-Jeep tours, and rides on the small, sure-footed Icelandic horse, a breed unchanged since the Vikings. Trails wind across black-sand beaches and moss-veiled lava plains.
Back inside, the kitchen runs on the best Iceland has to offer: lamb raised by neighboring farmers, fresh-caught salmon, and a wild-game tasting menu featuring reindeer and goose-liver pate. Linger over an Icelandic gin in the riverstone bar while the aurora pulls a slow arc across the sky.
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