Due to the huge interest of tourists and frequent problems in the camping parking lot, a parking reservation system has been running in Landmannalaugar since the 2024 season.
Landmannalaugar is certainly the most popular place in the Icelandic interiors. The beautiful “rainbow mountains” attract lots of tourists every year. Growing popularity naturally caused the parking ‘capacity’ to be exceeded, so it seemed only a matter of time to limit the number of tourists coming to the campground.
These are the rules for the 2026 season:
- Parking at Landmannalaugar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. is only possible for those with a paid parking reservation.
- If you don’t hold a valid reservation for the date, you can still come and check if there’s any free spaces available, but in practice this is super rare.
- Restrictions are in effect during the summer season: in 2026 from June 20 to September 13 inclusive.
- Entrance to the parking lot is automated using a camera system, but it might also be assisted by rangers of the Nature Conservation Agency of Iceland (Náttúruverndarstofnun), which took over the protected areas from Umhverfisstofnun on January 1, 2025.
- Reservations and payments are made exclusively through the Parka website. Be sure to enter the correct license plate number – that is what the cameras read at the entrance.
- The fee for a passenger car for up to 5 people is 1,500 ISK (about $13), and for a car for 6-9 people it is 2,450 ISK (about $20). A motorcycle pays 750 ISK (about $6), and a bus from 5,500 ISK (about $46) for 10-21 seats, through 9,500 ISK (about $79) for 22-32 seats, up to 16,500 ISK (about $138) for 33 seats and more (official price list no. 290/2026).
- The fee covers one day at most: until midnight of the day you park.
- Reservations can be made at any time, within the available spaces. You can change or cancel one up to a week before your arrival date; if weather warnings are issued for that day, the agency lets you cancel or change the booking, and if you do nothing, it stays open for the next three days.
- Buses and organized groups do not book spaces in advance (travel companies register with the operator for automatic billing on entry), but they pay the same fees as everyone else.
Parking reservations at Landmannalaugar: some days sell out very quickly
Parking fees are not exorbitant, as you can see. After all, a single shower at the campground costs 1,100 ISK (about $9) in the 2026 season. So the main limitation is not the cost, but the sheer necessity of reserving a spot in advance. (As an aside: all prices at Landmannalaugar have increased quite a bit since the 2024 season – see here: [24.05.2025] New prices on the Laugavegur trail.)
It is quite clear that this is a change introduced mainly with a view to limiting the number of people coming to Landmannalaugar for only a few hours during the day. There were quite a lot of such people in previous years, and since many of them did not want to risk driving through the fords, they often did not fit in the first parking lot and parked their cars in front of it. This, in turn, both damaged the roadside and the access road itself, and made it difficult for larger vehicles – primarily tourist coaches – to enter the campground.
Hopefully, as a supplement, perhaps there will be some shuttle buses from Landmannahellir, Rjupnavellir or Hrauneyjar, serving those for whom there was not enough space in the Landmannalaugar parking lot. This would be a very good addition to the system.
You can read more about the Rainbow Mountains and Landmannalaugar campground itself in this article:
Article: Landmannalaugar – Fairytale Rainbow Mountains
Also recommended:
- Laugavegur – Iceland’s most beautiful trail
- Top 10 Places to See in the Icelandic Interior
- Nature Conservation Agency of Iceland on Fjallabak – the official rules for driving into Landmannalaugar (in Icelandic)
