The Panorama Glass Lodge is one of those places that I came across on Instagram and immediately added to my bucket list and checked off sooner than I would have imagined. That’s what happens when one of your besties is always game for a trip.
Panorama Glass Lodge
Panorama Glass Lodge is a set of self-serve tiny glass roof cabins out in the wilderness in the south of Iceland. The lodges face volcanos in the distance, with a picturesque valley and quaint river below. They are cosy Scandinavian inspired interiors with nearly everything you need for your stay, including a small kitchenette with Nespresso and some other essentials provided for you. Stop in Hella to grab a few things for meals and you’ll be set. (Check out the Almar bakari for some seriously tasty bakery goods).
The bathroom has towels and shower necessities like body wash and conditioner. My favorite part of the bathroom: the heated floors.
Outdoors you have access to your own hot tub and sweeping views. You can head down the path to a shared sauna that you’ll have to turn on yourself. It’s tucked away between two cabins and has the same sweeping views.
What to do around the Lodge
You’re perfectly situated to explore the south of the island depending on how far you want to go. We did the Golden Circle on our way out of Reykjavik, making our way down to Hella to check-in. We spent one day stopping at waterfalls and making our way to Reynisfjara Beach, the famous black sand beach. We were headed back to Reykjavik that day, which was a 2.5 hour drive back. If we hadn’t have needed to head back, we could have gone even further along the coast for a day trip. But depending on the extent of your stay in Iceland, you may want to make your way around the country and stay in different spots.
For the sake of our trip, the Panorama Glass Lodge was the perfect home base for our activities: which consisted of short hikes, one long hike and lots of waterfall chasing. We didn’t have a 4×4 car, which gives you access to much more of the country. Our long hike day (which really wasn’t that long of a hike) was to Brúarfoss Waterfall. It took us maybe an hour to drive to the trailhead from the cabin.
The cabin is setup so that even if you don’t want to go out and do anything, you can still be cozy and relaxed hanging out inside. Or in the hot tub. Being out in the wilderness where it’s incredibly quiet and you have an expanse of gorgeous nature around you makes you want to slow down and revel in it. At least for me.
Booking a cabin
We booked our stay a year in advance to ensure we could a cabin around the time we wanted. We wanted to book it on the cusp of fall/winter. We stayed at the end of September when there was still a chance to see northern lights (we didn’t unfortunately) without a ton of snow. We left Iceland just as a big storm was rolling in.
September seems like a good time to go in general as the waterfalls and nature points of interest weren’t completely overrun by people. There were people, but it wasn’t as busy as what I imagine it can be like in the summer.
This isn’t a last minute trip decision if you’re wanting to stay in a glass roof cabin. They’re typically booked out, especially around the winter.
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It was a dreamy bucketlist stay and I’d like to go back one day, especially to Iceland in general. We barely touched the south west coast of the island and there’s so much more gorgeous nature to see. Next up though, I’ve got my eyes on some glass roof igloos in Finland.
Stephanie