The Art of the Retreat: Torfhús Retreat

There are trips where you work from somewhere beautiful. And then there are trips where you close the laptop, silence the phone, and remember what it felt like before you became someone who checks email at 10pm.

Torfhús Retreat is the second kind of trip.

Sitting in the heart of Iceland's Golden Circle — 8.7 miles from Geysir, 11 from Gullfoss — this place doesn't pull you in with coworking vibes or productivity promises. It pulls you in with moss-covered rooftops, basalt stone hot pools, Icelandic horses wandering past your window, and a restaurant so good you'll eat there every night without a second thought. The draw here is full, unapologetic rest.

Cabin Retreat

There's an art to actually retreating — most people never figure it out. They book the trip, change the scenery, and bring the same anxious energy with them. Torfhús makes it harder to do that. The cabins are modeled after traditional Icelandic Viking architecture — turf on the roof, reclaimed oak inside, stone walls pulled from the land around it. Your cabin feels like it grew here. Step inside and you've got a living room, blackout curtains that could make you sleep eleven hours, and a patio that opens directly to your private geothermally heated pool. There's nowhere to be and nothing to perform. The retreat starts doing its work before you even unpack.

That pool. Sunken into the earth, ringed in basalt stone, open sky above. I spent more time in it than I'd like to admit. One night, lying back in the water, the northern lights just appeared — green and slow at first, then wider, brighter, doing things the photos never quite capture. I didn't move for a long time. At night the property has almost no light pollution — if the northern lights are out, you'll see them from the water. The staff runs a wake-up call system specifically for aurora alerts — sign up for it.

Enjoy the Retreat

I did the things. Geysir, Gullfoss, a waterfall hike, a glacier. All spectacular, all worth it. The Golden Circle is right there and the retreat can arrange transport and guides so logistics don't eat into your day.

But every single time, somewhere out on the road, I'd feel it — the pull back to the property. The pool. The quiet. The dinner I was already looking forward to. I was glad I hadn't crammed the itinerary. The best decision I made was leaving space to do nothing at Torfhús, because doing nothing there turned out to be the whole point. Give yourself permission to just enjoy the Retreat. 

Restaurant Enhances The Retreat

Start with cocktails in the boat. Yes, boat. There's an actual carved-out fishing boat in the lobby — fashioned into a seating area — where we'd settle in each evening, drinks in hand, looking out at the mountains while the light shifted. It sounds like a gimmick until you're sitting in it and realize you've been there an hour without noticing.

Then dinner. The kitchen works with local ingredients and the menu shifts around what's fresh and seasonal. The chef comes out to walk you through the courses. One night mid-dinner, the staff came in, quietly paused service, and took the entire room outside to see the northern lights. Nobody complained about the interruption. We stood there in the cold, plates waiting inside, and watched the sky do something that made the meal taste better when we went back in. The wine list holds up, and if spirits are your thing, ask about the gin tasting.

Breakfast is an Icelandic buffet: smoked fish, pastries, good bread, eggs made to order. Solid enough that you won't be thinking about food again until it's time to start thinking about dinner.

Sarah's Recommendations

Bring your family and book the Villa — we stayed in one of the smaller cabins, which was perfect for us, but the moment I saw the Torfvilla I immediately started mentally booking a family trip. It sleeps 8, has its own private hot pool, cold plunge, and sauna, and sits completely on its own. If there's ever a reason to get everyone together somewhere, this is it.

Sign up for the northern lights call — the open sky and zero light pollution here make it one of the better spots in the country to actually see them.

Do not plan your evenings elsewhere — the restaurant, the pool, the silence. That's the night. Let it be.

Give yourself a minimum of three nights — two goes fast when you're finally sleeping properly.

Two-night minimum stay required. Located approximately 2 hours from Keflavik Airport; the retreat can arrange transfers.