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Grand Tour of Iceland

Depart:
Escorted Tour-Land Only

12 Days/ 11 Nights

2022 Departures:
June13 and 27
July 11 and 25
August 8 and 22
September 5

Iceland is a country like no other, almost an own little planet with exceptional landscapes: some of the world’s finest waterfalls, erupting geysers, stunning fjords, magical lagoons, active volcanoes, majestic glaciers, powerful lava flows as well as tranquil lakes with rare-breeding bird life. The Grand Tour of Iceland takes you on an unforgettable journey around Iceland including the Snaefellsnes peninsula and the magical West Fjords. Experience the spectacular splendor and untamed beauty of Iceland’s nature, breathtaking scenery and unique Icelandic history and culture. You will discover some of the most remote parts of the country and visit many well-known highlights as well. The Grand Tour of Iceland features all the best the country has to offer. Each day combines touring by bus, going for light walks, having soft adventures and experiencing Icelandic culture and history. Stay in simple and charming guesthouses, farm- and tourist-class hotels, many of them set in the most stunning locations.
Price per Person:

In a double room $5129
Single supplement $1319

Package Includes:

11 nights tourist class and countryside accommodation all with private facilities
Round trip Flybus airport transfers
Breakfast each morning
10 dinners 3 courses-drinks not included
Sightseeing as per itinerary
English speaking tour escort
Visit three National Parks, entrance and visit to lava cave on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, ferry trip to the West Fjords, entrance fee to folk and transport museum at Hnjotur, visit to Erik the Red homestead, horse show in northwest Iceland, entrance fee and towel to the Nature Baths at Lake Myvatn, visit to stone collection in the East Fjords, boat trip between floating icebergs on a glacial lagoon, visit to a micro brewery, Herring Museum, Visit to Petra’s stone collection in the East Fjords, Documentary film at Lava Center in the town of Hvolsvollur
Hotel taxes and service charges

Itinerary

Day 1 Reykjavik
Upon arrival Flybus transfer to the hotel. For an additional fee you can make a stop at the Blue Lagoon before heading to the hotel. Remainder of the day is at leisure in cosmopolitan Reykjavik. Overnight Hotel Klettur.

Day 2 Reykjavik-Golden Circle-West Iceland
Enjoy the classic highlights today. Explore Gullfoss, the beautiful double “Golden Falls” and walk through the active geothermal area of Geysir, where Strokkur “the churn” spouts up to 25 meters (70 feet) every five to seven minutes. A visit to the ancient Viking Parliament area and UNESCO world heritage site of Pingvellir National Park tops the day off before traveling along the scenic shores of Hvalfjordur fjord. Overnight in Borgarnes, West Iceland. Overnight Hotel B59 or similar.

Day 3 West Iceland-Snaefellsnes-Patreksfjordur
Today, explore the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, which juts out from Iceland’s West Coast like a long arm with a clenched fist at its tip, and which is in many ways a microcosm of the whole island. A rugged mountain chain runs its length, capped by the 1,446-meter Snaefellsjokull glacier, a mystical cone-shaped stratovolcano. Travel around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, through lava fields, and along the ocean with many classic Icelandic photo opportunities. See the most popular sites at the Snaefellsnes National Park where volcanic craters, lava flows, an ice cap, glaciated peaks, fjords, sandy beaches, and high cliffs shape its landscapes. Follow the adventure of Jules Verne’s classic science-fiction novel about “The Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Do not miss your chance to go on your own trip to the interior of the earth under the glacier Snaefellsjokull! This lava cave tour takes you 35 meters underground and about 200 meters into the lava tube called Vatnshellir. During the trip, you reach two different sections of the cave by a long and narrow spiral staircase. The upper section has great features and unique formations of lava statues carved on the sides of the lava tube. In the lower part of the lava cave, you experience total quietness and even total darkness when your guide switches off the light. The duration of the lava cave tour is approximately one hour. In the afternoon, catch the car ferry Baldur from Stykkisholmur to Brjanslaekur in the West Fjords. On the 2.5 hour journey over Breidafjordur Bay, pass the island of Flatey, which is inhabited only during the summertime. If the weather is nice, you enjoy a magnificent view of the bay’s countless islands as well as the glacier Snaefellsjokull. You will stay two nights in the area of Patreksfjordur. Overnight at the Hotel Flokalundur or similar.

Day 4 Patreksfjordur.
Follow the coastline and stop at the folk and transport museum in Hnjotur. Continue through a very remote and sparsely populated region to the bird cliffs of Latrabjarg, the largest seabird cliff and the westernmost point of Iceland and Europe where you can see puffins from mid-May till mid-August. Take a walk in the wilderness to the top of the highest bird cliff in Iceland. Latrabjarg is known in the world for its density of Nordic birds. Puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, cormorants, kittiwakes and other cliff birds flock either in hundreds, thousands and even in millions. Latrabjarg is a place where you can get very close to the seabirds, and even if you’re not into bird watching, you are entertained by the comic puffins and mesmerized by the sheer number of birds. If weather and road conditions allow travel to Raudisandur beach with endless red sand. Well, not endless but 10 km is a lot. The magnificent hues of the sand differ with daylight, tights, and weather. This pure sand beach is home to countless of seabirds and seals and is an oasis of unique tranquility. Forget everything, except maybe getting the perfect shot of the ever-changing hues of yellow, orange and red. Overnight at the Hotel Flokalundur or similar.

Day 5 Patreksfjordur-West Iceland
Travel the shores of many scenic fjords, beautiful beaches, and pass through small fishing villages until you reach the majestic fjord Arnarfjordur, surrounded by high mountains. At the bottom of the fjord come across the unique waterfall Dynjandi with its seven levels of plunging water, declared the country’s most beautiful waterfall by the people of Iceland. Continue over a mountain pass and travel along the southern shores of the West Fjords. This is a route less traveled and is characterized by sheer cliffs, deep cut bays and narrow stretches of coastal lowland. Reach Haukadalur, where there’s a rather authentic looking replica of the homestead of Erik the Red, the famous explorer who founded the Icelandic colony in Greenland. His son Leif the Lucky, born in Haukadalur, Iceland, was the first European to set foot in North America. Now the excavated and reconstructed farm in Haukadalur is a living Viking museum, a fun, informative and a photogenic place. The landscape is dominated by mountains, lakes, valleys, sea and wide open spaces. Overnight Hotel Laugarbakki, Hvammstangi or similar.

Day 6 West Iceland-Akureyri
Today’s journey is a little bit of the beaten track, around the Vatnsnes Peninsula. Pass the fishing village of Hvammstangi, also called the seal capital of Iceland. A gravel road takes you around the peninsula to Hviserkur, a highlight on the east coast of the region, a mass of igneous rock, about 15 meters high, situated on the seashore. Fulmars and gulls live on Hvitserkur. An old story has it that Hvitserkur is a petrified troll that intended to stone a nearby cloister, but dawn arrived before he could succeed. Later take a short walk up to Borgarvirki, on a 180-meter ridge. The ruins of Borgarvirki are a circular, fort-like stone enclosure rising above 10-15 meter basalt columns. Inside are the remains of a well and some dwellings. Continue to Kolugljufur Canyon, where waterfalls cascade into the deep, rugged gorge. It is a breathtaking sight to walk on the viewing platform and watch the calm waters of the river suddenly leap and tumble onward over so many impressive falls, a sight which will leave no one unmoved. Further north stop at Vídimyri to visit one of the few preserved turf churches in Iceland. The church was built in 1834 and has turf walls, but timber gables both back and front. Visit Glaumaer, one of Iceland’s most beautiful turf house farm and folk museum. Continue along a high mountain road to Akureyri, also called the capital of North Iceland, where you stay for two nights. Overnight at the Saeluhus Studio Apartments or similar.

Day 7 Akureyri
Enjoy breakfast in the beautiful surrounding of the botanical garden in Akureyri. Afterwards enjoy a full-day tour, seeing spectacular fjord landscapes while traveling to Siglufjordur, Iceland’s northernmost town, known as the herring capital of the North Atlantic. Siglufjordur is located on the mountainous Trollaskagi Peninsula. On the way, pass small fishing villages and stop at a deserted valley that even most Icelanders have not seen. Included is a visit to the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjordur. It is Iceland’s largest maritime museum and the only Icelandic museum who has won the European Museum Award. Taste the herring along with Brennivin, Icelandic schnapps. Early afternoon enjoy whale watching for 2-3 hours in Eyjafjordur Iceland’s longest fjord right below the Arctic Circle. For an added bonus and fun, try your luck at sea angling towards the end of the tour. Overnight at the Saeluhus Studio Apartments or similar.

Day 8 Akureyri-Lake Myvatn
Explore Goafoss, the waterfall of the Gods, and continue to Lake Myvatn, known for its abundant bird life and amazing volcanic lava landscapes. See pseudo craters, walk in the mysterious lava field Dimmuborgir, see the Tephra Cone Hverfjall, explore the hot springs, fumaroles and bubbling mud pools of Namaskard, and travel to the explosion crater lake Víti in the Krafla geothermal fields. Travel to Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall, in the northern part of Vatnajokull National Park. The round trip walk takes about 40-60 minutes. Continue east through the bare and sometimes deserted landscape with mountains all around and head through the uninhabited highlands to East Iceland. Explore the northernmost fjord on the East Fjord mountain range. The isolated village Bakkagerdi at Borgarfjordur Eystri has only 120 inhabitants, offering an end of the road location. This charming village is built snugly next to the steep mountainside and getting there is a dramatic but rewarding drive. The colorful mountains are unique and impressive. Overnight Guesthouse Alfheimar, Borgarfjordur Eystri or similar.

Day 9 Lake Myvatn-East Iceland
It’s a day to admire the dramatic fjord landscape and its tiny fishing villages at the end of twisty roads in the East Fjords. Your first stop will be at Vok baths, a geothermal floating pools in Lake Urridavatn where you can soak in the hot water, within and surrounded by the lake. Later visit Petra’s fascinating rock collection. A naturalist and a collector are two terms that have been used to describe Petra since she was a little girl. Petra collected for nearly 80 years this unique treasure of rocks, crystals, zeolites, quartz and more, all from the nearby area in the Eastfjords. In the afternoon see Vatnajokull, Europe’s biggest glacier that is visible all over Southeast Iceland. Overnight Hotel Hofn, Hofn in Hornafjordur or similar.

Day 10 East Iceland-South Iceland
Today we visit Vatnajokull National Park which covers about 14% of Iceland, making it Europe’s 2nd largest national park in terms of area. Stop for a boat ride among the floating icebergs on the magnificent Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon, considered one of the highlights on tour around Iceland. Next, walk along the black sands of the so-called Diamond Beach. Explore the region of Skaftafell that is nestled below Iceland’s highest mountain and the second biggest stratovolcano in Europe, the 2.110-meter high Hvannadalshnukur. Walk close to one of the many glacial tongues in the area a true photo moment. Cross a sandy desert before reaching your overnight location Vik, the southernmost village in Iceland. Overnight Hotel Vik, Vik in Myrdalur or similar.

Day 11 South Iceland-Reykjavik
Today travel along the South Coast of Iceland, between the sea, rugged mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls. Explore the black lava beach, Reynisfjara, and bird cliffs before stopping at the Skogafoss Waterfall, another must see location in South Iceland. The crashing water creates a mist that results in frequent and magical rainbows, just adding some more memorable experiences to the sheer beauty of this stunning scenery and place. Afterwards, reach the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall where you can follow a slick and wet trail and walk right behind it. Come prepared and bring a raincoat and good boots as you will get wet. Then visit the Lava & Volcano Exhibition Center focused on geology and active volcanoes and watch a documentary film about volcanic eruptions in the past years in Iceland. Farewell dinner at a local restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital. Overnight at the Hotel Klettur or similar.

Day 12 Reykjavik-End of Tour
After breakfast Flybus transfer to the airport. You can for an additional fee make a stop at the Blue Lagoon before heading to the airport. You can extend your stay in Reykjavik or continue on with a tour of the Faroe Islands or to Greenland.

Additional nights in Reykjavik available

There is an average of 1-2 hours of walking per day light walking each day, mostly short walks of 5-20 minutes, to explore and reach many of the natural treasures around Iceland.

Maximum 20 passengers on the tour.

There is a possibility that some of the nature attractions around Iceland might charge an entrance fee during the trip. These entrance fees are not included in the tour price and need to be paid by all tour members additionally on the spot, when entering any of these nature sites. Locations, amount of entrance fee, form of payment and other details are not known at the present time and are subject to change.

Most hotels, farms and guesthouses used on this tour are simple tourist-class category, many of them set in the most stunning locations.




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