Categories Escorted Tours Winter Tours Adventure & Eco Travel Iceland Winter Tours

Discover Iceland’s unforgettable natural wonders and the vibrant capital of Reykjavik on this value-priced trip. You’ll be based in trendy Reykjavik and explore the best of Icelandic nature each day.

Itinerary

Upon arrival, head through passport control, collect your bags and go through customs to the Arrival Hall. The FlyBus transfer shuttle is waiting outside the arrivals hall. Please show your confirmation information to the attendant on board and let him or her know the hotel you are using in Reykjavík. Important: The FlyBus is a shared bus transfer. You will not be met directly in the airport by a driver.

Once in Reykjavik, check into your hotel. If you arrive early in the day, you might want to explore Reykjavik’s old town area, location of many museums and galleries. You might also enjoy visiting one of the city’s outdoor geothermal swimming pools where you can shake off your jetlag. In the after-noon you could take one of our day tours, such as whale watching or horseback riding, both bringing you close to Iceland’s nature and landscape.

Dinner is on your own. Reykjavik offers a multitude of restaurants and/or coffee-houses, making dinner a great way to get better acquainted with Iceland's capital.

This evening, around 18:00 (6:00pm) there is an information meeting for you to meet your locally-based guide for the tour and the other people in your group (location details provided later). Your guide will go through the week’s itinerary and suggestions of things you can do in Reykjavik during your free time. Enjoy a welcome drink and the opportunity to get to know your travel companions.

Overnight stay in Reykjavik.

Please note that most hotels begin check-in between 14:00 and 16:00 (2:00pm and 4:00pm).

Late Evening suggestion: Interested in northern lights? Perhaps you might like to book a northern lights tour with us by bus or by boat. Let us know at booking time and we’ll be happy to book a tour for you!

Walking tour - Free time in Reykjavik

Breakfast at your hotel. Since Reykjavik will be your home for the next few days, today is a great day to get to know the city! Meet your local guide for a fun and informative walking tour of the down town area. Your guide will point out some of the city’s best-known places and also fill you in on the history and daily life of the city. You’ll also get tips and recommendations from your guide on local favorite hangouts for food and fun.

Some of the many places you’ll see on the tour include Hallgrimskirkja Church, the City Hall, Reykjavik Ponds, Harpa Concert Hall, and the Old Harbor. During the tour, your group will stop at a downtown bakery for a taste of a typical Icelandic treat.

The tour ends in the downtown area, where the guide will leave you to enjoy Reykjavik as you please for the rest of the day. Reykjavik has some great museums that highlight the city’s history and its lively art scene. One of our personal favorites is the interactive Reykjavik Settlement Museum, where you can view an excavated Viking longhouse—the oldest known building in Reykjavik—and discover how life was in the early Middle Ages. Take a walk along the main shopping street and browse art galleries and Icelandic handicrafts/design shops. Stroll along one of the seacoast footpaths and enjoy the ocean views. Go swimming in one of the city’s famous geothermal pools. Enjoy a cup of coffee at a cozy coffee house. There are many ways to have a great afternoon in the world’s northernmost capital. Return to the hotel at your own leisure (transfer is on your own). Evening and dinner are on your own

Approximate distance: ca235km / 146miles

Ancient parliament and Mid-Atlantic Ridge - Golden Waterfall – Lively Geysers

Breakfast at your hotel before heading on to the famous Golden Circle route. Iceland’s Golden Circle showcases a trio of celebrated natural attractions. Start with a visit to Thingvellir National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), where Viking settlers established an annual assembly in AD 930. This parliament has now become the world’s oldest ongoing. Thingvellir is also a geological masterpiece, as it marks the visible site of the mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American and Eurasian continental plates meet. You can walk along a path taking you between the canyon marking the location of the ridge. Your guide will tell you about some of the important things that happened in Iceland’s history. It is interesting to imagine what Thingvellir must have been like hundreds of years ago when farmers, chieftains and merchants journeyed from all corners of Iceland to meet here to make laws, settle disputes, arrange alliances and meet old friends.

Head through scenic farmlands to the celebrated Gullfoss waterfall, believed by many to be Iceland’s most beautiful falls. Several walking paths take you to different views of the double-ledged waterfall. During winter the falls sometimes freeze, creating magical ice shapes. Nearby is the Geysir Hot Spring Area, alive with boiling mud pits, steam vents, and exploding geysers. The most famous of these is Strokkur, a high-spouting geyser that erupts every ten minutes, but there are many quirky and intriguing little geysers bubbling away.

After a beautiful day in the Golden Circle area, return to Reykjavik for the evening.

Overnight in Reykjavik

Approximate distance: ca390km / 242miles

Scenic Waterfalls – Volcanic and Glacial Views – Charming Village – Black Sand Beach

Breakfast at your hotel. Drive along the iconic South Shore , an area of Iceland that is beautiful to view in the winter. This is one of the main farm regions of the country, and the road will pass by typical Icelandic farms, often with Icelandic horses in the fields. Depending on the weather, you might also get a glimpse of beautiful Mount Hekla, Iceland’s most frequently-erupting volcano, and glacier-crowned Eyjafjallajokull, the famous volcano whose 2010 eruption halted air traffic worldwide. You’ll certainly see signs of their impacts on Iceland. You might even get a glimpse of the Westman Islands archipelago off the coast of Iceland.

Stop at two spectacular waterfalls, each with its own charm and character. Depending on the trail conditions you can walk behind Seljalandsfoss. Skogafoss is one of the country’s most photographed waterfalls and is said to be the hiding place for ancient treasure.

As you drive along the coast, you’ll also get a view of Myrdalsjokull, Iceland’s fourth largest glacier.

The road leads to charming Vik, Iceland’s southernmost village. Visit Reynisfjara beach, where you can take a walk on the black sands, admiring the extraordinary rock formations and thundering waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic waves here are very powerful, and the rumbling sound of them crashing against the dark shore is something you will always remember. Far out to sea you can see the Reynisdrangar sea stacks. According to old legends, they were once trolls.

Return to Reykjavik for another night in the lively capital city. Dinner is on your own.

Approximate distance: ca300km / 186miles

Reykjanes Seacoast – Moon-like landscapes - Colorful Geothermal Area – Relaxing Spa

Breakfast at your hotel. Today you’ll take a beautiful coastal road that leads onto the breath-taking Reykjanes peninsula. Reykjanes was designated a UNESCO Geopark in 2015 because of its many interesting geothermal and volcanic features, and it’s a fantastic place to explore.

Drive past the Presidential residence of Bessastadir and to the town of Hafnarfjordur. Take a coastal road to Lake Kleifarvatn, set in fascinating, moon-like surroundings. If you enjoy crime novels, Kleifarvatn is the setting of a famous Icelandic suspense novel, The Draining Lake, by Arnaldur Indridason.

Near the lake’s southern end lies Krysuvik, where powerful jets of steam escape from deep below the earth’s crust and sulphurous steam rises from numerous geothermal vents. You can see numerous small hot springs, brightly-colored mud pots, boiling pools and other types of geothermal activity. Continue under low mountains along the shoreline to stop by craggy cliffs rising sheer from the sea. This is home to Grindavik, a town with a sizeable fishing fleet. Then head for the world-renowned Blue Lagoon. Set in a black lava field, this geothermal spa is a lagoon filled with warm mineral-rich seawater that provides the ultimate interaction and relaxation with Iceland’s raw nature. Here you can enjoy a lovely soak in the healing waters of the lagoon a unique wonder of nature with pleasantly warm, mineral-rich water in the middle of a black lava field. Return to Reykjavik, where the evening is at your own leisure.

Transfer information: This evening you should speak with your hotel’s front desk about your FlyBus transfer for tomorrow. The hotel staff should have the latest information on transfer times and can set up the transfer hotel pick up for you and let you know what time the bus will come to the hotel.

Overnight in Reykjavik. Dinner is on your own.

Breakfast at your hotel. Please note that this might be a light breakfast if you are taking an early morning departure flight. Transfer to the international airport for your departure flight.

Notes