This tour does require a moderate level of physical fitness due to the walking and easy hiking included every day. The trails aren't demanding but may have rocks or other obstacles to get over and around.
Besides visiting three National Parks - Thingvellir, Skaftafell and Jokulsargljufur - you also experience the wonders of Landmannalaugar and Lake Mývatn, for its latitude the most fertile area in the world. There are waterfalls including the awesome Dettifoss the most powerful in Europe. The tour includes (weather permitting) a three hour whale watching cruise sailing from Húsavík. Lots to see but little to carry, as the tour bus will convey your luggage. Accommodation is provided in hotels with private facilities. The hotels used on tours are often “summer hotels” used most of the year as boarding schools or country hotels which are simple and clean.
Day 1: Reykjavik - Gullfoss - Geysir - Skaftafell
Pick up at various Reykjavik hotels begins at 0815. The tour starts with a drive to the famous Geysir and the Queen of Iceland´s waterfalls, Gullfoss. We then travel through the sandy desert of the south coast which is overlooked by mountainous cliffs and magnificent waterfalls. We stay for the next two nights near Skaftafell National Park.
Day 2: Hiking in Skaftafell
The whole day is spent walking through the Skaftafell National Park.
Day 3: Skaftafell - Fljotsdal - Fljotsdalsherad
We drive south of Vatnajökull, Europe´s largest glacier which dominates the landscape with its glacial tongues calving into a glacial lagoon. Next, amongst the icebergs, a boat trip on the Jökulsárlón lagoon we then continue through the beautiful Eastern fjords. We spend the next two nights in the neighbourhood of Egilsstaðir.
Day 4: Hiking Through Viking Trails
A full day walking in the beautiful Eastern mountains.
Day 5: Fljotsdalsherad - Highland Desert - Myvatn Area
Today we walk up to Hengifoss, one of Iceland's highest waterfalls. In the very remote area in the highlands of Iceland we visit Sænautasel, an old farm that was the main model for the setting of the novel: Independent People by Nobel Prize Winner Halldór Kiljan Laxness. We continue to Möðrudalur, a farm that has been inhabited from the early Icelandic settlers through to the present day. We travel through desert landscape before reaching our accommodation for the next three nights in the Mývatn area.
DAY 6: Husavik whale watching - Lake Myvatn area
We start the day, with a 3 hour whale watching cruise, weather permitting, from the picturesque village of Húsavík. A short drive to Lake Mývatn, a unique area that features strange lava formations, attractive bays, pseudo craters and prolific bird life. We stroll through the lava field of Dimmuborgir, ending with a walk to the rim of the ash crater Hverfjall. We relax in Mývatn's Nature Baths, before we head back to our accommodation.
DAY 7: Walking in Hljodaklettar-Dettifoss-Asbyrgi
We visit Hljóðaklettar with its strange formations and the magnificent and puzzling canyon Ásbyrgi, said to be a hoof print of the eight legged horse of the ancient God Óðinn. We walk along the west bank of the mighty Jökulsá river, not far upstream we see Europe´s most powerful waterfall Dettifoss.
DAY 8: Lake Myvatn area - Hella
We visit Goðafoss and on our way south across the highland desert we travel either the Sprengisandur or Kjolur routes, with views of the distant ice-caps. The area is shrouded in mystery and folktales of ghosts, giants and outlaws and is one of Europe's last wilderness areas. We stay the next two nights in Rangárvallasýsla.
DAY 9: Hiking in Landmannalaugar
The entire day is spent walking in the geothermal area of Landmannalaugar, a jewel in the Icelandic landscapes. The surroundings rhyolite mountains have the feel of another planet, ranging in colours from beige to red and from blue to black. We will have the opportunity to enjoy a bath in a pool of warm spring water.
DAY 10: Thingvellir-Reykjavik
Today we visit the historic sites of the first Icelandic Parliament at Thingvellir National Park where we enjoy the last walks of our tour before returning to Reykjavík. One night accommodation required, not included in tour price.
Optional add-ons:
- Transfer Keflavik airport to downtown Reykjavik hotel return - $44.00
- Add stop at the Blue Lagoon one direction, including admission - $26.00
- Accommodation in Reykjavik one night pre-tour and one night and one night post-tour - prices on request
- Reykjavik city sightseeing tour - $52
