Experience Iceland! DAY 1: Arrival, drive to Reykjavík, enjoy the city in a city tour. In the case of early landing we drive to Grindavík, a small fishery town close to the airport and have a coffee in the harbour café or use the opportunity and go straight to the Blue lagoon where you enjoy and relax in the geothermal spa.
In the case of afternoon arrival we drive straight to the hotel for a night rest.
DAY 2: The Golden Circle: We drive to Thingvellir and enjoy the historical and geological magic of this place. The Norwegian lettlers established the parliament, Althingi, here in the year 930, which is therefore the oldest parliament in the world. We continue to Geysir to see the hotspring Strokkur erupt several times and from there we continue to the Gullfoss waterfall. On the wey to our accommodation we can make a stop at Flúðir to visit the Secret lagoon geothermal pool.
Optional activities: Snow mobile tour on Langjökull glacier. Pick up from Gullfoss waterfall.
Básar
DAY 3: Super jeep tour to Thorsmörk where we´ll visit one narrow ravin, Nauthúsagil, where your challenge is to return with your feet and shoes dry! We cross some 15 rivers and enter an empty glacier lagoon that broke in the Eyjafjallajökull eruption leading to massive floodings and damage of roads and bridges. We continue to the beautiful place of Básar where we´ll BBQ our lunch. We do a little or long hike in Thorsmörk (depending on your priorities) and on our way back we sto at the canyon Stakkholtsgjá to walk inside it. We then return to our accommodation.
DAY 4: We start the day by visiting the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, the one you can walk behind and Skogafoss waterfall where we´ll have lunch. We then continue towards Dyrhólaey cape, enjoy the view as well as the rich bird life. In spring and summer time you can see puffins there. We continue to the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach where you can see this magnificent structures of basalt rock columns and inside the cave by the beach you can see where the architects of the Harpa Concert Hall got their idea for the sealing! We then continue to our night rest.
Optional activity: Glacier hiking tour on Sólheimajökull glacier.
DAY 5: Today we drive through the vast lavafield of Eldhraun from the Laki eruption that started on June 8, 1783 and killed 20% of the Icelandic population and almost 50% of the life stock. We drive to Skaftafell inside the Vatnajökull National Park and Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon. We enjoy the beautiful lagoon with all its icebergs, floating aroung and maybe with seals lying on it, relaxing. You just walk around it to enjoy the beaty and eventually you walk to the so called Diamond Beach with the melting ice rocks.
Optional activities:
a) Summer: Boat trip on the glacier lagoon, you can shoose a amphibian boat (group of 20) or ribboat that goes faster and is more fun.
b) Winter: Tour on monster SUV to one of the natural ice caves in Breiðamerkurjökull glacier.
c) Winter: 6-7 hours tour to one of the natural ice caves, the one that few visit and requires hiking and walking for 2-3 hours.
DAY 6: We drive to the Glacier lagoon, in case we didn´t have time for activity yesterday, maybe due to travel in December or January when the days are short (dark by 4 pm). In that case
we start the day at the lagoon and then we start the way back towards Reykjavík. First we drive to Skaftafell and do a hike to Svartifoss waterfall, a hike that takes 2-3 hours. After having lunch we continue our way back to Reykjavík and we can pick up interesting places we didn´t have time for on our way eastwards, e.g. Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon (see Justin Bieber´s video from there).
Optional activity: ATV tour on the the black sand beach and the plane wrack (see Justin Bieber´s video from there).
DAY 7: Day in Reykjavík. We have the options of just relaxing, shopping and browsing the city, hike on one of the many mountains surrounding Reykjavík or enjoying many of the interesting museums in town. If you haven´t had enough of travelling and activites we can make a tour to the West Iceland and visit the Víðgelmir volcanic cave as well as the Into the Glacier man made ice tunnel in Langjökull glacier. On our way back to Reykjavík we stop at the beautiful Hraunfossar waterfalls and the powerful Deildartunguhver geothermal power site.
Optional activity: Whale watching tour from Reykjavík harbour.
DAY 8: Day of departure. If you have an afternoon flight back home you can start the day by boing to the Blue lagoon, if you didn´t do it on the first day. The Blue lagoon is on the way to the Keflavík International Airport.