Iceland Tour with Albatross – Fire & Ice

DAY 1: REYKJAVÍK 

Your tour commences this evening in cosmopolitan Reykjavik. Before dinner, enjoy a welcome drink in the hotel. This is an ideal chance to meet your Icelandic Tour Manager and fellow Arctic Adventurers.

Meals Included: Dinner

DAY 2 – SIGLUFJÖRÐUR

Your late morning flight takes you across Iceland’s frozen centre to the northern capital of Akureyri. From here you enjoy an incredible scenic drive alongside the Eyjafjörður Fjord, where steep mountain sides plunge straight down into the sea. Passing Dalvik you cut through the mountains to the small fishing town of Siglufjörður set beside its own peaceful fjord. In the afternoon enjoy a guided tour of the Herring Era Museum. This town was once centre of a massive fishing industry and the amazing museum brims with century old fishing boats and fascinating historical artefacts.
Dinner tonight is in the hotel set beside the picturesque harbour. Maybe enjoy the outside thermal hot pool and glass walled sauna and look out for the Northern Lights.

Please note: It is no longer possible for buses and large vehicles to pick up or drop off passengers in hotels located in the city centre. You now need to use specially designated bus pick up/drop off stops. This means that on the morning of Day 2 when we depart Reykjavik you will need to be able to take care of your luggage to & from your hotel to the bus stops. The walking distance is usually no more than 5 minutes.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 3 – AKUREYRI

Driving back down past Dalvik you’ll reach Hauganes, where you put on seafaring warm floatation suits and board a classic Icelandic Oak boat for a morning cruise on the deep placid waters of the dramatic Fjord. In stunning surroundings, you will be seeking killer whales, minke, porpoise, humpback, and blue whales. Your afternoon will be at leisure in Akureyri, where you stay the next 2 nights. Dinner tonight is in your hotel.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 4 – AKUREYRI

Today you will drive East. First stop will be to see the extraordinary frozen waterfalls of Goðafoss (Godafoss). Easy to access, with several vantage points over the river Skjálfandafljót, you look down on this giant horseshoe shaped frozen cascade. These frozen white ‘Waterfalls of the Gods’ are utterly spectacular. Afterwards stop to see the intriguing sulphurous mud and steam springs at the Namafjall geothermal pools, where the alien landscape defies all comparison. Reaching beautiful Lake Mývatn follow a scenic shore drive and stop to take in the enormous panorama of rocky islands and craggy outcrops and the view over Kálfaströnd. An included buffet lunch today wis your chance to sample some Icelandic specialities.

Next stop will be at the unearthly lava fields of Dimmuborgir, which translated means Dark Castles. Featured in the Game of Thrones because of its weird landscape of lava formations, your time is free to choose one of the easy walks amongst the rocky crags. This is also the folklore home to 13 mischievous Yule Lads…. Completing the circuit of the lake you return to Akureyri. The evening is free.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

DAY 5 – VIK

An unavoidable early start today as you catch a morning flight back to Reykjavík, then head off across the south of the island to Vik. On route, you will stop to visit the Seljalandsfoss waterfalls. Made famous in the TV series ‘Viking’, they cascade over a cliff cave into a rocky pool 60 metres below.

Later, you also stop on top of the arched cliffs at Dyrhólaey, which literally means “the hill island with the door hole.” This is Iceland’s most southerly point. From a height of 120 m above the sea battered rocks there are dramatic views down onto Dwarf Rock set in the middle of a huge black lava stone beach. The town of Vik, where you stay 2 nights, is small but very interesting, there’s a lot to see and do there, and being Iceland’s most southerly village, it has that real ‘frontier’ feeling. Dinner is in your hotel.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 6 – VIK

This morning we will take you to Reynisfjara black sand and pebbled beach with its huge basalt columns, lava formations and towering cliffs. Ranked as one of the world’s top ten non-tropical beaches, the views are fantastic and above you, thousands of artic terns swirl and swoop high along the cliff face. An amazing sight. Today is also included a thrilling 4WD excursion to the Katla ice cave on the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. (jökull – meaning glacier). To get there you must cut across the snow-covered plains and drive deep into the highlands on monster 4-wheel drives. This is wild country, and the views of the glacier and mountains are stunning! On arrival you’ll get a safety briefing, before putting on crampons for safe ice walking in these lunar-like surroundings. Following the pathway your guide will tell you about the famous volcano as you enter into the famous Dragon Glass Katla Ice Cave. You will be amazed by the lava encrusted black ice soaring above you and the colours ranging from grey to blue to black ice are amazing. What an adventure! Your evening is at leisure.

Meals Included: Breakfast

DAY 7 – ÖRÆFI

After a leisurely start you’ll visit the Icelandic Lava Show. Ever wanted to see real molten lava? Well, you will in this unique and fascinating show, as they superheat rocks to 1100 c to create molten lava which then flows down over a trough of ice. You will be up close to see it flowing, hear it sizzling and steaming, and feel the intense heat. Afterwards you’ll head further east and the scenery changes yet again. Up ahead is the enormous Vatnajökull glacier – Europe’s largest icecap which covers 8,100 sq kms. From it, numerous glacier tongues flow down towards the coast. You will make a stop at Skaftafell National Park, set beside Hvannadalshnúkur – Iceland’s highest peak. From the Visitor Centre you will take a walk to the base of Skaftafellsjökull. It is a very easy 3.7 km round trip scenic walk. You will be able to get right up close to the base of the huge glacier tongue, and in winter the colour of the ice is beautiful shades of white and blue. Moving on you arrive at the hotel where we stay the next 2 nights.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 8 – ÖRÆFI

Another magnificent adventure today as you visit the adventure hub of Jökulsárlón, and the Blue Crystal Ice cave. Boarding a monster 4WD truck your local guide will drive you near to the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. The glacier is retreating, so you’ll need to walk to reach the stupendous Crystal Ice cave (very different from the Dragon Glass cave experience). After learning about the region and how the dramatic landscape was created, you reach the arched mouth of the cave which displays a dazzling array of icy blue colours. Wearing crampons (supplied), you can walk into the cave, and over onto the glacier itself. Stunning! Back at Jökulsárlón, there is time at leisure for lunch and you will have time to walk beside the famous Glacier Lagoon where hundreds of mini icebergs of all shapes and sizes are stranded, floating in a lake, gradually melting until they are small enough to be flushed out the sea.

Another magical highlight today as you’ll take a walk along the extraordinary Diamond beach. Most of those ‘baby bergs’ end up washed on this black sand and pebble beach. Walking amongst them is like being amongst a field of giant, luminescent diamonds. Unbelievable.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 9 – REYKJAVÍK

Heading back to the capital you will stop at Hvolsvöllur to visit the Lava Centre to enjoy an interactive experience, learning how Iceland was formed, about their monstrous volcanoes, feeling earthquakes, and see how eruptions happen and the devastation they can cause.You’ll make a late lunch stop in Selfoss amongst the shops, galleries, and restaurants housed in buildings that showcase the charming classic style of Icelandic architecture. Later you will reach Reykjavík where you stay your final 3 nights.

Please note: It is no longer possible for buses and large vehicles to pick up or drop off passengers in hotels located in the city centre. You now need to use specially designated bus pick up/drop off stops. This means that today when you arrive back in Reykjavik, you will need to be able to take care of your luggage to & from your hotel to the bus stops. The walking distance is usually no more than 5 minutes.

Meals Included: Breakfast

DAY 10 – REYKJAVÍK

Today you will drive the famous Golden Circle. First stop at the day will be at Þingvellir (Thingvellir) – meaning ‘assembly fields’ because this is the location of the Alþing (Althing) – Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. This UNESCO World Heritage site is also where you can stand beside a rift valley – land which has been ripped apart by 2 separating tectonic plates. You’ll then take a short, easy stroll down through the canyon from the upper level to the lower level.

Hungry? You will enjoy lunch consisting of a hearty bowl of tomato soup and homemade dunking bread at the Friðheimar tomato farm. Yes, tomatoes in Iceland! It is a weird sensation to sit at tables and dine surrounded by towering, lush tomato vines, buzzing with bumble bees, all inside giant greenhouses heated and lit by geo-thermic power. Your welcome drink is a mocktail made with green tomatoes and desert is also tomato based! Maybe try the tomato beer or a Bloody Mary! Friðheimar is also a breeding centre for thoroughbred Icelandic horses. You’ll see the stables and get up close, to learn about these hardy little horses.

Now for just one more waterfall – the enormous Gullfoss Falls. Often considered the most beautiful in Iceland, the Hvita river cascades over two giant steps into the gorge below. Your last stop today is to visit the Geyser Hot Spring thermal area. Here you will stroll amongst bubbling mud pools, boiling pits of thermal water and exploding geysers – most famous of all is the Strokkur geyser which can reach 30 metres high. Your evening is free back in Reykjavík.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY 11 – REYKJAVÍK

This morning enjoy another amazing sensation at the huge Blue Lagoon thermal pools. The premium package is included, with towels, bathrobes etc so all you need is your swim costume. It is entrancing to wallow in the vast thermal, steaming pools, surrounded by snowy mountains, enjoying a (included) beer, wine, or soft drink from the ‘swim in’ pool bar, whilst your face is caked with mud packs. Your afternoon is free back in Reykjavík. Time to shop, explore and maybe visit the Hallgrimskirkja Church, where the Leif Ericsson statue stands, or the Whale or Saga or other Icelandic museums. This evening you will enjoy a farewell meal at a local restaurant in downtown Reykjavík.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner