Ice & Lights

Fly from your chosen airport to Keflavik and transfer to Reykjavik, your introduction to city life, Icelandic style, surrounded by natural wonders. Stay overnight at the 4-star Fosshotel.

Visit the LAVA Centre in Hvolsvöllur, its full title ‘Iceland Volcano & Earthquake Centre’, its high-tech show revealing the epic forces of nature which created Iceland 20million years ago. Explore the black sand beach of Reynisfjara, with its huge basalt stacks and Atlantic waves; and the twin cascades of the Systrafoss (Sisters’ Falls). Continue to Hnappavellir, spread around the base of vertical cliffs which were once the country’s coastline, for two nights at the 4-star Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. Travel to Skaftafell or Jökulsárlón in search of the Northern Lights (might take place the following evening).
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Visit ethereal Jökulsárlón (‘glacial river lagoon’), where icebergs calve from the glacier edge, cracking and crackling as they move, with the wind and tide, down the river and into the lagoon; and the dazzling ‘diamond beach’, sparkling with cubes and crystals of ice. Explore Skaftafell, at the southern edge of the Vatnajökul Glacier National Park; and hike to Svartifoss (black waterfall) surrounded by lava columns and crashing over a cliff (1½ hrs, weather permitting).
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Follow the south Icelandic coast to the majestic, 60m-high Seljalandsfoss waterfall, and nearby Skógafoss, equally tall and 25m wide. Visit Skógar Folk Museum of cultural heritage, with thousands of craft artefacts; and continue to Dverghamrar (‘Dwarf Cliffs’), with striking rock formations, hexagonal basalt columns, and legends of local elves. Two nights at the 3-star Landhotel, near Selfoss, with the opportunity to see the Northern Lights (conditions permitting).
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The Golden Circle tour takes us to Iceland’s mightiest and most iconic cascade, Gullfoss (‘golden falls’), its dual-level, 32m drop careering between 70m-high canyon walls; to the famous Geysir hot spring, which lent its name to all the world’s geysers; to hauntingly beautiful Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with mountain peaks, moss-softened magma fields, and the exposed North American and Eurasian tectonic plates; and to Frioheimar geothermal farm, famed for its horse-breeding stables and for its flourishing greenhouses. Enjoy a tasting of Icelandic rye bread, baked in the geothermal earth.
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Visit the little villages of Stokkseyri, known for its birdlife, beautiful shoreline, and the Elf-Troll; and Eyrarbakki, its quaint and colourful buildings including the Húsio (house) museum, one of Iceland’s oldest houses. Continue to Reyjavik for a tour of the city, small enough to stroll around but big on cosmopolitan atmosphere. Optional visit to the Blue Lagoon, built into a lava field, its 38-degree water supplied by the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power station (£185; pre-bookable only). Overnight at the 4-star Fosshotel.
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Transfer to Keflavik airport for the return flight to your chosen airport.
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