Tour of Iceland and West Fjords – 15 days Private Guided Tour

Arrival at Keflavík International Airport and transfer to the accommodation.

Accommodation in the airport area or in Reykjavík.

Krýsuvík and excursion to the new lava fields of the active volcano in 2021/22 After breakfast, the guide will meet the group at the reception of the accommodation, where there will be a small presentation of the trip.

Excursion to the newly created lava fields

After thousands of earthquakes in the area in the previous weeks, the lava finally found its way outwards on March 19, 2021 near Fagradalsfjall, in the Geldingadalur valley. A new eruption took place in the summer of 2022. The location of this eruption in the middle of a valley surrounded by hills caused the lava to stay in the valley without endangering nearby populations.

It is located just 9 kilometers from the town of Grindavík, which makes it easy for us to approach it by road. It is up to us to make the effort to walk the few kilometers that separate us from the valley, where we can discover the new lava fields that have been created after recent volcanic activity.

• Trekking length: max 7 km
• Elevation gain: 300m
• Total duration of the excursion: between 1 and 2 hours

We will also visit the Krýsuvík Geothermal area, with its fumaroles and boiling mud.

Accommodation on the Snaefellsnes peninsula. (2 nights)

We will visit the Snaefellsnes peninsula or, as the Icelanders call it, “little Iceland”, since it concentrates many of the most representative landscapes of the island. This peninsula is very famous for the presence of Snaefellsjökull, a volcano through which Jules Verne accessed the center of the Earth in his famous novel. 

We will see seals, caves, white sand beaches and cliffs with basaltic formations, in one of the most beautiful settings on the island. We will stop to see the fabulous rock formations of Arnarstapi, where we will take a walk along the cliffs and we will be able to observe the paradise of waterfowl. We will also visit Djúpalónssandur, a beach with a very curious story about the sailors who lived in this area. We will surround the Snaefellsjökull volcano and pass by Kirkjufell, which has become the most photographed mountain in the country.

Accommodation on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.

Today we will sail by ferry to the not very touristy Westfjords, through a network of islands. The wonderful journey lasts about 3 hours, passing through the beautiful island of Flatey and ending in the southern part of the fjords.

Already in the fjords, we will begin by visiting the spectacular and remote red sand beach of Rauðisandur, to continue to the westernmost point of the island, the Latrabjarg cliffs. We will walk along the upper part of the cliffs and we will be able to observe the infinity of birds that nest here, including the famous puffins.

Accommodation in the area.

Just by deviating a few kilometers to the north, we can enjoy this original thunder-shaped waterfall, Dynjandi.

We will take advantage of the peace that being in such a remote place provides to enjoy a thermal bath in one of the many pools and pools that exist in this area of the fjords.

Accommodation at the exit of the fjords

We leave the fjords and head towards Akureyri, the so-called “northern capital”. On the way, we will visit the Glaumbaer farmhouse-museum, which will immediately transport us back to 18th century Icelandic life, with its beautiful turf houses. Our last stop before reaching Akureyri will be in Eyjafjördur for a whale watching excursion in one of the most beautiful fjords in North Iceland. Maybe we can even catch our own cod for dinner one of the next few nights. Dinner on your own in Akureyri.

Accommodation in Akureyri.

Before reaching the Lake Mývatn area, we will stop to visit the Goðafoss waterfall, very close to road number 1 and known as “the waterfall of the gods”. In the Lake Mývatn area we will observe the large number of existing pseudocraters and we will be able to learn some notions about the geological formation of the area and the particularities of each of the natural phenomena that we will encounter, which is also a paradisiacal habitat for waterfowl . Next we will go to Hverfjall, a volcanic tephra cone through which we will trek to ascend to the crater, see the great size of this volcano and enjoy an enviable panorama.

Later, we will head towards Námafjall, one of the areas with the highest number of fumaroles and boiling mud in all of Iceland.

Accommodation in the area (2 nights)

We will pass through the small town of Húsavík, also known as “the capital of whales”, where we will take the opportunity to take a bath in the recently opened Geosea hot springs, with spectacular views of the sea.

We will visit Ásbyrgi, a canyon that crosses one of the most beautiful forest areas in all of Iceland, located in the northern part of the Jökulsargljufur National Park.

From here we will leave to visit Dettifoss, located in the Jökulsárgljúfur National Park and considered the mightiest waterfall in all of Europe. Many of you may recognize it because it was used as the opening scene of the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus, which has many locations in Iceland. We will also visit the Selfoss waterfall.

We start heading towards the south of Iceland. We will cross a large area of deserts on our way.

towards Egilsstadir, the main town in eastern Iceland, where we will take the opportunity to make the purchase. From here we will enter the interior of the island doing a short trekking to see the Hengifoss waterfall, from where we will have impressive views of the valley with the Lagarfljot river and its lake, one of the areas with less tourism on the island and also a of the most beautiful.

We continue our way through the eastern fjords through a region where reindeer live and there is the possibility of seeing them.

Accommodation in the eastern fjords area.

We are approaching Vatnajökull, the third largest glacier on the planet. As we get closer we will notice its immensity in a landscape bathed by glacial tongues.

We will go to the area of the glacial lagoons, where Jökulsárlón stands out, with a size of 18 km2 and where we can see hundreds of icebergs that break off from the Breiðamerkurjökull tongue. At its mouth the icebergs remain stranded on a black sand beach. We will also visit Fjallsárlón, another lagoon with icebergs that has an impressive glacier front where you can take very good pictures. We will make a navigation between icebergs. While we tour the lagoon they will explain the reason for the melting, the reality of climate change and more interesting details about glaciers and icebergs.

Accommodation in the area.

We leave for the town with the unpronounceable name Kirkjubæjarklaustur, located in the south of the island, on road number 1.

We will make a stop at the Skaftafell National Park. Here we can choose one of the following options:

• Option 1 (no extra cost): Trekking day in the Skaftafell National Park, enjoying this natural paradise that contrasts sandy plateaus, flowery valleys and impressive waterfalls next to the largest glacier in Europe. On our way we will visit the famous Svartifoss, a beautiful waterfall with basalt columns of volcanic origin.
• Option 2 (with supplement): glacier walk with crampons.

We will continue traveling south through the Laki lava fields and stop to see the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon, where we will be able to take some of the most beautiful photographs of the trip.

Accommodation in the Vík area.

We approach the cliffs of the southern part of the island and the black sand beaches of Vík.

First we will visit Reynisfjara, a black sand beach surrounded by a landscape with impressive basalt formations and from where we will be able to observe the famous Reynisdrangar “Trolls”, which legend says were petrified at dawn and found in the sea.

Dyrhólaey will be our next stop, a high point from which to observe the puffin colonies (from mid-June to mid-August) and curious lava formations. 

We will continue our route south towards Skógar to visit the Skógafoss waterfall, which at 60 meters high and 25 meters wide is one of the largest in Iceland. Here we will have time to enjoy the surroundings of the waterfall and climb to the top of it. 

Our next visit will be the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, famous for allowing travelers to pass behind the water column. In this area we can see the effects of the famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which caused air chaos in Europe in 2010.

Accommodation in the Hella or Reykjavik area

Undoubtedly the most popular group of visits on the island. Here we will know three essential places on a trip to

Iceland:

• Geysir, the famous spout of water that has given its name to all the geysers in the world, is currently dormant, but next to it we will see its “brother” Strokkur, which emanates with all its force every few minutes and which we can enjoy several times during our visit.
• Gullfoss or the “Golden Waterfall”, one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland thanks to its fabulous waterfalls that reach 32 meters high.
• Thingvellir National Park (þingvellir), seat of the first Icelandic Parliament, where we can observe the separation of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.

We continue our trip to Reykjavík where we will round off this magnificent trip toasting in the infinity-horizon thermal pool of the new Sky Lagoon Spa, with impressive views of the fjord.

After settling in our accommodation, we will have the afternoon and evening free to enjoy the capital. Reykjavík is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe and the Icelandic nightlife is famous for having many places where you can have a drink in a very pleasant atmosphere.

Accommodation in Reykjavik.

Free day in the capital. Today we can take the opportunity to rest, to visit the city quietly or to take one of the many optional excursions that leave from here.

We recommend:

Optional: Adventure in Landmannalaugar

Accommodation in Reykjavik.

Free time until the transfer to the airport. Depending on your flight schedule, we recommend visiting the port, the Laugavegur shopping street, the famous Hallgrímskirkja church, the Harpa building or one of the capital’s museums.

Optional: Blue Lagoon (one way from Reykjavík and return to the airport)

Return flight.

Note: the itinerary can be done in one direction or the other without distinction. For logistics reasons in the country, some location or accommodation may change without prior notice. This does not usually happen, but Iceland is one of the world destinations with the greatest increase in travelers in recent years and on certain occasions we have had to make small changes on the fly for external reasons. This does not affect the visits to be made.