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8 days - Small Group tour exploring the best of Western, Southern & Southeast Iceland in search of the Northern Lights
Experience the best of Iceland’s winter! Northern Lights Exploration is designed to include the highlights of Iceland and aim to maximise the chances of seeing the elusive Northern Lights. Head to the countryside: from the regions of Snæfellsnes Peninsula in the west to the Vatnajökull glacier in the south-east.
Discover the Golden Circle, the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the Blue Lagoon, the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and the Black lava beach. Climb a volcano, enter a lava cave, meet Icelandic horses on a farm, see turf farmsteads and churches. Optional ice cave tour at Vatnajökull glacier from mid-November to mid-March & optional Northern Lights by boat cruise from Reykjavík.
Read more about the best time to see the Northern Lights in Iceland.
Small coach (max 16 people on tour)
At 09:00 meet your tour guide at the hotel. You will start the day with a short tour of the highlights of Iceland’s exciting capital. Then you head west. Borgarfjörður is known as the Saga Valley because of its many important historical events. You get a chance to climb the Grábrók volcano crater and visit Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful hot spring. Hraunfossar is a series of waterfalls pouring from beneath a wide lava field. Barnafoss – the Children’s falls, is nearby with its own tragic tale. The afternoon includes a lecture about Northern Lights. After dinner, you step into the hotel garden in search of the Northern Lights followed by a hot cup of chocolate or tea.
The Snæfellsnes Peninsula, “the peninsula of the snowy mountain“, juts out from Iceland’s west coast, like a long arm with a clenched fist at its tip, and is in many ways a microcosm of the whole island. A rugged mountain chain runs its length. Visit the fishing village of Grundarfjörður, a place with an impressive coastline and mountains, lakes and waterfalls behind the village. One of the most photographed and famous mountain in Iceland, Kirkjufell, can be seen jutting out into the bay. Visit Arnarstapi and Hellnar before experiencing the area from below, inside Vatnshellir cave. You will be taken 35 metres underground and about 200 meters into the lava tube under the glacier Snæfellsjökull! On the way back to Borgarnes the guide gives you some practical tips on how to photograph the Auroras as part of the Northern Lights Academy program. Naturally, once darkness falls, we are out in the hotel garden to chase the Northern Lights and to soak in the hotel’s outdoor hot tubs.
Today you travel along the Hvalfjörður fjord. The first stop is at an Icelandic wool outlet store, to see what they do with all those sheep! After, you continue inland to Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. You travel the Golden Circle route, see steam rising from the Geysir geothermal fields. The chef of the Restaurant Geysir invites you to taste freshly baked hot spring bread served with Icelandic butter, geothermally boiled eggs and herring. After, you travel admire the double waterfall of Gullfoss. In the afternoon, you learn about the Icelandic horse, its unique qualities and history and visit a geothermal greenhouse, before you reach the accommodation in South Iceland. Tonight, step into the darkness and search for the elusive Northern Lights, while best enjoyed from a comfortable hot tub in the garden of the hotel, amidst the peace and stillness of rural Iceland.
Today you travel along the South coast. At the Lava & Volcano Exhibition Center, you learn about geology and active volcanoes. Further east, you visit one of Iceland’s finest folk museums. This museum contains an outstanding collection of farm and domestic artefacts from Iceland’s past and several turf-built houses. Nearby is Skógafoss waterfall which is 60 meters high and one of the most impressive waterfalls in the country. In the afternoon, take a stroll on the black lava beach and along bird cliffs at Reynisfjara in South Iceland. You spend 2 nights near Kirkjubæjarklaustur in the Vatnajökull National Park region, located in darkness and ideal for Northern Lights search.
Today’s program is all about glaciers, ice and icebergs. You travel to Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon filled with floating icebergs, and we explore the extraordinary site and might see seals swimming in arctic waters. You can walk on the black sandy beach, so-called Diamond beach, where large icebergs get stranded. In the afternoon, you visit the tiny turf church at Hof and spend time at Europe’s largest national park, which has Iceland’s highest mountains, an alpine environment, and Europe’s largest glacier. In the evening enjoy a film presentation about the Northern Lights as part of the Northern Lights Academy program. Be careful not to go to bed too soon in this remote and quiet location, or you may miss out one more chance of seeing the Northern Ligghts shimmering and dancing across the night sky.
Optional Ice Cave Tour offered between October and April:
The tour takes about 2,5 hours in total – nearly 30-minute drive by 4×4 vehicle from the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and 5-15 minutes hike (one-way). You spend about one hour inside the ice cave. You need good hiking boots, warm clothing that keeps you dry from the dripping water in the ice cave. Minimum age is 10 years old. The ice cave explorers meet their local guide at the glacier lagoon at 14:00 and will be brought back to the hotel after the ice cave tour, while the rest of the group continues the official tour program. The ice cave explorers will miss out on some of the official tour programs, as there is no time for everything, but the stop and visit at the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon are included for all group members.
From Kirkjubæjarklaustur we head across the Eldhraun lava field to the village of Vík, where we make a photo stop. The black lava beach with high bird cliffs and pounding waves is awe-inspiring. Further west we reach the high but narrow Seljalandsfoss waterfall which plunges from the mountain. In the afternoon we get to soak in the famous Blue Lagoon. We reach Reykjavík around dinner time for one last night.
Individual transfer by Flybus shuttle bus from your accommodation in Reykjavik to Keflavik International Airport.
Prices are FROM prices per person. Single supplement mandatory when in single room.
Itineraries may be subject to change at short notice during severe weather conditions and certain outdoor activities/day trips may be cancelled during the winter season in Iceland. In these rare cases, where situations of force majeure apply, excursions/activities cannot be refunded but the local guides will try their best to find reasonable alternatives where and whenever possible.
Accommodations are subject to change.
Tour is not recommended for children younger than eight years of age. 20% discount for children 8-11 years of age if sharing room with 2 adults. Tour is not recommended for children younger than eight years of age. Triple rooms are double rooms with an extra bed and ideal for two adults and one child.
This new hot springs centre has eight natural hot springs that evolve into the ocean with temperatures ranging from ocean temperatures (around 10°C) to 42°C in the old original hot spring. It is included in many of our tours and has been awarded 'best thing to do in the world' by TIMEOUT magazine, 2023.
Iceland is world famous as a 'Northern Lights' travel destination. Between mid-September to early April each year, travellers flock to this island to search each evening for the magical lights in the sky.
No-one has missed the beautiful black beaches of Iceland on Instagram. Wanting to know more about how to visit this spot? See our ultimate guide to Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland.
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