What follows is a sample itinerary based on the Budget Scheme.
Day 1: |
Fly from the UK to Keflavik and transfer to the Blue Lagoon where you can take a dip in the milky blue geothermal waters of Iceland's most famous attraction. Continue to your accommodation in Reykjavik for evening meal and overnight stay. |
Day 2: |
Meet your guide and travel east through the mountains to the Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station, located on the edge of the rift valley that saw the establishment of the first democratic parliament in the world in the year 1000 AD at Thingvellir. Explore the rift and continue to Geysir, where Iceland's most reliable geyser Strokkur spouts every 5 minutes or so. Nearby witness the immense power of the two-tiered waterfall Gullfoss before visiting a former volcanic crater,
Kerid. Continue to your accommodation in Reykjavik or a rural guesthouse. |
Day 3: |
Drive east and visit Seljalandsfoss a narrow waterfall that plummets over a former sea cliff and which is possible to walk behind. In contrast the waterfall at Skogar is a broad curtain of water that thunders 60m over a cliff edge. There is also a superb folk museum looking at rural life through the ages, complete with re-constructed turf houses. The Solheimajokull glacier is the next port of call and if you wish you can take an optional trip up onto the icecap towed by a powerful Bombardier tracked vehicle. Continue to your farm stay accommodation close to the village of Vik. |
Day 4: |
Continue east across the huge Myrdalssandur outwash sands where attempts have been made at soil stabilisation. Its eastern boundary is one of the world's largest effusions of lava, the Eldhraun from the Laki eruption of 1783. Close by you can study the Fjadrargljufur, where glacial overspill has created a gorge with superb fluvial features.
Cross Iceland's largest outwash plain at the margin of the immense Skeidararjokull glacier snout, part of the Vatnajokull icecap. It was here in 1996 that there was a sub-glacial eruption that hit the headlines and demolished the road with floods approaching 40,000m3/sec. Overnight at a hotel near the glacier. |
Day 5: |
The proximity of Svinafellsjokull allows for detailed investigation before continuing to Kviarjokull, a valley glacier with impressive arcuate moraines before reaching the stunning pro-glacial lake Jokulsarlon with its armada of icebergs. During the summer it is possible to cruise the lake in an amphibious vessel. Return west towards Vik and your farmstay accommodation passing columnar basalt cliffs. |
Day 6: |
Visit the beach and dunes at Vik considering the nature of the rock cycle before picking up the columnar theme again in the impressive cliffs of Reynishverfi. The coastline between here and Dyrholaey
is worthy of study with a variety of features including Iceland's answer to Durdle Door - an immense rock arch. En route to Reykjavik pass through the small town of
Hveragerdi where you can swim in geothermal waters, go horse riding or carry out a rural settlement study. |
Day 7: |
You may like to spend time in the capital sightseeing and shopping or possibly join a three-hour whale watching trip from Reykjavik harbour between April and October. Alternatively visit the Krisuvik geothermal area on the way to Keflavik for the return flight. |