Iceland’s Auroras, Volcanoes and Glacier Lagoon

The Flybus shuttle (unguided) brings you from Keflavík International Airport to the accommodation in Reykjavík where you spend the night. We provide you with ideas how to explore Iceland’s capital on your own, dinner suggestions too! Food lovers will be pleased and perhaps even impressed by the number of diverse restaurants in Reykjavík. Many award winning chefs create delicious Icelandic cuisine that is characterized by an imaginative use of local ingredients such as fresh seafood, organic lamb and wild game; but be sure to try the fabulous Icelandic hot dog and pizza too!

This tour gives you time to explore Reykjavík, visit popular sites such as the Golden Circle, the Reynisfjara lava beach, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and the opportunity to search for Northern Lights. You will see cascading waterfalls, smoking geysers, colourful volcanic craters, a spectacular ice lagoon with floating icebergs and black lava beaches, all set against a backdrop of glittering glaciers and restless geology. There is always a thrilling potential for the night sky to be decorated with the jewels of the amazing Aurora Borealis. Imagine the excitement to search for the most spectacular – and natural – light show on earth.

Optional Northern Lights cruise by boat in Reykjavík harbour and an optional ice-cave visit from mid-November to mid-March.

Nature fees: There is a possibility that some of the nature attractions around Iceland might charge an entrance fee during the trip. These entrance fees are not included in the tour price and need to be paid by all tour members additionally on the spot, when entering any of these nature sites. Locations, amount of entrance fee, form of payment and other details are not known at the present time and are subject to change.

Meet your tour guide this morning and start the escorted tour program with a short introduction to Icelandic geology while watching a striking film at the Reykjavik Volcano House documenting the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull and Fimmvörðulháls in 2010, which caused millions of people to be stranded worldwide as thousands of flights were cancelled. These films give a good insight into the general geology and volcanology of Iceland. At the Volcano House you can experience a hands-on geological exhibition where you can examine various pieces of pumice, ash and lava from Icelandic volcanoes. Later on we depart from Reykjavik and drive to Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and where the Althingi, the oldest legislative assembly in the world was founded. This is one of Iceland’s most fascinating places both geologically and for the role it plays in the country’s history and sense of national identity. Thingvellir is also remarkable for reasons of natural science, as the site is part of a fissure zone running through Iceland, and is situated on the tectonic plate boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The faults and fissures of the area make evident the rifting of the earth’s crust. Exploring the hot springs at Geysir is like watching a geography lesson in real life: natural springs bubbling away in the ground until the pressure becomes too much – and they explode in spectacular style. Geysir and Strokkur are the two biggest of the geysers there. While Geysir is no longer active, Strokkur still spouts every 5 to 15 minutes to the delight of visitors. Next we travel to Gullfoss, “the golden falls”, which is a double waterfall that tumbles 34 meters into the Hvítá river. Gullfoss is one of Iceland’s most beautiful waterfalls. The explosion crater called Kerið is filled with water and resembles an ancient amphitheatre. In the evening, you hear about the Northern Lights from your tour guide. Naturally, once darkness falls, you are out in the garden waiting for the Northern Lights to hopefully make an appearance. Accommodation tonight is at a countryside hotel near Selfoss.

A long drive brings us to a world of glaciers, ice and icebergs. We travel to Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon filled with floating icebergs. We explore this extraordinary site and perhaps see some seals swimming in the arctic waters. You can walk on the black sandy beach where large icebergs get stranded. The Vatnajökull National Park is about 12,000 square kilometers and it is the largest National Park in Europe. In this area we find Iceland’s highest mountains, an alpine environment and Europe’s largest glacier. Tonight you can enjoy a movie presentation about Northern Lights as a part of the Northern Lights educational program. Be careful not to go to bed too soon in this remote and quiet location, or you may just miss out one more chance of seeing the Northern Lights shimmering and dancing across the night sky. Accommodation tonight is near the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.

Today, we head across the Eldhraun lava field to the village of Vík where we make a photo stop. We take a stroll on the black lava beach and see the bird cliffs at Reynisfjara beach in South Iceland. We pass the glacier Mýrdalsjökull and the infamous volcano Eyjafjallajökull and continue to Skógafoss waterfall which is 62 meters high and belongs to the most impressive waterfalls in the country. Further west we reach the high but narrow Seljalandsfoss waterfall which is 65 meters high and plunges over the mountain. There is a trail that goes behind the fall which is interesting – if you are prepared to get wet! In the evening we return to Reykjavik for one last night. A transfer bus will bring you at 18:00 to the New Year’s Eve 4-course festive dinner at the Panoramic restaurant Út í Bláinn at Perlan. The restaurant is located on the top floor and offers amazing parnoramic views of Reykjavík. Between 20:30-22:30 we take you to one of the bonfires in Iceland’s capital. An evening tour around Reykjavik on New Year’s Eve is an Icelandic tradition. Back at Perlan, we celebrate with music and sparkling wine, and at midnight we experience the “crazy” and the one of a kind fireworks in Iceland’s capital. Return transfers to the hotel are offered at 01:00 and 02:00.

Individual transfer (unguided) by Flybus airport shuttle from your guesthouse accommodation in Reykjavík to Keflavík Airport.

This special New Year’s tour allows you to ring in 2022 in Reykjavik, Iceland and see the sky filled with fantastic fireworks and the city dotted with the lights of neighbourhood bonfires. You’ll also have the opportunity to visit popular sites such as the Golden Circle, the South coast and Vatnajökull national park. You will see cascading waterfalls, smoking geysers, colourful volcano craters, a spectacular ice lagoon with floating icebergs and black lava beaches, all set against a backdrop of glistering glaciers and restless geology. There is always a thrilling potential for the night sky to be decorated with the jewels of the amazing Aurora Borealis. Imagine the excitement to search for the most spectacular – and natural – light show on earth.