The Grand Tour of Iceland takes you on an unforgettable journey around Iceland including Snaefellsnes peninsula and the magical West Fjords. Experience the spectacular splendor and untamed beauty of Iceland´s nature, breathtaking scenery and unique Icelandic history and culture.
Duration: 11 Nights
Price: From $6,998 per person
Included:
Arrival and departure transfer by FLYBUS airport shuttle (no guide)
10 days escorted Iceland tour with an English speaking guide or driver-guide
11 nights accommodation, in rooms with shower/wc
11x breakfast and 10x dinner
Visit to three national parks
Entrance and visit to lava cave on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Ferry trip to the West Fjords
Admission fee to folk and transport museum at Hnjótur
Visit to Erik the Red homestead
Geothermal greenhouse and horse stable visit
Entrance to Herring Museum
Whale watching & sea angling cruise
Admission fee to Vok baths
Visit to Petra's stone collection in the East Fjords
Boat trip between floating icebergs on Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon
Lava Center Museum
Not included:
Beverages and lunches
Dinner on the first night in Reykjavík
Optional activities
Any service not specifically listed under "included"
Airfare from/to US
Travel Insurance
OPTIONAL EXTRA SEATING: Supplement for guaranteed window seat on our fully escorted coach tours which includes a window seat and next seat remaining empty (a passenger gets two seats). VIP seats will be reserved in the front rows of the bus, on a first come, first served basis. Empty seat supplement guarantees an extra seat for social distancing, but is not located in the front rows.
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.
ACCOMMODATION: Staying in simple but charming guesthouses, farms and tourist-class hotels, many of them set in the most stunning locations. All rooms have private shower/WC.
WELCOME TO ICELAND
The Flybus shuttle brings you from Keflavík International airport to Reykjavík where you spend the first night in Iceland. We provide you with ideas how to explore Iceland's capital on your own.
Driving distance: 50 km/31 mls
GOLDEN CIRCLE
We see classic highlights today, the Golden Circle Route. We start with a visit to a geothermal greenhouse and watch how Icelanders grow tomatoes. Next door, we can take a selfie with an Icelandic horse and learn about its unique qualities and history. We explore Gullfoss, the beautiful double “Golden Falls”, and we walk through the active geothermal area of Geysir, where Strokkur “the churn” spouts up to 25 meters (70 feet) every five to seven minutes. The next stop is the ancient Viking Parliament area and UNESCO world heritage site of Þingvellir National Park. The Þingvellir plain is situated on a tectonic plate boundary where North America and Europe are slowly tearing away from each other. As a result, the plain is scarred by dramatic fissures, ponds, and rivers, including the great rift Almannagjá.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 300 km/186 mls
SNÆFELLSNES PENINSULA AND FERRY TRIP TO THE WEST FJORDS
Today, we explore the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, which juts out from Iceland’s West Coast. A rugged mountain chain runs its length, capped by the 1,446-meter Snæfellsjökull glacier, a mystical cone-shaped stratovolcano. We travel around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, through lava fields, and along the ocean with many excellent Icelandic photo opportunities. We see the most popular sites at the Snæfellsnes National Park where volcanic craters, lava flows, an ice cap, glaciated peaks, fjords, sandy beaches, and high cliffs shape its landscapes. We follow the adventure of Jules Verne’s classic science-fiction novel about “The Journey to the Center of the Earth”. Do not miss your chance to go on a trip to the interior of the earth under the glacier Snæfellsjökull! This lava cave tour takes you 35 meters underground and about 200 meters into the lava tube called Vatnshellir. In the afternoon, we catch the car ferry Baldur from Stykkishólmur to Brjánslækur in the West Fjords. On the 2,5-hour journey over Breiðafjörður Bay, we pass the island of Flatey, which is inhabited only during the summertime. If the weather is beautiful, you will enjoy a magnificent view of the bay’s countless isles as well as the glacier Snæfellsjökull.
In the afternoon, you travel by the ferry Baldur from Stykkishólmur to Brjánslækur. This 2.5 hour journey you will see the Breiðafjörður Bay, with its many islands, including Flatey, which is only inhabited in the summer, due to weather conditions. Hopefully you will be able to see the numerous islands in the bay, if the weather is favorable, as well as the Snæfellsjökull glacier. You will spend two nights in Patreksfjörður.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 290 km/180 mls
ICELAND'S WESTERNMOST POINT
We follow the coastline and stop at the folk and transport museum in Hnjótur. We continue through a very remote and sparsely populated region to the bird cliffs of Látrabjarg, the most abundant seabird cliff and the westernmost point of Iceland and Europe where you can see puffins from mid-May till mid-August. We take a walk in the wilderness to the top of the highest bird cliff in Iceland. Látrabjarg is known in the world for its density of Nordic birds. Puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, cormorants, kittiwakes, and other cliff birds flock either in hundreds, thousands and even in millions. Látrabjarg is a place where you can get very close to the seabirds, and even if you’re not into bird watching, you are entertained by the comic puffins and mesmerized by the sheer number of birds. If weather and road conditions allow, we travel to Rauðisandur beach with endless red sand. Well, not endless but 10 km is a lot. The magnificent hues of the sand differ with daylight, tides, and weather. This pure sand beach is home to countless seabirds and seals and is an oasis of unique tranquility. Forget everything, except maybe getting the perfect shot of the ever-changing hues of yellow, orange and red.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 150 km/93 mls
BEAUTIFUL WEST FJORDS
We travel over mountains and along the shore of scenic fjords until we reach the majestic fjord Arnarfjörður, surrounded by high mountains. At the bottom of the fjord, we come across the unique waterfall Dynjandi with its seven levels of plunging water, declared the country’s most beautiful waterfall by the people of Iceland. We continue over a mountain pass and along the southern shores of the West Fjords which is a route less travelled and is characterized by sheer cliffs, deep cut bays and narrow stretches of coastal lowland. We reach Erpsstaðir, a family run dairy farm best known for their ice cream and various other dairy products. Take a look at the milk production world and taste their unique ice cream directly from the farm, with local seasonal flavors.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 440 km/279 mls
HEADING NORTH
Today’s journey is a little bit of the beaten track, around the Vatnsnes peninsula. We pass the fishing village of Hvammstangi, also called the seal capital of Iceland. A gravel road takes us around the peninsula to Hvítserkur, a highlight on the east coast of the region; a mass of igneous rock, about 15 meters high, situated on the seashore where fulmars and gulls live. An old story has it that Hvítserkur is a petrified troll that intended to stone a nearby cloister, but dawn arrived before he could succeed. We continue to Kolugljúfur canyon, where waterfalls cascade into the deep, rugged gorge. It is a breath-taking sight to walk on the viewing platform and watch the calm waters of the river suddenly leap and tumble onwards over so many impressive falls – a sight which will leave no one unmoved. Further north we stop at Víðimýri to visit one of the few preserved turf churches in Iceland. The church was built in 1834 and has turf walls, but timber gables both back and front. We continue along a high mountain road to Akureyri, also called the capital of North Iceland, where we stay for two nights.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 290 km/180 mls
ICELAND´S NORTHERNMOST TOWN, WHALE WATCHING & SEA ANGLING
Enjoy breakfast in the beautiful surrounding of the botanical garden in Akureyri. Afterwards enjoy a whale watching tour for 2-3 hours in Eyjafjörður – Iceland’s longest fjord right below the Arctic Circle. For additional bonus and fun, try your luck at sea angling towards the end of the tour. In the afternoon see the spectacular fjord landscapes while travelling to Siglufjörður, Iceland’s northernmost town, known as the herring capital of the North Atlantic. Siglufjörður is located on the mountainous Tröllaskagi Peninsula. On the way, we pass small fishing villages and stop at a deserted valley that even most Icelanders have not seen. Included is a visit to the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjörður, Iceland’s largest maritime museum and the only one in Iceland that won the European Museum Awards. We won’t miss the opportunity to taste the herring along with Brennivín, Icelandic schnapps.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 170 km/106 mls
VOLCANIC LAVA WONDERS AND GEOTHERMAL BATHING
Explore Goðafoss, the waterfall of the Gods, and continue to Lake Mývatn, known for its abundant bird life and amazing volcanic lava landscapes. We see pseudo craters, walk in the mysterious lava field Dimmuborgir, see the tephra cone Hverfjall, explore the hot springs, fumaroles, and bubbling mud pools of Námaskarð. We travel to Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall, in the northern part of Vatnajökull National Park. The round-trip walk takes about 40-60 minutes. We continue east through the bare and sometimes deserted landscape with mountains all around and head through the uninhabited highlands to East Iceland. We end the day at Vök baths, a geothermal floating pool in Lake Urriðavatn where guests can soak in hot water within and surrounded by the lake.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 370 km/230 mls
EAST FJORDS
It’s a day to admire the dramatic fjord landscape and its tiny fishing villages at the end of twisty roads in the East Fjords. First stop of the day is Petra’s fascinating rock collection. A naturalist and a collector are two terms that have been used to describe Petra since she was a little girl. Petra collected for nearly 80 years this unique treasure of rocks, crystals, zeolites, quartz and more, all from the nearby area in the East Fjords. Finally, in the afternoon, we see Vatnajökull, Europe’s biggest glacier visible all-over Southeast Iceland.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 340 km/211 mls
VATNAJÖKULL NATIONAL PARK, GLACIERS & GLACIER LAGOON
Today we visit Vatnajökull National Park which covers about 14% of Iceland, making it Europe’s 2nd largest national park in terms of area. We stop for a boat ride amongst the floating icebergs on the magnificent Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, considered one of the highlights on tour around Iceland. Next, we walk along the black sands of the so-called Diamond beach. We explore the region of Skaftafell that is nestled below Iceland’s highest mountain and the second biggest stratovolcano in Europe, the 2.110-meter high Hvannadalshnúkur. We walk close to one of the many glacial tongues in the area – a true photo moment. We cross a sandy desert before reaching our overnight location Vík, the southernmost village in Iceland.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 280 km/174 mls
THE SOUTH COAST
Today we travel along the South Coast of Iceland, between the sea, rugged mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls. We explore the black lava beach, Reynisfjara, and bird cliffs before stopping at the Skógafoss waterfall, another must-see location in South Iceland. The crashing water creates a mist that results in frequent and magical rainbows, just adding some more memorable experiences to the sheer beauty of this stunning scenery and place. Afterwards we visit Skógar folk museum with its turf houses assemblage of traditions of territorial relics on display. Later reach Seljalandsfoss waterfall where you can follow a slick and wet trail and walk right behind it. Come prepared and bring a raincoat and good boots as you will get wet. Then we visit the Lava & Volcano Exhibition Centre focused on geology and active volcanoes and watch a documentary film about volcanic eruptions in the past years in Iceland. Farewell dinner at a local restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital.
Breakfast and dinner included.
Driving distance: 210 km/130 mls
DEPARTURE DAY
The Flybus airport shuttle takes you the Keflavík International Airport.
Breakfast included.
Driving distance: 50 km/ 31 mls
Departures May 2025
$6,998 per person sharing double/triple room
$8,712 per person in single room
May: 5, 19,
Departures June-August 2025
$7,730 per person sharing double/triple room
$9,912 per person in single room
June:16, 30
July: 14, 28
August: 11, 25
Please note: All bookings are subject to availability. Availability is NOT guaranteed until booking is confirmed by Nordika Travel
ITINERARY CAN CHANGE SLIGHTLY WITHOUT NOTICE.
