Iceland for three generations: the Golden Circle, Snaefellsnes and the South Coast

1. Day 1: Arrive in Reykjavik and a first swim

   Keflavik International Airport to your hotel in Reykjavik

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Early welcome dinner
   • Stay in Reykjavik
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Keflavik International Airport (KEF), about 50 km from Reykjavik across the lava fields of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Most flights from North America land early in the morning, so a private transfer takes your family straight to the hotel, which holds your bags until rooms are ready; early check-in is something we request but cannot promise. Rest, or find breakfast nearby. At 1:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group and takes it the short ride to Laugardalslaug, the city's largest geothermal pool, for an hour and a half in warm water: hot tubs and a steam bath for the grandparents, a slide and shallow pool for the children, and the best cure for an overnight flight. From about 3 pm the afternoon is free for a nap or a wander. At 5 pm the guide leads an easy walk of about 45 minutes past Hallgrimskirkja and the pond at Tjornin, with its ducks and swans, to an early welcome dinner at about 6 pm, so everyone is in bed in good time.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Keflavik International Airport (KEF)
   • Laugardalslaug geothermal pool, entry and the ride there included
   • Guided walk in Reykjavik: Hallgrimskirkja and Tjornin
   • Welcome briefing and early welcome dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Whale watching from the Old Harbour, about 3 hours (seasonal; price shown at booking)
   • Perlan's nature exhibition and viewing deck (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the walk and rest at the hotel; we collect you for dinner.

   Free time: Free until 1:30 pm and from about 3 pm to 5 pm

   Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, on pavements. Bring swimsuits and a towel, or hire them at the pool. If you land after about midday, we meet you at the hotel and you join the group at dinner.

2. Day 2: A paced day on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula

   Reykjavik to Borgarnes, Budir, Arnarstapi and Djupalonssandur, then Rif and Kirkjufell, and back to Reykjavik

   • Drive about 7 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Reykjavik
   Day 2 details

   This is the one long day: about 500 km and close to seven hours of driving, well over our usual limit. A night on the peninsula would mean a third hotel and packing again, so we drive it once and break it up, with no leg over about 1 hour 45 minutes. We leave at 8:30 am, under Hvalfjordur by tunnel, for coffee in Borgarnes. On the south shore the small black church at Budir stands in a lava field. At Arnarstapi children can look down on sea arches and nesting kittiwakes from a fenced path near the minibus, below the glacier-capped Snaefellsjokull, where Jules Verne began his Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Lunch is included near Hellnar. At Djupalonssandur a lava path reaches a black pebble beach, iron from a trawler wrecked in 1948, and old lifting stones to try. Past the lake at Rif we reach Kirkjufell and its waterfall at about 3:30 pm, then stop in Grundarfjordur for toilets and a snack. The mountain road to Borgarnes takes about 1 hour 45 minutes; dinner there is included at about 6 pm, and we are back in Reykjavik by about 8:15 pm, in daylight.

   Included

   • Snaefellsnes Peninsula with your guide: Budir church, the Arnarstapi cliffs, Djupalonssandur and Rif
   • Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss
   • Snaefellsjokull National Park
   • Sit-down lunch near Hellnar
   • Early dinner in Borgarnes

   Easier option: Stay in Reykjavik for a free day, with a pool, the National Museum or Perlan, and rejoin the group at breakfast; at Djupalonssandur, the view from the top of the path saves the rocky walk down.

   More active option: Walk the 2.5 km cliff path from Arnarstapi to Hellnar, about an hour, and meet the group at lunch.

   Activity: Close to seven hours in the minibus across the day, in legs of up to about 1 hour 45 minutes, with toilet stops at Borgarnes, Hellnar, Djupalonssandur and Grundarfjordur. Short walks of up to 1 km on uneven ground; bring snacks, a book or a tablet for the children.

   

3. Day 3: The Golden Circle and the Secret Lagoon

   Reykjavik to Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss, then the Secret Lagoon at Fludir and south to Hvolsvollur

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Hvolsvollur
   Day 3 details

   We leave Reykjavik at 8:30 am and reach Thingvellir National Park, about 45 minutes away, before most of the day coaches. Iceland's parliament, the Althing, first met here in 930, and the park is listed by UNESCO. From the Hakid viewpoint we walk down through the Almannagja rift, along the edge of the North American plate, to the Law Rock; it is downhill on a good path, and the minibus meets us at the bottom. About an hour on, at the Geysir geothermal field, Strokkur erupts every few minutes, sending water up to about 20 m high, which children can watch again and again from behind the rope. Ten minutes more to Gullfoss, where the Hvita river drops in two steps into a canyon, seen from an upper viewpoint by the car park. Lunch is included near Gullfoss. In the afternoon we soak in the Secret Lagoon at Fludir, a naturally warm pool among steaming vents, before about an hour and a quarter south to our hotel near Hvolsvollur, home for two nights. The evening is free, and your guide suggests an early, family-friendly place to eat.

   Included

   • Thingvellir National Park with your guide: the Almannagja rift, the Law Rock and Oxararfoss
   • Geysir geothermal field and Strokkur
   • Gullfoss
   • Sit-down lunch near Gullfoss
   • Secret Lagoon at Fludir, entry included

   Easier option: At Thingvellir, see the rift from the Hakid viewpoint and ride down to the lower car park; at the lagoon, sit in the cafe or on the edge instead of swimming.

   More active option: Walk on from the Law Rock to Oxararfoss and the church, about 2.5 km in all, and meet the minibus there.

   Free time: Evening free near Hvolsvollur

   Activity: About 2 km on foot at Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss on good paths, with some steps at Gullfoss. The Secret Lagoon is about 1.5 m deep, hip to chest on an adult, so most children cannot stand: they stay with an adult in the water, young swimmers wear the armbands the pool provides, and the shallow edge is for sitting. Bring swimsuits and towels.

   

4. Day 4: The South Coast and a pool afternoon

   Hvolsvollur east to Reynisfjara and Vik, then back west by Dyrholaey, Solheimajokull, Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Hvolsvollur
   Day 4 details

   The reason for two nights in the south: a whole day on the coast without packing. We leave at 8:30 am and drive to the far end first, about an hour and a quarter, to reach Reynisfjara by about 9:45, ahead of most coaches from Reykjavik: black sand, the basalt columns of the Gardar cliff and the sea stacks of Reynisdrangar. The waves here are dangerous, so your guide sets a line well back from the water and children hold an adult's hand. A short look at Vik, then the Dyrholaey arch from the lower car park, where puffins nest from about May to August. Lunch is included at Skogar below Skogafoss, a 60 m fall seen from the flat ground at its foot. We finish at Seljalandsfoss, at its best in afternoon light; when the path is clear, those who want to can walk behind it and get wet. Back near Hvolsvollur by about 3:30 pm for an hour in the town's swimming pool, entry included, and an early group dinner at about 6 pm.

   Included

   • Reynisfjara and Reynisdrangar
   • Vik
   • Dyrholaey headland and sea arch
   • Skogafoss
   • Seljalandsfoss and the path behind the falls
   • Sit-down lunch at Skogar
   • Swimming pool in Hvolsvollur, entry included
   • Early group dinner near Hvolsvollur

   Easier option: See Skogafoss from its foot and Seljalandsfoss from the front, without the wet, slippery path behind it; rest at the hotel instead of the pool.

   More active option: Climb the roughly 500 steps beside Skogafoss to the viewing platform, about 30 minutes there and back, or walk the gravel path of about 1 km to the snout of the Solheimajokull glacier while the others have coffee.

   Free time: Late afternoon at the pool or the hotel before dinner

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km on foot across the day on sand, shingle and gravel, with spray at Seljalandsfoss, so everyone needs waterproofs. Bring swimsuits for the afternoon pool.

   

5. Day 5: The LAVA Centre, Eyrarbakki and home

   Hvolsvollur to Selfoss and Eyrarbakki, across the Olfusa estuary to Thorlakshofn, then Reykjavik and Keflavik International Airport

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 5 details

   A slower last morning, with time to repack after breakfast. At about 9:30 am we spend an hour at the LAVA Centre in Hvolsvollur, an interactive exhibition on Iceland's volcanoes and earthquakes that children tend to enjoy, with displays to touch, earthquake exhibits and a view from the building towards Eyjafjallajokull, whose 2010 eruption grounded flights across Europe. Then we drive west through Selfoss to Eyrarbakki, once a busy trading port and now a quiet village of old timber houses by the sea, for a short leg stretch and a snack. The road crosses the mouth of the Olfusa, Iceland's largest river by volume, on a long bridge over the estuary, then climbs from Thorlakshofn over the lava of the Threngsli pass towards the capital. Families staying on are dropped in central Reykjavik at about 1:15 pm, and the rest of us reach Keflavik International Airport by about 2:15 pm for the afternoon flights to North America. Your guide says goodbye at the airport.

   Included

   • LAVA Centre in Hvolsvollur, entry included
   • Short stop in Eyrarbakki
   • Drop-off in central Reykjavik or at Keflavik International Airport (KEF)

   Easier option: If your flight leaves before about 3:30 pm, we take you straight to the airport after the LAVA Centre.

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 4:15 pm to see both stops. Lunch today is your choice, at the airport or in Reykjavik.

   

Wildlife and weather: We run this version from May to September, when roads and paths are clear of ice and the days are long enough for the Snaefellsnes day without driving in the dark. From May to July the nights barely get dark, so bring eye masks for children who need dark rooms. Puffins nest at Dyrholaey from about May to August, when parts of the headland can close to protect them. The Northern Lights are only possible on late August and September departures, after children's bedtime.

• Reykjavik2 nights
• Hvolsvollur2 nights