Iceland: the South Coast, the Glaciers and Snaefellsnes

1. Day 1: Arrive in Reykjavik

   Keflavik International Airport to your hotel in Reykjavik

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

   Fly into Keflavik International Airport (KEF), about 50 km from Reykjavik across the lava of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Most flights from North America land early in the morning, so a private transfer brings you straight into the city, and the hotel keeps your bags until your room is ready; we request early check-in but cannot promise it. Sleep off the flight, find breakfast, or try one of the city's geothermal pools, where locals sit in the hot tubs whatever the weather. At 3 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for an easy two-hour walk: Hallgrimskirkja on its hill, the pond at Tjornin, the Parliament House and the Old Harbour, ending at the glass front of Harpa. Over a short briefing your guide runs through the week, including the choice on day 3 between the glacier walk and the path to Svartifoss, so we can book your place on the ice. Then we walk together to a welcome dinner in the centre at about 7 pm.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Keflavik International Airport (KEF)
   • Guided walk in Reykjavik: Hallgrimskirkja, Tjornin, the Parliament House, the Old Harbour and Harpa
   • Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Whale watching from the Old Harbour in the morning, about 3 hours (seasonal; price shown at booking)
   • Sky Lagoon in Kopavogur after dinner (price shown at booking)

   Free time: Free until the 3 pm walk

   Activity: If you land after about 2 pm, go straight to the hotel: your guide leaves a note at the front desk with the restaurant address, and you join the group at the welcome dinner at about 7 pm.

2. Day 2: The Golden Circle and the waterfalls to Vik

   Reykjavik to Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss, then Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss to Vik

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Vik
   Day 2 details

   Our longest driving day: about 305 km and four and a half hours at the wheel, over our four-hour cap because a night between Gullfoss and Vik would add another hotel change. Six short legs, lunch and a stretch stop break it up. We leave at 8 am to reach Thingvellir National Park by about 8:45, before most of the day coaches. Iceland's parliament first met here in 930, and the park is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Walk down the Almannagja rift to the Law Rock and the Oxararfoss waterfall. An hour on, Strokkur erupts every few minutes in the Geysir field, and ten minutes beyond, the Hvita river drops in two steps into the Gullfoss canyon. Lunch is included near Gullfoss. The afternoon runs south through farmland on Route 30 to the Ring Road, with a stretch stop in Hella, then on to Seljalandsfoss, a 60 m fall you can walk behind when the path is free of ice, then Skogafoss, also about 60 m, a single broad curtain you can walk right up to. We reach Vik at about 6 pm for a walk on the black beach. Dinner is yours tonight.

   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
   • Stretch stop in Hella
   • Seljalandsfoss and the path behind the falls
   • Skogafoss
   • Walk on the black beach at Vik

   Easier option: At Thingvellir, take the view from the Hakid viewpoint and ride down to the lower car park; see Seljalandsfoss from the front, without the wet path behind it.

   More active option: Climb the steps beside Skogafoss to the top of the falls and walk a short way up the Skoga river trail, about 45 minutes there and back.

   Free time: Evening free in Vik

   Activity: About 4 km on foot across the day on good paths, with spray at Seljalandsfoss, so wear waterproofs. Gullfoss to Seljalandsfoss is about 125 km, so we break it at Hella.

   

3. Day 3: Reynisfjara, Eldhraun and a glacier at Skaftafell

   Vik to Reynisfjara and Dyrholaey, then east across Eldhraun to Fjadrargljufur and Skaftafell, ending near Hof

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

   We leave Vik at 8 am for Reynisfjara, a few minutes' drive west, and have the black beach, the basalt columns of the Gardar cliff and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks before the coaches from Reykjavik arrive. The waves here are dangerous, so we keep well back from the water. Next, when it is open, is Dyrholaey, the headland with a great sea arch, where puffins nest from about May to August. Then east across the Myrdalssandur plain and the moss-covered lava of Eldhraun, laid down by the Laki eruption of 1783 and 1784, to the twisting Fjadrargljufur canyon when its path is open. Lunch is included near Skaftafell, in Vatnajokull National Park, and then the group splits for the afternoon. The active choice is a glacier walk of about three hours with a certified local glacier guide, in crampons and a helmet, among ridges, crevasses and meltwater channels on an outlet glacier. The easy choice is the walk to Svartifoss, a waterfall framed by dark basalt columns, with your See Sight Tours guide. Both are included. We reach our hotel near Hof by about 6 pm for an included dinner.

   Included

   • Reynisfjara and Reynisdrangar
   • Dyrholaey headland and sea arch, when open
   • Eldhraun lava field
   • Fjadrargljufur canyon, when the path is open
   • Sit-down lunch near Skaftafell
   • Skaftafell, Vatnajokull National Park: a glacier walk of about 3 hours with a certified glacier guide, or the walk to Svartifoss with your guide
   • Dinner at or near the hotel

   Easier option: Walk to Svartifoss with your guide, about 3.5 km there and back with a steady climb, or take the nearly flat path to the snout of Skaftafellsjokull, about 4 km there and back.

   More active option: The glacier walk: about 3 hours in all, with crampons, a helmet and an ice axe supplied by the glacier guides. Bring waterproof walking boots with ankle support.

   Free time: Evening free near Hof, where the small turf church is worth a short walk

   Activity: Tell us your choice for the afternoon when you book, so we can reserve your place on the ice. The glacier guides set a minimum age and may change the route or cancel for weather; if they do, you walk to Svartifoss instead.

   

4. Day 4: Jokulsarlon, Diamond Beach and back west

   Hof to Jokulsarlon and Diamond Beach, then Fjallsarlon and west along the South Coast by Kirkjubaejarklaustur and Vik to Hvolsvollur

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Hvolsvollur
   Day 4 details

   The night near Hof puts us at Jokulsarlon about half an hour after breakfast, ahead of the day tours that drive out from Reykjavik and Vik. Icebergs break from the front of the Breidamerkurjokull glacier and drift slowly across the lagoon towards the sea, and seals often swim among them. Our boat trip on the lagoon is included, about 40 minutes among the ice in season. Across the road, chunks of ice wash up on the black sand of Diamond Beach. Heading back west, we stop at Fjallsarlon, a smaller, quieter lagoon close to its glacier front, then pass Skaftafell below Oraefajokull, the ice-capped volcano that holds Iceland's highest summit. This is our other long driving day, about 315 km and four and a quarter hours, a little over our cap because there is no closer base for the next day's run to Snaefellsnes. The boat comes first, the longest leg is about an hour and three quarters to lunch, a proper stop in the village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur. A stretch stop in Vik breaks up the afternoon, and we reach our hotel in or near Hvolsvollur by about 5:30 pm. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Boat trip on Jokulsarlon, about 40 minutes (in season)
   • Diamond Beach
   • Fjallsarlon glacier lagoon
   • Sit-down lunch in Kirkjubaejarklaustur
   • Stretch stop in Vik

   Easier option: Watch the icebergs from the shore path at Jokulsarlon instead of taking the boat, and stay with the minibus at Fjallsarlon.

   More active option: Walk the shore path along the lagoon outlet to the sea and back while the boat trips run, about 2 km.

   Free time: Evening free near Hvolsvollur

   Activity: Short walks on gravel and sand; the boats board from a ramp. Dress warmly for the boat: the air over the ice is cold even in summer.

   

5. Day 5: Borgarnes and on to Snaefellsnes

   Hvolsvollur by Selfoss and Reykjavik to Borgarnes, then Gerduberg and the Berserkjahraun lava field to Grundarfjordur

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Grundarfjordur
   Day 5 details

   We leave at 8:30 am and make the long run west in short pieces: through Selfoss and Hveragerdi, over the Hellisheidi heath with its steaming geothermal power plant, past Reykjavik and under Hvalfjordur by tunnel to Borgarnes, about two and a half hours with a coffee stop. In Borgarnes the Settlement Centre tells how Iceland was settled and the story of Egil Skallagrimsson, the poet and fighter of Egil's Saga, who grew up here; entry and lunch are included. In the afternoon the road runs north west onto the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, past the long wall of basalt columns at Gerduberg, then over the Vatnaleid pass to the north shore. We stop in the Berserkjahraun lava field, named for two berserkers in Eyrbyggja saga who were set to clearing a path through it, and walk a short part of the way. Grundarfjordur, our home for two nights, sits beside Kirkjufell; we arrive at about 4:30 pm, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Settlement Centre in Borgarnes, entry included
   • Sit-down lunch in Borgarnes
   • Gerduberg basalt columns
   • Short walk in the Berserkjahraun lava field

   Easier option: Stay with the minibus at Gerduberg and Berserkjahraun; both can be seen from the road.

   More active option: In the evening, walk from town out to Kirkjufellsfoss and back, about 6 km on the road verge and path.

   Free time: Evening free in Grundarfjordur

   Activity: About 2 km on foot today; the lava path is rough and uneven, so wear boots.

6. Day 6: Round the Snaefellsnes Peninsula

   Grundarfjordur to Kirkjufell, Olafsvik and Rif, then Saxholl, Djupalonssandur, Londrangar, Hellnar, Arnarstapi and Budir, and back over the Frodarheidi pass by Olafsvik

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Grundarfjordur
   Day 6 details

   We are at Kirkjufell by about 8:30 am, when the light is soft and the day tours from Reykjavik are still a couple of hours away: the 463 m peak with the falls of Kirkjufellsfoss in front of it. West along the north shore, past the fishing towns of Olafsvik and Rif, we climb the stairs up the Saxholl crater for a view over the lava to the sea, then follow a path through lava down to Djupalonssandur, a black pebble beach strewn with iron from a British trawler wrecked in 1948 and four old lifting stones once used to test fishermen's strength. The Londrangar sea stacks come next, then lunch in Hellnar. After lunch, the cliffs and sea arches of Arnarstapi below Snaefellsjokull, the glacier-capped volcano where Jules Verne began his Journey to the Centre of the Earth. At Budir, beside the small black church, we walk into the Budahraun lava field for about an hour among moss and ferns. Then we cross the peninsula by the Frodarheidi pass to Olafsvik and run east along the north shore to Grundarfjordur by about 5 pm, with a farewell dinner tonight.

   Included

   • Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss
   • Olafsvik and Rif
   • Saxholl crater
   • Djupalonssandur
   • Londrangar sea stacks
   • Sit-down lunch in Hellnar
   • Arnarstapi cliffs and sea arches
   • Guided walk in the Budahraun lava field at Budir, about 1 hour
   • Snaefellsjokull National Park
   • Farewell dinner in Grundarfjordur

   Easier option: Skip the Saxholl stairs and the lava-field walk and wait by the black church at Budir; the other viewpoints are close to the car parks.

   More active option: After lunch, walk the 2.5 km cliff path from Hellnar to Arnarstapi, about an hour past sea arches and nesting birds, and meet the minibus there.

   Free time: Late afternoon free before dinner

   Activity: About 5 km on foot across the day. The Djupalonssandur path is rocky and the Budahraun path is rough lava; wear boots.

   

7. Day 7: Back to Reykjavik and home

   Grundarfjordur over the Vatnaleid pass to Borgarnes, through the Hvalfjordur tunnel to Reykjavik and Keflavik International Airport

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   A gentle last morning. After breakfast there is time for a final look at Kirkjufell or a walk by the harbour before we leave at about 9 am. The road crosses the peninsula by the Vatnaleid pass, with a last view back over the lava, and follows the coast to Borgarnes for a coffee stop. Beyond the long bridge over Borgarfjordur, the tunnel under Hvalfjordur saves the drive round the fjord, and we reach Reykjavik at about 11:45 am. Guests staying on are dropped in the centre, and your guide can suggest where to spend the afternoon: the National Museum, a city pool or the harbour. The rest of us reach Keflavik International Airport by about 12:45 pm, in good time for the afternoon flights to North America and Europe. Your guide stays with the group to the airport and says goodbye there. Lunch today is your own, in Reykjavik or at the airport.

   Included

   • Coffee stop in Borgarnes
   • Drop-off in central Reykjavik or at Keflavik International Airport (KEF)

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. If you stay on in Reykjavik, we can quote extra nights at the start hotel.

Wildlife and weather: From late May to July the nights barely get dark, which suits the two longer driving days. Puffins nest at Dyrholaey from about May to August, when parts of the headland can close to protect the birds, and seals often swim among the icebergs at Jokulsarlon. September is cooler and quieter, with the first autumn colour on Snaefellsnes. The Northern Lights need dark, clear skies, so they are only possible on departures from about late August.

• Reykjavik1 night
• Vik1 night
• Hof1 night
• Hvolsvollur1 night
• Grundarfjordur2 nights