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HOLIDAYS TO ICELAND
A GRAND MOTORING TOUR OF ICELAND
14 days from £1580 pp
Prices | Drive & Discover |
Map of tour
Discover the whole of Iceland from its signature highlights in the south to its dramatic eastern fjords; from Myvatn’s mystical marvels in the north to the serenity of Snæfellsnes in the west. A complete and comprehensive tour of the whole island with excursions available in every quadrant.
DAY 1 UK – REKJAVÍK Scheduled flight to Reykjavík. Collect hire car at the airport and drive to and overnight at Hotel Fludir for 2 nights.
DAY 2 FLUDIR A day savouring south Iceland’s attractions: the Geysir geothermal area with its hot springs, fumaroles stained yellow with sulphur and Thykkuhverir, the viscous hot springs; Gullfoss, whose waters flow down a 3 step staircase before plunging in two stages down a crevice at right angles to the flow of the river and Pingvellir, home to Althing which is almost a shrine to Icelanders.
DAY 3 FLUDIR – VIK Drive down to and along the south coast stopping at Seljalandsfoss and Seljalandsfoss, possibly detouring up to Myrdalsjokull for a glacier snowmobile ride before arriving at Dyrholaey and an overnight at its eponymous hotel. Overnight at Hotel Dyrholay.
DAY 4 VIK - SKAFTAFELL Drive along the southeast coast with its vast outwash plains forded by bridges and Skeidararsandur, literally the black sands of the Skeidarsandur glacier before arriving at the edge of Skaftafell National Park. Overnight at Hotel Skaftafell.
DAY 5 SKAFTAFELL – SEYDISFJÖRÐUR The highlight of this day’s journey is the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon undoubtedly one of Iceland’s ‘wow factor’ sights. Continue along route 1 along the still gravelled section overhung by rhyolite crags contouring the indented coastline dotted with fishing villages before descending to Seydisfjörður. Overnight at Hotel Aldan.
DAY 6 SEYDISFJÖRÐUR – MÝVATN Vast seemingly endless deserts of glacially crushed rock are the hallmark of the day before arriving at the contrastingly lush Lake Mývatn area. Overnight at Hotel Reykjahlid for 2 nights.
DAY 7 MÝVATN Time to explore the extraordinary scenery and wildlife in the area: the wooded headland at Höfði with its lava pillars; contorted black towers of Dimmuborgir; the pastel coloured Námafjall ridge with its steamy surroundings and smouldering, sulphurous Krafla. Further afield there are the multi-hued houses that hug the mountainside by the fishing village of Husavik from where you can go whale spotting; the unusually wooded canyon at Asbyrgi; Dettifoss with its dishwater grey torrent and the somewhat forgotten Selfoss with its wide curtain fall.
DAY 8 MÝVATN – SAUÐARKRÓKUR Drive to Akureyri, through the Öxnadalsheiði pass and then round to Laugarbakki for a night at Gauksmyri Lodge in the heart of horse breeding country.
DAY 9 LAUGARBAKKI – ISAFJÖRÐUR Take the road across to Blönduos and follow the fjord road through some of the country’s most verdant countryside, then through Steingrímsfjarðarheiði to Isafjörður for 2 nights at Hotel Isafjörður.
DAY 10 ISAFJÖRÐUR Time to explore this, the most remote of Iceland’s towns. Once home to a prosperous fishing industry, the decline of same has thrown up some quirky alternatives including swamp mud football!
DAY 11 ISAFJÖRÐUR – GRUNDARFJORDUR Drive south to Dyjandi (a series of falls, uppermost of which is the much photographed fan shaped one) and then along the northern side of the Snæfellsness peninsula, dropping in on Stykkishólmur and then to Grundarfjordur for 2 nights at Hotel Framnes.
DAY 12 GRUNDARFJORDUR A take your pick day! Whale spot from Ólafsvík (from 10/6); bird watch on Breiðafjörður; take the car round to the vertiginous bird cliffs at Arnarstapi (the hike between there and Hellnar is beautiful) or snowmobile on the Snæfellsjökull glacier.
DAY 13 GRUNDARFJORDUR – REYKJAVÍK Along the southern shore of the peninsula to Bogarnes (the newly opened Settlement Centre there is a good place to catch up on your Sagas) and down to Reykjavík for a final night at Hotel Centrum.
DAY 14 REYKJAVÍK – UK After breakfast, leave relatively early for the Blue Lagoon and a valedictory bathe before dropping off your hire car and return flight to the UK.
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