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HOLIDAYS TO ICELAND
HIGHLANDS & NATURAL WONDERS
11 days from £1855 pp
Take in the vast grandeur of Iceland’s highlands; the lushness and prolific wildlife of Lake Myvatn and follow the coast road clockwise for some wow factor moments at the Jökulsárlón Lagoon, Dyrhólaey bird cliffs and Skógafoss. Add in a little whale spotting in Husavík and a glacier snowmobile trip on Vatnajökull for a trip with a real dash of adventure.
DAY 1 UK- REYKJAVÍK Scheduled Icelandair flight to Reykjavík. Collect hire car at the airport, drive to and overnight at Hótel Fludir for 2 nights.
DAY 2 FLUÐIR A day savouring south Iceland’s iconic 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 Þingvellir, home to the Althing which is almost a shrine to Icelanders.
DAY 3 FLUÐIR – HIGHLAND Start your journey through the Highlands along Sprengisandur (which takes its name from ‘Spregja’ meaning exhausted, which is what the horses sometimes became along it). Overnight at Hotel Highland.
DAY 4 HIGHLAND – MÝVATN A day of almost unimaginable remoteness as you drive through the interior, fording un-bridged rivers until you arrive at the contrasting lushness of Mývatn. Overnight at Hótel Reykjahlid for 3 nights.
DAYS 5 & 6 MÝVATN Two days 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-coloured 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 beautiful but somewhat forgotten Selfoss with its wide curtain fall.
DAY 7 MÝVATN – SEYDISFJÖRÐUR Cross the seemingly endless deserts of black moraine before reaching Egilsstaðir and taking the spur road down to Seydisfjörður. Overnight at Hotel Aldan.
DAY 8 SEYDISFJÖRÐUR – SKAFTAFELL The highlight of today’s journey is Jökulsárlón lagoon, a glacial lake filled with icebergs calving off the Breiðafjörður glacier and separated from the sea by a narrow isthmus Continue to Skaftafell. Overnight at Hotel Skaftafell.
DAY 9 SKAFTAFELL – HELLA Drive across the great outwash plains of the southeast down to Dyrhólaey with its signature rock arch and then to Hella stopping off at Seljalandsfoss for a walk behind its curtain wall. Overnight at Hotel Ranga.
DAY 10 HELLA – REYKJAVIK After breakfast, drive along to Hveragerdi, the horticultural and botanical village heated by the geothermal field on which the village rests and then follow the contours of Lake Pingviller to Reykjavik. Overnight at Hotel Leifur Eiriksson.
DAY 11 REYKJAVIK – UK Early morning at leisure before driving to Keflavík airport, via the Blue Lagoon, drop off car and return flight to UK.
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Map of tour
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