1-Week South Coast and Golden Circle Highlights

Overview: This one-week fully guided tour takes in the very best of Southern Iceland. Your private driver-guide will handle all the logistics so that you can sit back, relax, and take in the majestic scenery that Iceland offers.

Trip Outline:

Day 1: Welcome to Iceland! Start your time here with a visit to the Blue Lagoon, followed by arrival in Reykjavík and an afternoon food and sightseeing tour.

Day 2: The Golden Circle Deluxe - private guided day tour

Day 3: South Coast Adventure - volcanoes and waterfalls

Day 4: Vatnajökull National Park - glacier hike with Iceland mountain guides

Day 5: Vatnajökull National Park day 2- Ice Cave Expedition

Day 6: Skaftafell National Park - Svartifoss waterfall

Day 7: Departure from Iceland

DAY 1: Welcome to Iceland! Start your time here with a visit to the Blue Lagoon, followed by arrival in Reykjavík and an afternoon food and sightseeing tour.

On arrival, you will meet your private driver at KEF international airport. When you exit customs and head out into the general waiting area, he will have your name up fpr show. Your trip will start by travelling through the moonlike landscape on  Reykjanes Peninsula. You will soon get a feeling of what Iceland stands for, travelling through endless lava fields and geothermal areas in all volcanic surroundings. It is time to relax and get warm in the natural baths of the Blue Lagoon resort. With a premium entrance, you will have a bathrope, slippers, towel and a complimentary drink in the lagoon itself. As you have enjoyed the geothermal pools, you will again travel to Reykjavík Capital. When you have arrived to your accommodation you can stretch out an relax before your advenutres in Iceland. You will take part in The Reykjavík Food Walk Tour in the afternoon. Be sure to ask about the Northern Lights forecast before night time.

REYKJAVÍK FOOD TOUR.

When you meet your local food walk guide in front of Harpa Concert Hall at 16.30 you can look forward to three to four hours of the most delicious tastes within Icelandic cuisine, and the best sights to be found in the heart of Reykjavík. First and foremost, you will experience Reykjavík through sampling the local food. On this unique walking tour, over three to four hours we will visit five or six unique restaurants to try their best Icelandic culinary delicacies. The restaurants have been selected by your specialist local food guide for one reason only – they offer the most delightful Icelandic food to entrance your sense of taste. Some of these places are famous ‘must-visit Reykjavík restaurants’, and others are little-known but characterful local places which are hidden down the back streets of the city.

This really is a walking tour for foodies, so make sure you wear your comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather! Along the way you will see some of the best-known buildings and sights in Reykjavík and learn some fascinating stories about them. You can rest assured your guide has an eye for the quirky and the less obvious, so you will get to know some amazing titbits of information as you wander around. Your stream of footsteps will frequently be punctuated by another ´food visit’, and yet more great culinary wonders to try. So, you will never be walking for long without an interesting and delicious food break.

We want you to enjoy the wonderful tastes at the heart of Icelandic cuisine, as well as giving you a taste of Icelandic history in more ways than one. You will see the buildings of Reykjavík, and learn some of their stories, and among many other delicacies, you will get to taste the famous Icelandic Skyr. This beautiful and somewhat yoghurt-like dairy product, goes right back to the time when Iceland was settled by the Vikings, more than 1100 years. How do we know this? There are references to Skyr in the legendary Icelandic Sagas. Of course, we can say this about other foods you will be offered, lamb and fish featured heavily in the Icelandic diet right from the beginning.

Including:

• Private transfer from KEF international airport to Blue Lagoon

• Premium entrance to the Blue Lagoon at..

• Private transfer from Blue Lagoon to your accommodation in Reykjavík City.

• Reykjavík Food walk at 5 p.m. The guides are by the entrance to Harpa concert hall, wearing backpacks with the Reykjavík food walk logo on it. Ask hotel reception for directions. It is recommended that you will be on location 15 minutes before tour starts.

• Accommodation in Alda hotel in Reykjavík, with breakfast.

   

DAY 2: The Golden Circle Deluxe - private guided day tour

Pickup at Alda Hotel at 9.00 a.m.

Thingvellir National Park

We start the day by visiting the place where the two tectonic plates, the north American and the Eurasian plate, are moving away from each other. You can see an impressing fissure and the biggest natural lake in Iceland hosting a great variety of fish and bird life. Furthermore, at Thingvellir the Icelanders founded their parliament in 930 A.C. where the chieftains had their annual meeting every summer. The name “Thingvellir” translates to “Parliament Plains” 

Icelandic Farm

We will make a pleasant stop at Efstidalur farm that has been owned by the same family since 1850. This Icelandic family-run business sticks to traditional Icelandic farming culture and focuses on horse and cattle breeding. You will be able to enjoy their tasty farm-to-table dairy products, see the stunning mountain view and pet the friendly animals. Taste the home-made ice cream.

Tomato Farm

The second option for a nice local lunch would be Friðheimar Tomato Farm were everything is about tomatoes. The Tomato farm is located inside a geothermal heated Green house. In all organic surroundings you can choose between tomato soup, tomato pizzas and tomato pasta dishes. Let´s not forget about the tomato ice cream, tomato pie and tomato coffee….tomato everything.

Geysir

The Geysir geothermal area hosts hundreds of colorful hot springs and two geysers, erupting hot springs. One is called “Geysir” and name giving for all the geysers in the world. It erupts today very seldom. The other geyser one is called “Strokkur” and erupts every 5 minutes up to 40 meters.

Gullfoss

The melting water from Iceland´s second biggest glacier falls into a deep canyon forming the majestic “Golden Falls”. On a sunny day you will even see the glacier Langjökull in the distance and have a rainbow in the mist of the waterfall.

Driving from the countryside and down to the south coast of Iceland, you will spend the day traversing the South Coast.  After a homemade local quality dinner, you'll head out to the wild nature in search of the Northern Lights if the forecast looks promising.

Note: Be sure to ask the guide to reserve a table at the guesthouse before your arrival, that is if you want to taste the best local food on the island. After dinner there will be a northern lights lookout.

Including:

• Private guided Golden Circle deluxe tour in a modified 4x4 vehicle.

• Accommodation in Hrífunes Glacier View Guesthouse for 2 nights, including breakfast. Best local food on the island. Double supreme rooms.

DAY 3: South Coast Adventure - volcanoes and waterfalls

After a nice breakfast at your hotel, we will drive drive along route number 1. We will visit unspoiled natural wonder like Eldhraun, the Lavafield of fire, witnessing both the effects from last Ice Age and the remains of the biggest volcanic eruption ever recorded in Iceland. -Lakagígar eruption. We will make a pleasant stop by Vík and hike along the Black sand Beach Reynisfjara. Driving along the south coast of Iceland, we will visit the beautiful Skógafoss waterfall, fed by the glacier and volcano Eyjafjallajökull that erupted back in 2010.  Having visited all the highlights of the south coast we head for cosy Hrífunes Glacier View Guesthouse for another high-quality dinner. After dinner there will be another northern lights lookout.

Included:

• Private guided day tour in a modified 4x4 vehicle.

• Accommodation in Hrífunes Glacier View Guesthouse, including breakfast. Best local food on the island. Double supreme rooms-Twin.

DAY 4: Vatnajökull National Park - glacier hike with Iceland mountain guides

The next two days will be spent traveling in and around Vatnajökull National Park. You'll get to know glaciers inside and out as towering over the park is Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier.

There are countless natural wonders to see here, and you'll start with a glacier hike on Falljökull glacier where you'll trek across the white expanse, past deep crevasses, and strange ice sculptures.

After about three hours of outdoor activities, you'll get some hot beverages for the road. You'll then head for Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. There, icebergs that have broken off a nearby glacier float peacefully on the serene lake.

In the evening there we will continue our Northern Lights lookout if conditions look promising.

Including:

• Private guided day tour in a modified 4x4 vehicle.

• Glacier hike with Icelandic Mountain guides at 2.15 p.m. Please be on location in Skaftafell 30 minutes before tour starts.

• Accommodation in luxurious Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon for two nights, including breakfast. Double Deluxe rooms-Twin.

DAY 5: Vatnajökull National Park day 2- Ice Cave Expedition

You'll start the day early with a breakfast at your accommodation. If the conditions allow, you'll visit the Diamond Beach where icebergs appear to have changed into diamonds. Ice chunks from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon wash up on this black sand beach and are reminiscent of the precious stones as the glisten in the sunlight.As beautiful as the Diamond Beach is, the highlight of the day is, however, the ice cave expedition at Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. It takes about an hour to reach the crystal cave, but it is without a doubt one of the most spectacular wonders of our volcanic island.  

From the electric blue ice cave, your local guide will take you to some secret locations on the south coast in heading for the accommodation for the night. After two days in the national park, you will indeed understand why our island is called Iceland. After a wonderful dinner at your hotel, northern light lookout.

Including:

• Private guided day tour in a modified 4x4 vehicle.

• Ice Cave Expedition with Local Guides. Meeting point at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon at 10.00. p.m.

• Accommodation in luxurious Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon including breakfast. Double Deluxe rooms.

DAY 6: Skaftafell National Park - Svartifoss waterfall

Today is our last day in the National Park. We will start the by by going to Skaftafell National Park. There we have the option of hiking to one of the outskirt glaciers of Vatnajökull Glacier or hike to the beautiful Svaritfoss waterfall with amazing views on the way. After spending time out doors we should get some hot beverages for the road, as we will sadly need to leave the national park and drive back to Reykjavík City along the ancient seabed of Iceland. We will surely make some pleasant stops on the way that were not covered during the drive to Vatnajökull National Park. If the forecast will give us the last oppurtunity to view the northern lights on our way into the capital, then we will find an isolated spot out in nature for that perfect alone in the world experience.

Including:

• Private guided day tour in a modified 4x4 vehicle.

• Accommodation at Fosshotel SAGA in Reykjavík Capital, with breakfast. Double deluxe rooms.

  
  

DAY 7: Departure from Iceland

You will have private transfers from your accommodation at 2 p.m. to KEF international airport.

Included:

• Private transfers from Fosshotel SAGA to KEF international airport.