8 Days Northern Lights Exploration

Individual transfer by Flybus shuttle bus from Keflavik airport to your accommodation in Reykjavik. You may explore Iceland’s capital city on your own if time allows.

Overnight location:

Hotel Klettur or similar. 

Dinner is on your own.

At 09:00 meet your tour guide who shows the group the highlights of Iceland’s exciting capital. Then we head west. We stop in Borgarnes and learn about Iceland’s earliest days at the Settlement Center. Next we head to Borgarfjörður, known as the Saga Valley because of its many important historical events. Get a chance to climb the Grábrók volcano crater and visit Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful hot spring. Hraunfossar is a series of waterfalls pouring from beneath a wide lava field. Barnafoss – the Children’s falls, is nearby with its own tragic tale. The afternoon includes a lecture about Northern Lights. After dinner, step into the hotel garden in search of the Northern Lights followed by a hot cup of chocolate or tea.

Overnight location:

Hotel Hamar or similar. 

Breakfast included. Lunch & dinner is on your own. 

The Snæfellsnes Peninsula, “the peninsula of the snowy mountain“, juts out from Iceland’s west coast like a long arm with a clenched fist at its tip, and is in many ways a microcosm of the whole island. A rugged mountain chain runs its length. Visit the fishing village of Grundarfjörður, a place with an impressive coastline and mountains, lakes and waterfalls behind the village. One of the most photographed mountains in Iceland, Kirkjufell, can be seen jutting out into the bay. Experience the area from below at Vatnshellir cave, where we take you 35 metres underground and about 200 metres into the lava tube beneath Snæfellsjökull glacier. After the visit, continue to Arnarstapi, a coastal area known for dramatic cliffs and rock formations. On the way back to Borgarnes, the guide shares practical tips on photographing the Northern Lights as part of the Northern Lights Academy programme. When darkness falls, we head outside to look for the Northern Lights and enjoy the hotel’s outdoor hot tubs.

Overnight location:

Hotel Hamar or similar. 

Breakfast & Lunch included. Dinner on your own.

Travel along the Hvalfjörður fjord. The first stop is at an Icelandic wool outlet store, to see what they do with all those sheep! Continue inland to Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Travel the Golden Circle route, see steam rising from the Geysir geothermal fields. Taste freshly baked hot spring bread served with Icelandic butter, boiled eggs and herring. On we travel to double waterfall of Gullfoss. In the afternoon, learn about the Icelandic horse, its unique qualities and history and visit a geothermal greenhouse, before reaching the accommodation in South Iceland. Tonight, step into the darkness and search for the elusive Northern Lights in the peace and stillness of rural Iceland.

Overnight location:

Landhotel in Hella or similar.

 Breakfast included. Lunch & dinner is on your own. 

Today we travel along the South coast. At the Lava & Volcano Exhibition Center, learn about geology and active volcanoes. Further east we visit one of Iceland’s finest folk museums. This museum contains an outstanding collection of farm and domestic artefacts from Iceland’s past and several turf-built houses. Nearby is Skógafoss waterfall which is 60 meters high and one of the most impressive waterfalls in the country. In the afternoon take a stroll on the black lava beach and along bird cliffs at Reynisfjara in South Iceland. We spend two nights near Kirkjubæjarklaustur in the Vatnajökull National Park region, located in darkness and ideal for Northern Lights search.

Overnight location:
Fosshótel Núpar or similar. 

Breakfast included. Lunch & dinner is on your own. 

Today’s program is all about glaciers, ice and icebergs. We travel to Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon filled with floating icebergs, and we explore the amazing site and might see seals swimming in arctic waters. You can walk on the black sandy beach, the so-called Diamond beach, where large icebergs get stranded. In the afternoon we visit the tiny turf church at Hof and spend time at Europe’s largest national park, which has Iceland’s highest mountains, an alpine environment, and Europe’s largest glacier. In the evening enjoy a film presentation about the Northern Lights as part of the Northern Lights Academy program. Be careful not to go to bed too soon in this remote and quiet location, or you may miss out one more chance of seeing the Northern Lights shimmering and dancing across the night sky.

Optional Ice Cave Tour offered between October-April (weather permitting) provides the opportunity to explore a natural ice cave in Vatnajökull National Park. The experience lasts approximately 2.5 hours and begins at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon with a scenic 30-minute 4×4 transfer, followed by a 5–15 minute walk to the cave entrance. Inside, guests can observe naturally formed ice structures and blue ice shaped by winter conditions over time. The tour price is ISK 25,000 per person (subject to change), with a minimum age requirement of 10 years. Warm, waterproof clothing and sturdy hiking boots are essential. This tour can be booked on day 2 of the Northern Lights Exploration tour. fter the cave visit, participants are driven back to the hotel, while the rest of the group continues the official programme. Guests joining the ice-cave tour will miss visits to Skaftafell National Park and Hofs church due to time limitations. The stop at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is included for all travellers.

Overnight location:

Fosshótel Núpar or similar. 

Breakfast included. Lunch & dinner is on your own.

From Kirkjubæjarklaustur we head across the Eldhraun lava field to the village of Vík, where we make a photo stop. The black lava beach with high bird cliffs and pounding waves is awe-inspiring. Further west we reach the high but narrow Seljalandsfoss waterfall which plunges from the mountain. In the afternoon we get to soak in the famous Blue Lagoon. We reach Reykjavík around dinner time for one last night.

Overnight location:

Hotel Klettur or similar. 

Breakfast included. Lunch & dinner is on your own.

The Blue Lagoon visit is in the afternoon. Tour ends around 7pm.

Individual transfer by Flybus shuttle bus from your accommodation in Reykjavik to Keflavik International Airport.

Breakfast included. (50km / 31mi)