3 Day - Golden Circle, South Coast, Jökulsárlón & Ice Cave

We'll start in the morning with a hotel pick-up from authorized locations in Reykjavík. After about 40 min drive, we arrive to our first stop of the day, at the UNESCO heritage site, Thingvellir National Park. This is where Icelanders established their parliament back in 930 AD, making it the oldest still operative parliament in the world. This area is also interesting in geographical terms, because this is where two tectonic plates meet, North America and Eurasia. We will walk around this historic place and explore the rift valley. Next we continue with the Golden Circle, and the next stop is by the famous Geysir Hot Springs. There we will check out geothermal area and wait to see Strokkur geyser erupt about 25 meters in the air, every 8-10 min. Close by Geysir, there's the magnificent Gullfoss Waterfall, flowing into a deep and narrow canyon. At Gullfoss we can stop for a lunch break, it's also the last stop of the Golden Circle. Next up is the South Coast of Iceland. The first stop on the South Coast is at the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, one of the best known waterfalls in Iceland, located underneath Eyjafjallajökull glacier. It's about 60 meters high, and in good conditions it's possible to walk behind it, into a small cave. A short drive from Seljalandsfoss, is another very well known waterfall the Skógafoss Waterfall. According to the legend, there's a buried viking treasure behind it. The last stop of the day is at Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach. At the black beach, you can feel how powerful the open ocean can be as the waves slams up on shore and into the basalt column caves. From the beach, you can also see Reynisdrangar peaks, a basalt sea stacks. We will then find our hotel close by, where we will stay for the night. In the evening, if the conditions are in our favor, we'll go out for a Northern Light walk.

After breakfast and check out, we continue our journey eastwards. First we make a short stop at the coastal village of Vík, where we can see a different angle of the Reynisdrangar peaks. From Vík, there's a scenic drive all the way to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. At the lagoon, we explore it from the banks, and see the floating icebergs scattered all over the glacier lagoon. We'll also have some time to walk over to the black sand beach close by, sometimes called the crystal beach, because of the crystal clear icebergs that have floated back to shore, giving you the perfect opportunity for the photo of your life time. Next up we will visit a natural Ice Cave, a definite highlight of the tour and a once in a lifetime experience. We use a couple of different ice caves, depending on conditions and season. Ice caves are ever-changing and unpredictable natural phenomena. We usually visit the Crystal Cave at Breiðmerkurjökull during this tour but when the Crystal Cave is inaccessible we will most likely visit Katla Ice Cave. Which ice cave is chosen will however always depend upon the conditions and safety considerations on the day, sometimes a different ice cave will be visited. We will then find our hotel for the night.In the evening, if the conditions are in our favor, we'll have a second chance to spot some Aurora Borealis.

In the morning, after breakfast and check out, we go into the Vatnajökull National Park, the biggest national park in Europe. Where we put prepare for a glacier hike. The glacier hike takes place at an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, called Virkisjökull glacier. The glacier hike takes about 3.5 hours, including about 1 hour on the glacier itself. On the glacier, you can explore the stunningsurroundings, the glacier formations and the impressive mountains around it.After the glacier hike, we start our journey back to Reykjavík, and along the way you will visit the breathtaking Fjadrargljufur Canyon. We should be arriving back in Reykjavik in the evening.Please note that ice caves are an ever changing natural phenomenon and, therefore, unpredictable. We will visit one ice cave during the tour and the choice of a cave is based on conditions and safety. Alsothe the order of the itinerary can change and the glacier hike and the ice caves can be done at the same time, depending on the access to the ice cave each time.