This tour is fully escorted by a dedicated tour leader who will accompany you throughout the tour. If your trip includes multiple countries, you will be met by a new tour leader in each country and any internal flights included will be unescorted.
This tour is conducted at a medium-fast pace. Some long travel days may be required to complete this itinerary and you will typically spend two nights at each destination, with some one night stays required. This trip includes a mix of sightseeing and free time to explore at your own pace. You will be required to move about unassisted, including getting on and off vehicles, walking up and down stairs and some activities will be conducted on uneven or steep terrain. You will be required to handle your own luggage.
✓ Choose your group size! Choose between small (maximum 16) or classic groups (maximum 36) to customise your experience.
✓ See the best of Iceland’s magnificent South Coast Region, with amazing natural landscapes, and opportunities to see the Northern Lights
✓ Incredible sightseeing of famed natural wonders in the Golden Circle and beyond, including Geysir, Gullfoss waterfall, the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Eyjafjallajökull Volcano.
✓ Enjoy entry to the iconic Blue Lagoon, an absolute must while in Iceland
✓ Experience a slice of Icelandic life with unique activities like meeting Icelandic horses and visiting a Geothermal bakery
✓ 5 nights in quality 3 and 4-star hotels
✓ Breakfast daily, and 3 dinners
✓ Fully escorted by professional, English-speaking guide (Days 2–5)
✓ Dedicated, comfortable coach transportation with included Wi-Fi
✈ Needing international airfares to accompany your Inspiring Vacation? You will be able to access our flight portal after securing your package to add international airfares to your booking.
Travel with the experts for a carefully curated, value-packed discovery of the world's most iconic destinations. Our tours are bursting with must-see sights, rich experiences and quality inclusions, all at an unbeatable price. Bucket list dreams are ticked off on these all-encompassing journeys.
Welcome to Iceland! Arrive into Keflavik International Airport. If you have arrived in your hotel with time to explore, take some time to wander around Iceland’s quaint capital city. You may wish to visit the beautiful Hallgrimskirkja Church and take in the iconic views from the top. Take a stroll in the old city centre, perhaps visiting one of the museums or relaxing with a cup of coffee in a cozy café.
Airport transfers are not included. Our transfer portal offers the option to book your airport transfers for an easier arrival experience (additional charges apply). Access to this portal will be available through your Traveller Hub once your booking is confirmed.
Please note that hotels in Iceland start check-in around 14:00 (2:00pm), and early check-in is not guaranteed. Most hotels will be happy to store your luggage if you are not able to check in early.
Today you’ll visit Iceland’s Golden Circle, one of the most famous routes in the country, and home to stunning landscapes and important history. Enjoy breakfast at your hotel, then meet your guide in the lobby. You’ll start your adventure by visiting the fascinating Aurora Reykjavík Northern Lights Center. You’ll get a great introduction to northern lights, how they are formed, and the folklore surrounding them. You’ll also get tips about how to capture northern lights on film. Next, we’ll depart Reykjavik and head onwards to Þingvellir National Park (UNESCO World Heritage site) where the world’s oldest parliament met for centuries on the shores of Iceland’s largest lake. You might even have a rare chance to walk between two continents! Continue to the geothermal fields of Geysir with bubbling mud pools and the high-spouting Strokkur hot spring. Finally, you’ll visit the dramatic two-tiered Gullfoss waterfall, a spectacular sight in winter when frozen mid-cascade.
During the day, you will also visit the town of Laugarvatn. The town is built around three hot springs, and the residents have cleverly harnessed the hot springs for power and hot water. You’ll visit a unique outdoor geothermal bakery where sweet Icelandic rye bread is baked in hot sands. You can taste some of the freshly baked bread, hot from the ground. It’s especially delicious eaten with Icelandic butter and smoked trout.
If weather conditions are right, your guide will take you on a northern lights hunt on foot in the area outside your hotel tonight. This activity will take place on Days 2, 3, or 4, depending on the weather forecast.
Dinner and overnight in South Iceland.
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel, then drive along the South Shore, an area of Iceland that is especially beautiful to view in the winter. This part of Iceland is home to the wonderful LAVA Centre, an interactive, high-tech educational exhibition depicting volcanic activity, earthquakes, and the creation of Iceland. Enjoy the exhibit and an interesting film about Icelandic volcanoes.
If the skies are clear, you might see the area’s two most famous volcanoes in the distance: Mount Hekla (last eruption 2000) and Eyjafjallajökull (last eruption 2010). Next, we’ll stop at the spectacular waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss. Each waterfall is unique and makes a perfect subject for a photo. Head onwards to visit Reynisfjara beach, where you can take a walk on the black sand, admiring the extraordinary rock formations and thundering waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Cross Eldhraun, a vast lava field created from a very destructive 18th-century eruption as you head to your next hotel. Dinner and overnight stay in the Kirkjubæjarklaustur area.
After breakfast, you will visit the southern area of Vatnajökull National Park, named after Europe’s largest glacier. The total park area covers almost 14% of Iceland, making it the largest national park in Western Europe! Visit Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon where you can enjoy the breath-taking sight of icebergs floating in the fantastic 180m (591 ft.) deep glacial lagoon. Nearby is the dramatic beauty of the Diamond Beach, where shrinking icebergs settle on the black sands before they drift out to sea.
Visit the national park’s famous Skaftafell area, a site of outstanding natural beauty dominated by several magnificent glaciers. Dinner and overnight in the Kirkjubæjarklaustur area.
After breakfast, head back along the beautiful South Coast, enjoying a different view of the winter landscapes. Visit the village of Hveragerði, which is one of the few sites in the world located directly in the middle of a geothermal area. Hveragerdi is often called “The Flower Village” because of its geothermal greenhouses. Next, you’ll visit a horse farm to meet some locals: Icelandic horses. This Viking horse breed has played a pivotal role in Icelandic history. Enjoy petting these friendly horses and snapping a few selfies with them. You’ll also taste some sweet refreshments that are traditionally served on Icelandic farms.
Turn onto a southern coastal road and follow alongside the shoreline with its breathtaking sea waves. The road takes you through the surreal landscapes of the Reykjanes peninsula, where you can enjoy a dip in the famous Blue Lagoon, a unique wonder of nature with pleasantly warm, mineral-rich water in the middle of a black lava field. Return to Reykjavik, where your guide bids you farewell at the hotel. The evening is open for you to enjoy your own activities. Dinner is on your own.
Today, your Icelandic adventures come to an end after breakfast.
Airport transfers are not included. Our transfer portal offers the option to book your airport transfers for an easier arrival experience (additional charges apply). Access to this portal will be available through your Traveller Hub once your booking is confirmed.
Secure your trip with a $99.00 deposit per person.
Once we receive your deposit, we will send you an invoice with your remaining balance and payment options.
Instalment Schedule:
This is a land only package.
This package does not include international airfares. If you would like to add airfares to your booking our flight portal will be available via your Traveller Hub. The flight portal will allow you to search for all available airfares to your destination. The function works like most general flight search engines allowing you to select your preferred airline, book different cabin classes (eg. Business class) and view flight durations and transit times to your destination.
The flight portal will be available via your Traveller Hub once the following criteria has been met:
Visit our Flight Hub for more information on terms and conditions, amending your flights and information on luggage allowances.
Some of our packages will include airport transfers in either one or both directions when arriving or departing from your destination. To know if transfers are included please view the ‘inclusions’ section of your selected package. If airport transfers are stated, transfers will be included as advised.
If transfers are not included, we also offer the option to book your airport transfers using our online portal. Access to this portal is available through your Traveller Hub once your booking is confirmed. Transfers are readily available and do not need to be booked until your final hotel list has been confirmed. Once you have made a transfer booking, please refer to your confirmation email for all transfer details including a local contact number for the transfer company.
If you book pre and/or post-tour accommodation on your own arrangement, and the tour includes transfers, note that these will be forfeited. The transfers are only provided in line with the tour dates and pre and/or post-tour accommodation purchased through Inspiring Vacations when available.
It is the traveller's responsibility to ensure they have a valid passport. The passport must be valid for a minimum of six months from the intended date of return. Visas may be required for your destination. For further visa information, click here.
Fitness Requirements
While the tour itinerary should give you some guidance and overview to the expected requirements, to determine if this tour is right for you we categorise each of our tours in terms of their intensity. These guidelines are to ensure that each tour group is conducted as expected and to ensure the overall satisfaction of all Inspiring Vacations customers.
As a general rule, porterage is not included, therefore at all times you are expected to handle your own luggage where help may not be available.
This particular tour is categorised as a ‘3’
3 – Moderate Tour: A good level of fitness and mobility is required, as this tour includes a moderate level of physical activity and is considered a medium-fast paced tour. You should be able to walk up and down stairs, get on and off the coach and able to walk reasonable distances of approximately 2 kilometres per day or more with ease. Any physical ailments you may have must be disclosed at the time of booking to determine your suitability. If you have any form of walking aids, other than a walking stick or hiking poles, then this tour is not suitable.
Tipping
A friendly reminder that tipping is not included in your package. Tipping is not compulsory on your trip, but they can make a big difference to locals employed in the tourism industry. If you feel that your guide and driver have done an impeccable job, you can choose to give a gratuity, but this is entirely your decision.
Accommodation
The accommodation listed is subject to change. Any changes will be of an equal or higher standard. Bedding configurations (double or twin) are requests only. All efforts will be made to meet your preferences, however, any changes are beyond our control.
Single Supplement
Single supplement is $1,078.00 per person, in addition to the twin-share price.
Triple Share
Not available.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is recommended to protect yourself against the unexpected. In addition to the support that a policy may provide, you may be asked to present a copy of your travel insurance documentation while traveling.
We have partnered with nib to offer our customers competitive rates for their travel insurance. You can book Comprehensive or Essentials cover for your domestic, international or multi-trip journeys simply by clicking HERE.
Note that Inspiring Vacations cannot provide advice with regards to any insurance product.
Group Size
Different departure dates of this tour feature different group sizes. Departures marked "small group" will have 3 - 16 participants. Otherwise, the group size is 3 - 36. Please select "Availability" from the top menu or scroll to departure dates to see operating dates and group sizes.
Children
Children must be 5 years old or above and share a room with parents at all times. Children are charged the same price as adults.
Tour Style
To meet the needs of various types of travelers, we choose to operate various types of tours, and depending on your selected package will mean different services are provided throughout your trip. The following descriptions of each tour style we hope will ensure that each traveller has appropriate expectations before they start their travels:
Northern Lights
Please note, the Northern Lights are a natural phenomena and can't be guaranteed. The dates provided will give you the best chance of hopefully viewing the lights during your trip, but Inspiring Vacations will not be liable for any departures which unfortunately don't see the Northern Lights during their trip.
All participants must be in good physical condition to fully engage in this journey. For the safety and welfare of yourself and fellow travellers, if you are feeling unwell prior to departure, we advise staying home and contacting us to arrange alternate plans.
Prior to selecting your trip, carefully review the itinerary to assess your ability to comfortably manage our travel style. Please be aware that if, based on evaluation by our leader or local representative, a participant is deemed unable to safely complete the itinerary, we retain the right to exclude them from all or part of the trip without reimbursement.
It is advisable to consult your physician for current medical travel advisories and any required vaccinations before embarking. We recommend carrying a first aid kit and any necessary medications in their original packaging, as they may not be readily available during travel. For those carrying medication, it's essential to check your government's foreign travel guidelines for local restrictions or regulations.
