Northern Lights & Glaciers, Iceland

Duration: 9 Days | 8 Nights
Destination: Reykjavík - Borgarfjörður - Snæfellsnes Peninsula - Golden Circle - South Coast - Vatnajökull National Park
Departure & Return Locations: Keflavík International Airport (KEF)
Group Size: Maximum 40 travellers
Minimum Age: 8 years
Departure Day: Fridays
Season: September to April

Eight nights in Iceland, five of them spent well outside the reach of city light. This is the best-value way to see the country in aurora season: a fully escorted coach journey from Reykjavík out through the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, around the Golden Circle and along the South Coast to the icebergs of Jökulsárlón, with a guided Northern Lights search on five separate evenings. The route has a season-long track record of 85–98% for sightings, largely because the overnight stops are chosen for darkness rather than convenience.

We have added a night in Reykjavík before the coach departs. Flights from Australia arrive after roughly 24 hours in the air, and the standard version of this tour puts you on a bus at 09:00 the next morning. The extra night is built into the price shown — you arrive, sleep, and have a full free day in the capital before the touring starts.

Tour Highlights:
• Five guided Northern Lights evenings, all from countryside hotels away from light pollution
• Descend 35 metres underground and 200 metres into the Vatnshellir lava tube beneath Snæfellsjökull glacier
• Walk the rift between the North American and Eurasian plates at Þingvellir
• Climb the Grábrók volcano crater
• Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and the Diamond Beach, where icebergs strand on black sand
• Rye bread baked in the ground at Geysir, served with Icelandic butter, boiled eggs and herring
• A long afternoon soak in the Blue Lagoon, towel included
• Optional blue ice cave tour inside Vatnajökull, October to April
• One pre-tour night in Reykjavík included, so you land a day early

Day 1: Arrival in Reykjavík (-)
Land at Keflavík International Airport and transfer to your Reykjavík hotel by Flybus shuttle. Nothing is scheduled today. This is the night we add to the standard programme, and it exists so that the long-haul flight and the first day of touring are not the same 24 hours.
Overnight: Hotel Klettur, Reykjavík

Day 2: Reykjavík at Your Own Pace (B)
A free day in the capital before the tour begins. Reykjavík is small enough to cross on foot in an afternoon: Hallgrímskirkja and the view from its tower, the harbour, the Sun Voyager sculpture, the shops and cafes along Laugavegur. If the aurora forecast is good, this is also a first chance to see it — ask at reception.
Overnight: Hotel Klettur, Reykjavík

Day 3: Reykjavík City Tour & Borgarfjörður Saga Valley (B)
Meet your guide at 09:00 for a tour of the city's landmarks, then head west. In Borgarnes, the Settlement Center covers Iceland's first centuries and the saga of Egill Skallagrímsson. Beyond it lies Borgarfjörður, the Saga Valley, where you climb the Grábrók volcano crater and visit Deildartunguhver, the most powerful hot spring in Europe. Hraunfossar is a run of waterfalls seeping out from under a lava field; Barnafoss is next to it, with a grimmer story attached.
The afternoon includes a lecture on how the aurora works and what conditions to look for. After dinner, the group heads into the hotel grounds for the first Northern Lights search, with hot chocolate to hand.
Overnight: Hotel Hamar, Borgarnes — 245km

Day 4: Snæfellsnes Peninsula & Vatnshellir Lava Cave (B, L)
The Snæfellsnes Peninsula runs west from the mainland with a mountain chain down its spine and a glacier at its tip — a compressed version of the whole country. Stop at the fishing village of Grundarfjörður beneath Kirkjufell, the most photographed mountain in Iceland, then continue to the cliffs and basalt formations at Arnarstapi.
At Vatnshellir you descend 35 metres by spiral staircase and walk 200 metres into a lava tube beneath Snæfellsjökull. On the return leg your guide runs through the practical side of photographing the aurora — settings, focus, what a phone can and cannot do. Tonight there are outdoor hot tubs to sit in while you wait for the sky.
Overnight: Hotel Hamar, Borgarnes — 300km

Day 5: Golden Circle, Geothermal Tasting & Icelandic Horses (B)
Travel along Hvalfjörður to Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the site of the world's oldest parliament, where you walk in the rift valley between two tectonic plates. On to the Geysir geothermal field, where Strokkur erupts every five to seven minutes and the restaurant serves rye bread baked in the hot ground, with Icelandic butter, boiled eggs and herring. Gullfoss, the golden falls, drops 32 metres in two stages into a canyon.
The afternoon covers the Icelandic horse — a breed kept pure by law for a thousand years, with two gaits no other horse has — and a geothermal greenhouse growing tomatoes year-round on volcanic heat. Tonight's aurora search is from rural South Iceland.
Overnight: Landhotel, Hella — 260km

Day 6: South Coast & Eyjafjallajökull (B)
East along the south coast. The Lava & Volcano Exhibition Center explains what happened in 2010 when Eyjafjallajökull grounded European aviation for six days. Further on, the Skógar folk museum holds one of the country's best collections of farm and domestic artefacts, alongside several turf-built houses you can walk into. Nearby, Skógafoss falls 60 metres in a single drop.
In the afternoon, walk the black sand and basalt columns at Reynisfjara, below the bird cliffs. The next two nights are near Kirkjubæjarklaustur on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park, about as dark as inhabited Iceland gets.
Overnight: Fosshótel Núpar, Kirkjubæjarklaustur — 225km

Day 7: Vatnajökull National Park, Jökulsárlón & Diamond Beach (B)
A day of ice. Jökulsárlón is a lagoon of icebergs calved from an outlet glacier and drifting slowly toward the sea; seals often work the channel. Across the road, the Diamond Beach is where those icebergs wash back ashore onto black sand. Later, the turf church at Hof, and time in Europe's largest national park — Iceland's highest mountains, its biggest glacier and an alpine landscape in between.
The evening includes a film on the aurora. Do not turn in early: this is one of the darkest, quietest places on the whole route.
Optional: Blue Ice Cave Tour (October to April, weather permitting) — about 2.5 hours in total, with a 30-minute 4x4 drive from the lagoon and a 5 to 15 minute walk each way, and roughly an hour inside the cave. Waterproof clothing and proper hiking boots are essential; minimum age 10. Book it on day 3 of the tour. Ice cave guests are collected at the lagoon and returned to the hotel afterwards, so they miss the Hof church and Skaftafell stops, but the Jökulsárlón visit is included for everyone. Approximately ISK 25,000 per person, payable locally and subject to change.
Overnight: Fosshótel Núpar, Kirkjubæjarklaustur — 200km

Day 8: South Shore & Blue Lagoon (B)
West across the Eldhraun lava field — moss over the largest lava flow in recorded history — with a photo stop at the village of Vík beneath its bird cliffs. Seljalandsfoss falls in a narrow ribbon from an old sea cliff, with a path running behind the water. The afternoon is given over to the Blue Lagoon: silica-blue geothermal seawater at 38°C, towel included. Back in Reykjavík around 19:00 for the final night.
Overnight: Hotel Klettur, Reykjavík — 365km

Day 9: Departure (B)
Transfer by Flybus shuttle from your hotel to Keflavík International Airport.

Tour Price
• Prices are per person, twin share, for the travel period selected above.
• Single travellers: a single supplement applies and is mandatory. Approximately A$2,280 in September, A$1,740 in October and A$1,430 from November to April.
• Children aged 8 to 11 sharing a room with two adults receive a 20% discount on the tour component. Please enquire.
• Triple rooms are available on request. Configuration varies by property — an extra bed, a family room, or a double plus a single.
• All prices are subject to availability and may be withdrawn or varied without notice. Prices are guaranteed once your booking is confirmed and paid in full by the due date.
• Rates are based on the current EUR to AUD exchange rate and 11% Icelandic VAT, and may be adjusted for extreme currency movement or changes to Icelandic taxes and nature-site fees.
• Itineraries are subject to change without notice due to weather, road conditions or other circumstances outside our control. Iceland in winter is genuinely unpredictable and days are occasionally reordered.

Inclusions:
• 8 nights accommodation at comfort tourist-class hotels
• 8x breakfast
• 1x lunch
• 6 days fully escorted coach touring with an English-speaking guide/driver-guide
• Arrival and departure airport transfers by Flybus shuttle
• Five evenings of guided Northern Lights searching, plus an aurora lecture, a photography workshop and a film presentation
• Settlement Center, Borgarnes
• Guided tour into Vatnshellir lava cave
• Hot spring bread tasting with geothermal-baked bread and eggs
• Icelandic horse stable and geothermal greenhouse visits
• Lava & Volcano Exhibition Center
• Skógar folk museum and turf houses
• Blue Lagoon entry, towel included
• All entrance fees

Additional Pack Ya Bags inclusions:
• One extra night in Reykjavík before the tour begins, at the same hotel as the first night of the programme, with breakfast — so you arrive a day ahead of the coach departure rather than the morning of it. The standard version of this itinerary does not include this night.
• A free day in Reykjavík to recover and see the city, built into the schedule rather than sold as an add-on.

Complimentary on tour:
• Free Wi-Fi on the coach
• Use of crampons for your shoes
• Use of a flashlight

Optional extras, bookable in advance:
• Private airport transfer in place of the Flybus shuttle — approximately A$290 per car each way, or A$580 return, for 1 to 6 people
• Additional nights in Reykjavík before or after the tour
• Blue ice cave tour on day 7, October to April — approximately ISK 25,000 per person, paid locally

Exclusions:
• International and domestic airfares
• Travel insurance
• All meals not listed under inclusions. Budget roughly ISK 8,000 to 10,000 per person per day for lunches and dinners
• Single supplement, where a single room is required
• Optional activities and any additional services
• Tips and personal expenses
• Anything not specifically mentioned as included

Please note:
• Departures run on Fridays from September to April.
• Minimum age is 8 years. The tour is not recommended for younger children.
• The Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed. This itinerary is built to maximise your chances — five of the eight nights are spent in the countryside, away from light pollution — but solar activity and cloud cover are outside anyone's control.
• Guides are English-speaking. Vegetarian and vegan meals can be arranged with notice; please advise dietary requirements at the time of booking.
• A non-refundable deposit of up to 20% may be required within 72 hours of confirmation to hold your seats. Final payment is due 6 weeks before departure.
• Cancellation charges apply: 20% of the tour cost is retained for cancellations 6 to 8 weeks before departure, and 50% from 6 weeks until 28 days before departure. No refund is available for cancellations inside 28 days, for no-shows, or for a tour begun but not completed.
• We can hold a reservation for 72 hours while you arrange flights.
• Travel insurance is not included and is strongly recommended.

Please refer to our Standard Booking Conditions for booking terms and conditions.