Snæfellsnes & Golden Circle self-drive

On arrival at your gate, you will be met by our local host who will help you with your transfer trough the airport and onto your private transfer into Reykjavik. After settling in, start exploring this lovely capital with your private guide. Be sure to check out the design stores and cool cafes in central Reykjavik, afterwards.

In the evening you can enjoy a gourmet dinner at one of Reykjavik's many fine restaurants - taste the fresh Atlantic seafood or free-range lamb that Iceland is famous for.

This morning, experience some of Iceland’s rich and thriving bird life, as well as visit our large variety of sea-life, including minke whales, humpback whales, harbour porpoises and white-beaked dolphins among other whale species on a this fjord tour.

Your afternoon is free for exploring the city.

Pick up your car today and start your drive north towards Snæfellsnes. On the way, stop for a soak in the beautiful Hvammsvík Hot Springs. From there, continue your drive to north to Hotel Budír, boutique hotel with a charming atmosphere, great service and a restaurant renowned for its exquisite cuisine.

Spend the morning sailing around Breiðafjörður's innumerable islands, enjoying the fjord's fairytale-like scenery: variegated rock faces, areas of historical interest, along with the strongest ocean currents anywhere on Iceland's coasts.

During the summer, the area abounds with birdlife: shags, puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, arctic terns, fulmars and eider ducks. Even the king of Icelandic birds, the white-tailed eagle, sometimes makes an appearance.

A definite highlight of the tour is the short towing of the dredge along the ocean floor, when different kinds of shellfish are scooped up from the bottom of the ocean: scallops, sea urchins, crabs, starfish, sea cucumbers, some of which can be eaten fresh (scallops and sea urchins, for example).

Leave your accommodation this morning and on the way to Husafell, stop by the Tröllafossar and Barnafossar/Hraunfossar waterfalls. Iceland is world renowned for its waterfalls and these 3 waterfalls should not go unseen.

Your next adventure waits right by where you will be staying tonight: a tour inside Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest glacier. Enjoy the opportunity of a lifetime as you journey up the white slopes and go deep inside the man-made ice tunnels leading to the blue heart of the glacier. You ride in modified glacier vehicles specially made to explore the glacier environment and enjoy the view as you drive on top of the ice cap.

Experienced guides will lead the way and make sure that everyone is both enjoying themselves and learning the basics of glacier knowledge.

This morning, a short drive will get you to the Cave! Dress warmly for your guided tour of the mighty Víðgelmir lava tube. It is a very accessible cave to visit with an all-new access walkway, and state of the art feature lighting system. This is a trip that the whole family can enjoy. Includes: Helmet and headlight.

Later in the afternoon, visit the Husafell Canyon Baths. A stunning hike through remote Icelandic wilderness ends with a geothermal soak in pools nestled in a magnificent highland canyon.

On this 2-hour tour, we enjoy a relaxed walk among natural wonders not found in many guidebooks, including the spectacular two-tiered waterfall Langifoss. We’ll also learn about Iceland’s renewable energy practices, cross an icy stream of glacial meltwater and see the site to Okjökull, Iceland’s first glacier claimed by climate change. Note that the route can change due to unforeseen weather circumstances such as snow, ice, mudd or water.

The highlight of our excursion is a serene soak in the Húsafell Canyon Baths, a surreal hot spring paradise that has to be seen to be believed. Enjoy half an hour of relaxing, recharging and breathing in the pure Icelandic air before heading back to Hotel Húsafell.

This tour can also be done as a private tour, please ask us for more details.

Snorkelling in Silfra is today's adventure and one of Iceland's best-kept secrets. Iceland straddles the rift between the Eurasian and North American continental plates and you can see the rift for yourself on this snorkelling trip. You are provided with a dry suit, as the temperature of the water is around 2 degrees. You then get to float on the lake's surface, peering into the depths through pristine water that takes twenty years to filter down from a glacier through volcanic ash. By the time it reaches Silfra, the water is so transparent that people have been known to get vertigo as they hover on the surface, floating as if on air over the fissure below.

After, explore the Golden Circle area before heading to your next destination along the South Coast.

After breakfast, join a Glacier Experience with Glacier Walk. The glacier hike is an adventure like no other with this popular activity only available in a very few parts of the world. You will see how the primal elements shape and affect the glacier, creating mesmerizing labyrinths of ice ridges and deep V-shaped crevasses that crisscross and scar the surface of the ice. Not to mention the big sinkholes, called “moulins”, that sometimes have drilled their way through the glacier, draining the meltwater of the ice through little waterfalls and streams.

The glacier also carries with it, ash from volcanic eruptions from the distant and not so distant past, you might even be lucky enough to be able to collect a little sample of the Eyjafjalljökull volcanic ash from 2010. At the glacier edge, we lace up our crampons and following the guide exploring this otherworldly natural wonder; a rugged, raw and ever changing hub of ancient frozen water.

After breakfast, make your way to the Blue Lagoon for a relaxing experience. (Return your hire car at the Keflavik Airport tomorrow morning.)

PREMIUM PACKAGE INCLUDED IN YOUR BLUE LAGOON VISIT:

• Entrance to the Blue Lagoon
• Silica mud mask
• Use of towel
• 1st drink of your choice
• Second mask of choice
• Slippers
• Use of bathrobe
• Table reservation at Lava Restaurant
• Sparkling wine if dining

Please ask us about an upgrade to The Retreat, a 5* experience right by the Blue Lagoon. If staying at The Retreat, we recommend extending your stay to 2 nights for the full, relaxing experience.

After breakfast, return your car at the airport and travel home. You will be meet at the airport by our local host for smooth sailing through the airport.