Welcome to Reykjavik, the vibrant capital of Iceland. Relax and spend the overnight here preparing for your adventure.

The capital of Iceland’s land of ice, fire, and natural wonder, Reykjavik is a city like no other - blossoming among some of the world’s most vibrant and violent scenery. Reykjavik is the island’s only real city, and a welcoming and walkable place - full of bicycles gliding along boulevards or battling the wind when it rears up. Fresh licks of paint brighten the streets, and an artistic and creative atmosphere embraces studios and galleries - as well as the kitchens where an exciting culinary scene is burgeoning. Plot your adventures in the city's hip bars and cozy cafes, or waste no time venturing out to Iceland’s outdoor adventures.

Reykjavik’s buildings stand together in a low huddle - below the whip of winter’s winds - but the magnificent Hallgrímskirkja church is a solid exception, with its bell tower rising resolutely over the city. Iceland’s largest church's design echoes the lava flows that have shaped this remote land and boasts a clean and elegant interior. Walk in the crusts between continents, feel the spray from bursts of geysers, and witness the enduring power of Iceland’s massive waterfalls. Whether you want to sizzle away in the earth-heated geothermal pools or hike to your heart’s content, you can do it all from Reykjavik - the colorful capital of this astonishing outdoor country.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading, or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring the shore side.

Scoresby Sund is the largest and longest fjord system in the world, and exhibits all the natural wonders Greenland has to offer. This labyrinth of islands, fjords and ice boggles the mind at every turn. Named in honour of William Scoresby, the English explorer who mapped the area in 1822, Scoresby Sund today hosts only the small town of Ittoqqortoormiit, although it has been inhabited by many Paleo-Eskimo cultures in the past. The area is incredibly rich in Arctic wildlife, hosting musk oxen, arctic foxes and a wealth of marine life including whales, belugas, narwhals, walrus and seals, as well as several species of sea birds, including King Eiders, Atlantic Puffins and several species of geese which migrate to the area during the fleeting Arctic Summer. It is also one of the best places in the world to see polar bears in their natural habitat, an experience that can never be forgotten. But the scenery is the true highlight of Scoresby Sund. The area is very sheltered, and the waters of the fjords are often glassy and calm, save the vast icebergs which calve off the vast glaciers which drain from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the fjord. Staggering geological variation means no two mountain views are the same, some black, layers and covered with permanent ice, while some are jagged, pinnacled cliffs sweeping out to the fjord to eye-watering heights, crowned with ice that never melts.

In the 1920s the sparsely settled coast of East Greenland had too many families living in Ammassalik (today’s Tasiilaq) for the hunting grounds available and in 1925 Scoresbysund was chosen to start a new settlement with some 70 Inuit from Ammassalik and four families from West Greenland. Less than 10 kilometers from the entrance to the Scoresbysund system, Ittoqqortoormiit (“Big House Dwellers”) lies on the southern tip of Liverpool Land, a low and rounded area compared to the steeper mountains further south or into the fjord system. Some 460 inhabitants call Ittoqqortoormiit, one of Greenland’s most isolated settlements, their home. Not counting the military and civilian researchers at Daneborg, Northeast Greenland, their closest neighbors actually live in Iceland. Although Greenland’s hottest hot springs are located some 8 kilometers south of Ittoqqortoormiit, the village is frozen in some nine months of the year and access to other parts of the country can only be done via the Nerlerit Inaat Airport at Constable Point some 38 km to the north with flights to Iceland and West Greenland. The former village’s shop serves as a small museum and features historic photographs and costumes and shows what a typical hunter’s home from the 1960s looked like. Today hunting narwhals, seals, polar bears and muskoxen is still an important part of the life, but tourism is gaining importance.

Carving deep into north-eastern Greenland, Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord promises cinematic scenery along every turn. Taking its name from the audacious expedition that brought the first Europeans to chart these remote realms, the fjord owes its title to the Austro-Hungarian leader who fiscally sponsored the daring explorations. Nestled within the vast and dramatic wilderness of Northeast Greenland National Park, the majestic fjord is surely fit for an emperor - and the sense of adventure remains palpable. Opening up into Foster Bay and the Greenland Sea, this fjord alone reaches inland for 120 miles, evolving and branching into one of Greenland's most expansive and awe-inspiring fjord systems. Towering, sheer mountains plunge suddenly into deep, inky-dark seas, while landmark formations - dashed with coppery-red hues - combine to create amazing photogenic landscapes. Encounter the astonishing scale of massive glacial chunks, birthed by terminating glaciers, as they embark on their own long and leisurely journeys. Get down onto the placid water to explore, paddling up close to ice floes, while curious seabirds circle above. Memorable northerly wildlife encounters could occur at any moment in this spectacular locale - keep your eyes peeled for narwhals and perhaps creamy-white beluga whales breaching. You might even strike it lucky and spot elusive polar bears padding along the shoreline.

King Oscar Fjord King Oscar Fjord is a major fjord system in eastern Greenland. With a depth of 110 kilometers and a width of up to 25 kilometers, it marks the border with Scoresby Sund with its superb majesty. You feel very small in the middle of this labyrinth of giant valleys, in the heart of these superb and hostile landscapes, in this mineral and icy environment, between mountain peaks and icebergs. Named in 1899 by explorer and geologist A.G. Nathorst, this gigantic and majestic fjord, was named after Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway. In Danish and Greenlandic, it is known as Kong Oscar Fjord. Arctic wildlife can be seen in the surrounding area, from lemmings and musk oxen to arctic hares, foxes, and ptarmigan, or more rarely, wolves and polar bears.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, whale watching, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Stykkishólmur, located in western Iceland at the northern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, is the commerce center for the area. Its natural harbor allowed this town to become an important trading center early in Iceland’s history. The first trading post was established in the 1550s, and still today, fishing is the major industry. The town center boasts beautiful and well-preserved old houses from earlier times. Stykkisholmur is very environmentally conscious; it was the first community in Europe to get the EarthCheck environmental certification, was the first municipality in Iceland to start fully sorting its waste, and was the first town in Iceland to receive the prestigious Blue Flag eco-label for its harbor. It has also been a European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) since 2011.

Flatey is the ‘flat island’ just as the name sounds. These days Flatey is mainly seasonally populated with many brightly painted, wooden summer cottages to be found here. Like many other small islands around Iceland though, Flatey was once a hub for fishing and trade. This particular island prospered so much that it was the center of commercial and cultural life in the 19th century for this part of Iceland. Thanks to the surroundiung nutrient-rich waters 35 species of birds have been counted on Flatey ranging from Eider Ducks and Atlantic Puffins, to Arctic Terns, Red-necked Phalaropes, Ringed Plover and Snow Buntings.

Stykkishólmur is located in western Iceland at the northern end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The town center boasts beautiful and well-preserved old houses from earlier times. Stykkisholmur is very environmentally conscious – it was the first community in Europe to get the EarthCheck environmental certification, was the first municipality in Iceland to start fully sorting its waste and was the first town in Iceland to receive the prestigious Blue flag eco-label for its harbor. 

Flatey is the ‘flat island’ just as the name sounds. These days Flatey is mainly seasonally populated with many brightly painted, wooden summer cottages to be found here. Like many other small islands around Iceland though, Flatey was once a hub for fishing and trade. This particular island prospered so much that it was the center of commercial and cultural life in the 19th century for this part of Iceland. Thanks to the surrounding nutrient-rich waters 35 species of birds have been counted on Flatey ranging from Eider Ducks and Atlantic Puffins, to Arctic Terns, Red-necked Phalaropes, Ringed Plover, and Snow Buntings.