Choose this 8-day Iceland tour that gets you out exploring the varied and stunning landscape of South Iceland in a new way each day. Mountain bike the lava fields outside of Reykjavik, or spend the morning sea kayaking off the coast of the island. Try your hand at horseback riding an Icelandic horse with five gaits and then set out the next day for some hiking in the ever popular Thorsmork region, a green oasis bordered by glaciers on three sides. This adventure tour allows you to try out a glacier walk and also sends you on a river jet boat ride along the Golden Circle Route! Your guide stays with you throughout the tour and shares with you some of Iceland's history at Thingvellir National Park and in rural farm settings. This unique Iceland trip is a perfect introduction to South Iceland for the active traveler.
Highlights
Get active with hikes, bikes, horses, kayaks, and even a river jet ride!
Spend two nights at a hut in Þórsmörk and hike up to Fimmvörðuháls Pass
Tour the Golden Circle Route including Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss
Overnight at a country farm and learn about Icelandic horses
Activities that provide a reasonable level of physical challenge and elevate the heart rate. Focused on more active pursuits including multisport tours. Travelers may be active 5-7 hours total each day. Recommended for travelers with active lifestyles.
Arrive to Reykjavik and transfer yourself to the city for your overnight. Depending on when you arrive, you may have time to explore the city. A great variety of shops, museums, and restaurants can be explored during your free time today.
This morning you are picked up from your Reykjavik hotel. Meet your guides and the rest of the group and set out first to mountain bike the lunar landscape and lava fields outside of Reykjavik. Next head to Hveragerði village which is known for hot springs and green houses. Take a dip in the local swimming pool here and continue on this afternoon to a local farm and your home for the next three nights. Settle in and greet your hosts, including the horses and goats!
Travel more inland today to see some of Iceland's most renowned attractions along the Golden Circle Route. Visit the thundering Gullfoss Waterfall. Near the waterfall, take an exciting river jet tour on the Hvítá River. Start where the river is calm, but then continue upstream into the canyons where the currents get stronger and the ride starts to give more of a thrill. Next visit the Geysir geothermal area where the Strokkur geyser can be seen erupting every 10 minutes. Lastly visit Þingvellir National Park. This is the site for the ancient Viking parliament and one of two places in the world where the continental drift can be observed above ground. Here the Mid Atlantic Ocean Ridge surfaces. Tour this historic region before continuing back to your hotel.
Drive Time: 4-5 hours
Activity: River Jet 1 hour, shorter hikes 2-3 hours total
Travel to the small town of Stokkseyri today located on the coast. This is one of the better places to hop in a kayak and explore. Here the waterways and labyrinths of the lagoons are calm for kayakers and are also intriguing! Spend a few hours kayaking around before you go for a swim in the local swimming pool. This afternoon you have the chance to go for a horseback ride on the Icelandic horses. These horses are only found here and are known for their five gaits unlike others horses around the world. Learn about these magnificent creatures as you enjoy a ride through meadows and lava fields in the area.
Today pack your bags up to head a little further east towards the Eyjafjallajökull massif and Sólheimajökull Glacier. Strap on some crampons and go on a short glacier walk for an hour and a half. Explore the various ice features in the glacial ice with your guide and check out the water cauldrons. After the glacier walk you pull off the main route to view the waterfalls of Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss, two main South Iceland attractions on the Ring Road. Turn north next towards the highlands and the valley of Þórsmörk. This hidden green oasis is walled in by three glaciers, giving it a slightly warmer and more consistent climate and creating a hiker's paradise. Spend the night in a mountain hut here.
Set out for a challenging hike today up to the new craters of the Fimmvörðuháls Pass. These craters were the location of the first blasts of the 2010 eruption. Hike through the stunning landscape carved out with deep canyons and jagged ridgelines. Enjoy breathtaking views of the surrounding glaciers and the lower green valley of Þórsmörk. See if you can spot any new lava that is still hot under the surface here as you explore the site before returning back down the mountain to the hut for the evening.
Activity: 8-10 hours
Hike Distance: 12 miles
Ascent/Descent: 2650 ft
Leave Þórsmörk and drive back west along the southern coast and past Reykjavik to the Reykjanes Peninsula. Finish off the tour here with a visit to the popular Blue Lagoon and have a dip in its natural warm baths before you return to Reykjavik this evening.
Drive Time: 3-5 hours
Activity: 2-4 hours
Day 8: Return Home
1 Breakfast
Transfer yourself back to the airport in time for your return flight home.
This itinerary is no longer available. For other trip ideas, please visit Iceland Cruises & Tours.
Apologies for the inconvenience. Prices for not yet published. Below per person rate based on previous season. Contact us to confirm upcoming season pricing.
Prices for are estimated based on inflation. Contact us to confirm pricing and availability for your desired departure date.
Notes
Select a Date
Rates based on small group departure of 6-12 people.
Private departures available starting at $6425 pp for group of 4.
Rates are based on Icelandic Krona and may change due to currency fluctuations.
Initial deposit is 25%, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.
Final payment is due 70 days prior to departure by bank transfer, check, or credit card. Final payment by credit card may be subject to surcharge and a maximum $20,000 charge
Our guide and driver were very good with their knowledge and were very helpful with our questions. It was a very pleasant visit that would have been impossible to do on our own. Hotels and restaurants were fantastic. The special places we got to go to, like the kitchens, were great. Enjoyed the entire trip!
Friendly people who ask good questions to make sure your trip is what you want
K.Godinez
4 months ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
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