A land of fire and ice: a wild, romantic place with narrow fjords; deep ravines; vast glaciers surrounded by jumbles of moraine; black sand deserts; volcanoes; glacial lakes and spluttering geysers.
For geology students, amateur or professional, the island is like an interactive encyclopaedia: bubbling here, cracking open there, frozen solid in places and with water cascading everywhere. The interior is uninhabited and uninhabitable and despite some forest clearances over the centuries must look pretty much as it did a thousand or more years ago.
No more than 3 hours flying time from your choice of 5 UK airports, Iceland lies in the middle of the Atlantic just below the Arctic Circle with two thirds of its charming and welcoming population living in or around Reykjavik. The capital is a cool chic place, teeming with life over the weekdend and with restaurants serving up both traditional and modernistic dishes based around the island's staples of fish and lamb.
You can stay there for a few days and enjoy both adventure safaris and more leisurely excursions day; enjoy the south's spectacular attractions by Super Jeep with a local guide or spot for Northern Lights from a hot tub outside your room at the Ranga, one of our favourite hotels run by some of our favourite people. And there’s no better place to spend New Year when the city is garlanded by bonfires before fireworks at midnight.
If you can't find exactly the Icelandic adventure you’re looking for let us use our experience to design an itinerary tailored specifically to your requirements.
Reykjavík, with its long time ‘cool’ reputation and the destination of choice for a cognoscente including Jeremy Clarkson, Eric Clapton, Jamie Oliver and Reese Witherspoon, is now ‘chilled and sparkling’ with stylish hotels, modish design and cutting edge everything.
Daily
Celebrate New Year in a style peculiar to Icelanders that attracts visitors from around the world not least because unlimited fireworks can be had by anyone which Icelanders take maximum advantage of and garland the city with displays. Start the evening with our ‘Buffet on Ice’; blow out the Old Year on our bonfire tour; bring in the New with champagne and fireworks and then dance the night away. Choose between staying at the Plaza in the centre of town or in the spacious Grand Hotel where the New Year’s entertainment takes place.
29 December
By day enjoy Southern Iceland’s unique cocktail of sights: the falling water curtains that are Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls, the glacial snowmobiling rink that is Mýrdalsjökull glacier, the foam pounding white on Dyrhólæy’s black sand beaches and the Golden Circle's famed attractions of Gullfoss, Geysir and Pingviller.
By night enjoy food to die for in the hotel Ranga's renowned dining room and afterwards soak in a hot tub outside your bedroom whilst waiting for the Northern Lights to appear [hopefully] in the night sky above you.
October - April ~ Daily
Experience Reykjavík’s cutting edge everything; take in Iceland’s best known natural attractions: Gullfoss, Geysir and Pingvellir all glistening in a winter coat of snow; do a little culture vulturing up by Reykholt, shrine to Saga author Snorri Sturluson; drive out along the Snæfellsnes peninsula topped at its end with an eternal ‘pyramid of snow’ and round off your trip with a bathe in the Blue Lagoon.
October - April ~ Daily
Gullfoss’s frozen stalactites; Pingvellir valley’s lead grey lake; Vatnajokull on which you can take a gentle hike and Jokulsaron glacial lagoon with its calving bergs are just a few of the iconic sights you’ll see on our Safari Adventures by SuperJeep.
Guided by Haukun Snorrason (an accomplished photographer) and with hospitality provided at his renovated farmhouse to the east of Vik by his wife Hadda. This is a unique opportunity to see Iceland’s dramatic scenery in its winter cloak and experience personal Icelandic hospitality.
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