The Frozen West

This day begins with a drive on the dramatic highland road leading to the bleak and haunted Kaldidalur valley and Langjökull glacier.

On our way past Þingvellir (not stopping) we turn off the tarmac and on to mountain roads, past Sandkluftavatn lake until we reach Húsafell. There you have an option of buying something to eat or simply taking a look around the birch “forest”.

Next, we drive to Langjökull glacier, the second largest glacier in Iceland. We take you all the way up to the tunnel entrance of Into the glacier. This man-made ice tunnel is one of only 4 in the world and walking under and within the moving glacier is quite the experience. This is your chance to explore a tunnel that reaches deep within the spectacular ice cap glacier. Here you will witness amazing blue ice formations and being deep inside the ice cave is simply a magical moment.

Then we drive towards Borgarfjörður and the magical waterfall Hraunfossar, a series of enchanting lava waterfalls formed by rivulets streaming out of Hallmundarhraun as well as the beautiful cascades of Barnafoss, with its tragic tale.

Iceland's literary heritage and the magnificent sagas call for a short visit to historic Reykholt, the home of Iceland’s greatest saga writer, Snorri Sturluson. Here you can see Snorralaug, a hot spring where Snorri bathed and might be the oldest handmade structure in Iceland.

From Reykholt we begin the return journey to Reykjavík via Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful geothermal spring. Most of the water is used for central heating in neighboring towns but one of the most special things about is it that it’s the home of a very rare fern (Blechnum Spicant) that doesn’t grow anywhere else in Iceland. After all the geo-power the tour continues to Hvalfjörður, Whale Fjord, with its controversial history of whaling before we reach Reykjavik in the late afternoon.