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Iceland Country Tour

June 13 - 22, 2011

Gulfoss Waterfall

With tour leader Wilmer Martin

TourMagination’s Iceland Country Tour begins in the capital city of Reykjavik and gives you the opportunity to travel through the ever-changing scenery of the Icelandic countryside, through mountains and valleys, viewing volcanoes, glaciers, rivers, hot springs and waterfalls. This is an ideal tour to experience the very best of Iceland. We will visit three National Parks: Snæfellsnes peninsula, Skaftafell and Þingvellir. We will have the possibility to do some walking in the beautiful countryside during the tour. Accommodation is provided in hotels with private facilities. The hotels used on tours are often “summer hotels,” used most of the year as boarding schools or country hotels which are simple and clean. Join Wilmer Martin, president of TourMagination, to explore the beautiful island country of Iceland, located in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Mondayy & Tuesday, June 13 & 14

Blue Lagoon
Blue Lagoon
The tour departs from Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, and Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, on overnight flights to Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city. Arrive at Keflavik Airport early Tuesday morning. We will start the day with a Welcome Breakfast before we head to the famous Blue Lagoon for a refreshing bath or swim in the pleasantly warm mineral-rich water, famed for its healing properties. At the nearby fishing town of Grindavik we will visit the harbor before going to Reykjavik via the volcanic landscape of the Reykjanes Peninsula. We will stay in Reykjavik for two nights.

Þingvellir
Þingvellir
Wednesday, June 15

From Reykjavik we drive to Thingvellir National Park to the most important historical place of Iceland, the old parliament site. Þingvellir is also a place of high geological interest where the meeting of the two drifting continental plates can be seen. Then we head to the geyser area to see geysers and hot springs and not far from there, Iceland’s favorite waterfall named Gullfoss (the golden waterfall). At the Friðheimar horse farm we will be introduced to the Icelandic horse and see a show of its history and gaits, showing how this magnificent breed has been intertwined with the culture and history of Iceland through the centuries.

Thursday, June 16
We will drive to the town of Borgarnes and on to the Snæfellsnes peninsula with its National Park and dominating glacier Snæfellsjökul. In Búðir we will visit a small, black, typical Icelandic wooden church. After the visit, we will go for a short walk along the beach, one of rare light-colored beaches to be found in Iceland, which gives a nice contrast to the black lava around them. Then we head on to Arnastapi, a small village where we will go for a walk along the coast enjoying the “songs” of all the sea birds – kittiwakes and arctic terns singing loudest. From there we head to the Djúpárlónssandur beach, where in the former days a seasonal fishing village was situated and an old fisherman’s shelter is to be found. We will continue our journey around the peninsula, through the fishing village of Hellissandur and Ólafsvík. We drive on to the charming town of Stykkishólmur before we head to overnight in the Borgarfjörður area.

Snæfellsnes peninsula
Snæfellsnes peninsula
Friday, June 17

Today we leave Borgarfjörður but not before we have visited some of its more interesting sites: Deildatunguhver, one of the world’s most powerful hot springs; a tiny village and a former farm of the 13th century writer/scholar and chieftain Snorri Sturluson; Snorri´s hot pool, the water coming from one of many hot sources in the area. We continue to Hraunfossar (lava waterfalls), where crystal clear water seemingly appears out of the 1000-year-old lava field. A ten-minute walk up the river brings us to Barnafoss (children´s fall) where the glacial river has carved out strange rock formations. Then we head north driving through green pastures, old lava, nicely sculpted valleys and fjords before arriving in Skagafjörður, known as the “valley of horses”. On we go through more valleys to reach Eyjafjörður, the longest fjord in Iceland. Overnight for two nights in the Þingeyjarsýsla area.

Saturday, June 18

We will visit the picturesque fishing village of Húsavík where we embark an old renovated fishing boat to try our luck with whale watching – 98% chance of seeing minke whales, harbor porpoises, dolphins, fin whales, etc. Then we continue to the Lake Mývatn area to visit some of the wonders of the Lake Mývatn area. We will walk to the top of the 2500-year-old crater Hverfjall (hot spring mountain), one of the craters in the world that looks the most like the ones found on the moon. From there we continue our walk to the bizarre lava formations at Dimmuborgir. The Mývatn area is a paradise for birds, especially ducks, and during the nesting period, areas around the lake are closed for human access, but we will try during our stops to spot some of these numerous birds around the lake. We return to our accommodation.

Sunday, June 19

Geyser
Geysir
We will start the day by visiting the volcanic activity at Krafla and the geothermal area of Námaskarð with its boiling grey mud pots and that very special smell! Continue through bare and deserted landscape to visit the spectacular Dettifoss waterfall, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. Then we continue towards the east through bare and sometimes deserted landscape with mountains all around. On the way we will stop at Möðrudalur, the all-year residence at the highest altitude in Iceland, 469 meters above sea level, a great place to enjoy the view of the queen of Icelandic mountains and visit the church at the farm in memory of the former farmer‘s wife. On we go through more fascinating bare landscape and along the long valley of Jökuldalur (glacial valley) reaching the fertile region of Fljótsdalshérað with its big lake, Lögurinn, where according to legends a giant Lake-Worm lives. Overnight in Fljótsdalshérað.

Monday, June 20

We will leave Fljótsdalshérað and head south, driving through green valleys, over mountain roads, along the coast line and arrive in Berufjörður, one of many fjords of the east. We will drive all around it to the small fishing village Djúpivogur for a short visit. The landscape changes as we start seeing flat, sometimes sandy, plains of the south mixed with the mountains and the valleys. We will get close to Vatnajökull, the biggest glacier in Europe, covering about 8% of Iceland. If the weather permits, we will be able to enjoy the view of many glacier tongues descending its main ice cap – an amazing contrast to the green fertile areas we drive through. At the glacier lagoon, Jökulsárlón, we will embark a boat and sail around the floating icebergs of the lagoon. Then we continue our journey along the south to overnight in the Vatnajökull area.

Tuesday, June 21

We begin the day by walking in the Skaftafell National Park which offers big contrasts in landscape with glaciers, moors, mountains, birch forest, glacial rivers, brooks and sandy plains. From Skaftafell we drive through the lava fields of Eldhraun, resulted from a year-long eruption in 1783, which was devastating for Iceland. We pass through the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur and drive through the black sands of Mýrdalssandur before arriving in the village of Vík. Skógar is a tiny village where one of the better Folk Museums can be found with a turf house in the garden and a couple of old wooden houses to visit. Then it’s on to the waterfall of Skógar, falling gracefully 60m down the mountain. Our last stop is at another waterfall called Seljalandsfoss, falling narrowly 50m, which is possible to see from all sides as we can walk behind it – with care and with the risk of getting wet! From there, we drive again through the biggest agricultural area in Iceland, the south low land to the small village of Hella, where we stay overnight.

Wednesday, June 22

Reykjavik
Reykjavik
We need to leave early this morning for Keflavik Airport for our flights back to North America. On the way we will drive through beautiful Eyrarbakki, a picturesque coastal village with many old wooden houses. From Eyrarbakki we head on to the Reykjanes Peninsula where we will stop at a tall lighthouse and see birds nesting at the extreme tip of the peninsula. Here the landscape steams with volcanic features of hot springs, solfataras and mud pots and a couple of small shield volcanoes. We will cross a small bridge between the two continents, the American and Eurasian continental plates. All too soon it will be time to say our farewells to Iceland and return on our flights homeward. You will take with you many memories of this beautiful country with its varied landscape and friendly people.


For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance.
 
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