Tour
#: IST 132
Duration: 9 days – not including
US departure day
Tour Dates:
Friday 13 June – Sunday 22 June 2008
Friday 27 June – Sunday 06 July 2008
Friday 11 July – Sunday 20 July 2008
Friday 25 July – Sunday 03 August 2008
Friday 08 August – Sunday 17 August 2008
Friday 22 August – Sunday 31 August 2008
Minimum/Maximum
Tour Size: 8/30 passengers
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General
Description:
This
tour takes you to places of historical interest and to many highlights
of Iceland's natural beauty. We visit country museums, travel around
Snæfellsnes peninsula with its famous glacier and fishing
villages and then head up north to Akureyri and Lake Mývatn,
rich in bird life and flora. We then cover South Iceland visiting
waterfalls, hot springs and Skaftafell National Park before heading
back to the capital city of Reykjavík.
Departure
day - Friday: US
Leave on evening flight from Icelandair gateway (see below).
Day
1 - Saturday: Reykjavík
Arrive in Iceland in the morning. Take the comfortable FlyBus from
Keflavík International Airport to your accommodations. Spend
the day relaxing, shopping or exploring the capital city of Reykjavík.
Optional tours include whale watching cruises or a visit to the
nearby countryside for a horseback ride. Contact IST for your options.
Overnight at a downtown Reykjavík guesthouse.
Day 2
- Sunday: Reykjavík - Borgarfjörður (B, D)
Today we drive to the town of Borgarnes and on to the Snæfellsnes peninsula and venture to the western tip where we circle the glacier and visit the former fishing center of Dritvík, the turf house museum at Hellisandur and shark processing farm at Bjarnarhöfn and the town of Stykkishólmur while enjoying the magnificent mountain and coastal scenery. We spend our overnight in the region.
Day 3
- Monday: Snæfellsnes (B, D)
A short drive brings us to a visit to the beautiful waterfalls of Hraunfossar, where water streams from under the lava into the river Hvítá, and onwards to Deildartunguhver, one of the most voluminous hot springs in Europe. We then head north to the Skagafjörður region and to the beautiful fjord of Eyjafjörður, home of the town of Akureyri, the capital of the north. We head a little further east into farm country for our next two overnights at a country hotel.
Day 4
- Tuesday: Borgarfjörður - Eyjafjörður (B, D)
Today we head for a short drive north to Húsavík, Iceland whale watching mecca. After a 3-4 hour whale watching cruise, we travel south to Lake Mývatn, considered one of the most fertile areas in the world so close to the Arctic Circle. We'll visit the lava fileds at Dimmuborgir. A stop will be made en route at one of Iceland's most majestic waterfalls Goðafoss, where Þorgeir threw his pagan idols into the falls when accepting Christianity during the year 1000 AD.
Day
5 - Wednesday: Day at Lake Mývatn (B, D)
Today we revisit the Mývatn area viewing the recent lava flows of Krafla volcano, the hot springs at Námaskarð and a stop at Dettifoss, Europe's mightiest falls before heading onward to Iceland's eastern fjord region. We will overnight near the town of Egilsstaðir, situated on the beautiful lake Logurinn.
Day
6 - Thursday: Eyjafjörður-The South (B, D)
Heading south through the eastern fjords we encounter the great Vatnajökull glaciers, Europe's largest as we drive along the ring road to southeast Iceland. We will stop at the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon for a boat ride amongst the icebergs. We will overnight along the coast in the fertile farm country of southeast Iceland.
Day
7 - Friday: South Coast and Skaftafell National Park (B, D)
We visit the Skaftafell National Park nestling below Iceland's highest mountain, the 2119 meter Hvannadalshnjúkur. We also visit two more of Iceland's magnificent waterfalls on this full day excursion as we head westward to southwest Iceland for our last overnight in the countryside.
Day
8 - Saturday: The South - Reykjavík (B)
Today we will explore Iceland's famous Golden Circle with stops at Gullfoss (the golden waterfall), the Geysir geothermal area and Thingvellir, Iceland's oldest and most revered National Park. We will return to Reykjavík at the end of the day with a drop-off at our accommodations.
Day 9 - Sunday: Reykjavík - Keflavík - US (B)
Enjoy a free morning in Reykjavík and then take the early
afternoon FlyBus to Keflavík International airport for your
return flight to the US. Or pre-book a tour to the Reykjanes Peninsula
and the Blue Lagoon with airport drop-off. Contact IST for tour
details and price.
Tour
Information:
Rate of Difficulty: Moderate but frequent walks. There
is an average of 3-4 hours of walking each day. This tour may not be suitable
for seniors.
Includes
round trip US flights from East Coast Icelandair gateways. Call for pricing
from non-East Coast gateways.
Included:
Round trip flights on Icelandair from US to Iceland (check with
IST for flight schedule from US Icelandair gateways), FlyBus ticket
for transport into Reykjavík upon arrival in Iceland and
back to airport on departure day, tour transport and professional
guidance, accommodations with private facilities including 2 nights
at Reykjavík downtown 3-star hotel with private bathroom facilities (optional 4-star hotel upgrade available upon request), 8 breakfasts, 6
dinners, entrance fees to all museums. Fees for whale watching and glacial lagoon boat rides are also included.
Not
Included: Luggage porterage usually not available at accommodations.
Meals not identified by B – breakfast, L – lunch and
D – dinner. Travel insurance is available upon request from
IST’s insurance company – TravelGuard International.
Note:
Some tour departures may feature a reverse itinerary. Some tour
departures may include guidance in a second language such as French.
Prices
(includes all taxes and airport fees)
IST-132
Price: $4735.00 per person staying in a double room
Single supplement: $623.00 add-on for single room occupancy
Route
Map:
