ICELAND · NORTH ATLANTIC
Glaciers, volcanoes and the aurora overhead.
From the Golden Circle and the South Coast to the far fjords. Waterfalls, glacier hikes, whale watching, geothermal spas and the northern lights, with the trips that get you to each one.
Only in Iceland
Three things you can only do here.
Waterfalls and mountains turn up across the north. Swimming the gap between two continents, walking inside a glacier, and watching icebergs wash up as diamonds do not. Build the trip around these three.
Between two continents
Silfra, the Plate Gap
Silfra is the flooded rift where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, and the only place on earth you can swim straight down the seam between two continents. The water is glacial meltwater filtered through lava for decades, so clear you can see 100 metres through it.
- 1 Silfra: Snorkeling Between Tectonic Plates – Meet on Location
- 2 Silfra: Fissure Snorkeling Tour with Underwater Photos
- 3 Reykjavík: Silfra Fissure Snorkeling between Two Continents
Inside the glacier
The Blue Ice Caves
Every winter, meltwater carves fresh caverns inside Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Europe. You walk in under metres of thousand-year-old ice that glows electric blue where the light comes through. They melt and reform each year, so no two seasons are the same.
- 1 From Vik: Katla Ice Cave and Super Jeep Tour
- 2 Jökulsárlón: Vatnajökull Ice Cave Guided Tour
- 3 Skaftafell: Ice Cave Tour and Glacier Hike
Where the glacier meets the sea
Jokulsarlon & Diamond Beach
Icebergs break off the glacier, drift across a still lagoon and float out to the Atlantic, then wash back onto black volcanic sand as glittering chunks of clear ice. The lagoon, the bergs and the diamond beach line up along one short stretch of the south coast.
- 1 Reykjavik: Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon Full-Day Guided Trip
- 2 Jökulsárlón: Crystal Ice Cave Super Jeep Tour
- 3 From Reykjavik: Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach
Chase the aurora
When the sky turns green.
Iceland sits directly under the auroral oval. On clear, dark nights from September to April the northern lights are genuinely likely, and these guided hunts go wherever the forecast looks best that evening.
The first day out
If you only do one day, do this one.
The day trip more first-timers book than any other in Iceland. An easy full day out of Reykjavik that sets the tone for the rest of the week.
The classics
Iceland's Most Popular Tours
The Golden Circle, the South Coast, glacier lagoons and the Blue Lagoon. The trips most travellers come to Iceland for.
By region
Pick a region.
Reykjavik for the food, the spas and the easy day trips. The Golden Circle for the headline sights. The South Coast for waterfalls and black sand. The north for whales and quiet.
By experience
Or choose what you came for.
Northern lights if you came for the sky. Glacier hikes and ice caves if you came for the ice. Whales and puffins if you came for the wildlife. The Blue Lagoon if you just want to be warm.
When to come
Iceland runs on two seasons.
What you can do here depends entirely on when you arrive. Summer opens the highlands and the midnight sun. Winter brings the ice caves and the aurora. Pick your half of the year.
The classic loop
The Golden Circle.
Þingvellir where the continents pull apart, Geysir spouting on cue, and Gullfoss thundering into its canyon. The easiest big day in Iceland, and the one we would book first.
Waterfalls and black sand
The South Coast run.
Seljalandsfoss you can walk behind, Skógafoss head-on, the black beach at Reynisfjara, and a glacier tongue or two on the way. Three trips down the south coast worth the early start.
The warm side
Where Iceland warms up.
Volcanic heat sits a few feet under everything here, which is why the pools stay warm while it snows outside. The Blue Lagoon, the Sky Lagoon and the quieter nature baths, our three favourite places to thaw out.
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