3 Day Blue Ice Cave + Golden Circle + Northern Lights
What your day looks like
Hop on a comfortable minibus with a friendly and experienced guide and a small group on a 3-day excursion with us to explore the most famous locations in the Golden Circle and the South Coast. In this tour, you’ll get the chance to see the famous Geysir and the geothermal area, Gullfoss the powerful waterfall, Thingvellir National Park in the Golden Circle. Visit a traditional dairy farm where you’ll try ice cream, free of charge. On the second and third day, you’ll be taken to the famous South Coast. Along the shore, you’ll get to see the famous black sand beach, Reynisfjara, our stunning glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón in Vatnajökull National Park, where you’ll also get the change to explore Europe’s largest glacier and enter a blue ice cave in it. If nature allows, even the magnificent Northern Lights. This itinerary is provided as a sample for reference only. Final route details will be confirmed and shared closer to the departure date.
The experience, in brief
- Enjoy our 3 days excursion of Iceland
- Explore the famous locations in the Golden Circle and South Coast
- Experience Iceland with our friendly and experienced guide
Your day, step by step
Reykjavik
You will be picked up from your accommodation, and from there, set out to see Iceland’s most famous route: The Golden Circle. You’ll get the chance to experience everything that the area has to offer, including geothermal areas, waterfalls, and our favorite locals.
Bláskógabyggð
Sightseeing at Thingvellir National Park. We visit the place where the two tectonic plates, the North American and the Eurasian plate, are moving away from each other. Few places in the world offer a better and clearer view of this massive geographic activity. The biggest natural lake in Iceland is also located at Thingvellir National Park and hosts a great variety of fish and bird life. Thingvellir is also an important place for Icelandic national history. At Thingvellir Icelanders founded their parliament in 930 a.d. where the chieftains had their annual meeting every summer. The name “Thingvellir” translates to “Parliament Plains”.
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Gullfoss Waterfall. Visit Gullfoss Waterfall. The melting water from Iceland´s second biggest glacier, Langjökull, falls into a deep canyon forming the majestic “Golden Falls”. On a sunny day, you can see the glacier Langjökull in the distance and enjoy a rainbow in the midst of the waterfall, an Instagram blockbuster waiting to happen!
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Geysir. Visit the Geysir Geothermal Area. The Geysir geothermal area hosts hundreds of colorful hot springs and two geysers, erupting hot springs. One is called “Geysir” and name giving for all the geysers in the world. Today, however, it erupts very seldom. The other geyser is called “Strokkur” and erupts every 5 minutes up to 40 meters.
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Faxi. Visit the Faxi Waterfall. Faxi waterfall is smaller than the other ones, yet just as stunning. It is situated in the Tungufljót river, a famous salmon river. Alongside the river, there is a salmon staircase built to extend the salmon areas of the river. During the summer months, fishermen are often seen trying their luck at the waterfall and salmon seen jumping up the staircase.
Reykjavik
After you had seen all these magical places, you’ll get back on the bus and we’ll take you to the hotel to rest and get ready for the second day of your tour. Overnight stay at your hotel.
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. The adventure begins when we pick you up in Reykjavík in a small and comfortable minibus before heading straight to the South. Our arrival is announced by the powerful theatrics of Seljalandsfoss. Bring a raincoat and you’ll be able to make the short hike behind the falls. The scene behind the fall and the trembling ground from the power of the falling water makes for an automatic Instagram blockbuster!
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Skógafoss Waterfall. Further east along the coast is Skógafoss waterfall. Skógafoss is an incredibly picturesque sight. Tucked in a little gorge, the river Skógá tumbles down a 60-meter cliff before continuing down the landscape towards the Atlantic Ocean. Alongside the gorge, a staircase can take you to the shelf above the waterfall for stunning views. See if you can count your steps on your way up.
Reykjavik
Hiking at Vatnajökull National Park. We will hike an outlet glacier spawning from one of the largest glaciers in the country, Vatnajökull. After meeting our highly trained glacier guides and strapping on our safety and glacier equipment, including helmets, harnesses, crampons and ice axes we hike on the ice for an hour and a half. A spectacular experience and opportunity to learn more about this breathtaking and increasingly rare natural phenomena. Skaftafell area has been used as a filming location for many famous TV shows and films, such as Game of Thrones, Interstellar, James Bond, and others… Follow the steps of your favorite characters into the glacier!
Reykjavik
Hiking. The journey continues with the blue ice cave exploration. The exciting hike to reach the cave will take a few minutes – we recommend wearing waterproof hiking boots that cover your ankles and have a hard sole. Iceland’s nature is dominated by glaciers and it is only possible to explore them with a certified guide and safety equipment. Your guide will share with you his expertise about the ice caves, allowing you to truly appreciate this amazing natural phenomenon – spoiler alert… it will be blue.
Reykjavik
Arriving at our hotel in the Southeast, you will move into your room, have dinner and then meet your guide for further information about the Northern Lights. If the sky is clear and the forecast is good your guide will walk out with you in the vicinity of your hotel a good spot to hunt the famous Aurora Borealis. Overnight stay at your hotel.
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Jokulsarlon. Heading off day nr. 2 is Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, a 200m deep glacial lagoon fed by Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Europe’s largest glacier. Enormous icebergs come from Breiðamerkurjökull all year round so the lagoon is usually filled with ice that floats south. Try walking alongside the glacier lagoon enjoying the magnificent views and dead silence of Icelandic nature. On the other side of the road, the icebergs from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon float into the Atlantic Ocean where they are quickly thrown back to shore by the tide and winds. This black sand beach is full of smaller ice rocks in all shapes and sizes, sparkling like diamonds in the daylight. The ice itself comes in all shades of white and blue forming beautiful contrasts, guaranteed to make your Instagram account pop!
Reykjavik
Sightseeing at Reynisfjara. Heading further east, we visit the black sand beach of Reynisfjara where the Atlantic coastline presents massive waves hitting the unique basalt columns in the cliffs above the sand. Rock pillars in the water and the cliffs of Dýrhólaey are seen in the distance. This area of the south is also a paradise for bird lovers, as puffins and dozens of other unique species nest on top of these cliffs in the summertime from June to August.
What to know before booking
Included
English speaking guide Certified Glacier Guide Small Group (21 person max) Wi-Fi and Icelandic music on board Glacier equipment: helmet, harness, crampons, and ice axe
What to Bring
Warm clothes (first layer) Waterproof clothing (second layer) Hiking boots (available for rent when booking) Joy and happiness!
Meeting & Pickup
We will pick you up at your accommodation.
Planning Notes
Minimum age: 8 Hotel pickup offered: Yes Confirmation: Automatic
What travelers are saying
We completed the three day tour with the glacier hike today! It was awesome and the sub vendor, Troll Expeditions, is definitely worthy of staying on the vendor list.