Iceland: Sagas and Springs

Velkomin til Íslands! Iceland's capital is a city of colourful corrugated rooftops, geothermal steam curling into the sky and a harbour view that reaches all the way to the snowcapped peaks of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. As the long Arctic evening settles in, you'll meet your Tour Leader and fellow travellers at a welcome reception in your hotel before heading out to a nearby local restaurant for your first taste of Icelandic hospitality. Let the adventure begin!

Leaving Reykjavik behind this morning, we'll head north along the coast to Akranes, a port town with a lighthouse perch that offers views across the wild coastline to anyone who makes the climb. The town's museum holds a fascinating collection of geological and maritime exhibits that tell the story of life on the edge of the Atlantic.

Then, one of the more memorable detours of the trip: Bjarnarhöfn shark farm, a working family operation where the Greenland shark has been cured, dried and eaten for centuries. The farmer will walk you through the six-month process – the biology, the history, the smell – and then it's time to be brave and try the hákarl yourself, paired with a shot of Icelandic brennivín. Whether you love it or need a little more convincing, you're sure to never forget it!

We'll arrive in the evening at the harbour town of Stykkishólmur, nestled beside the island-studded waters of Breiðafjörður Bay. The rest of the evening is yours to explore the village on foot, with excellent local restaurants within easy walking distance.

They call Snæfellsnes 'Iceland in a Nutshell', and today you'll understand why. In a single sweep of coastline and mountain, this peninsula concentrates almost every terrain the island has to offer – and beneath it all runs a deep seam of legend. These are the lands that inspired the Viking sagas, and as we travel, your Tour Leader will bring the old stories to life: feuds and heroes, shipwrecks and sorcery, all set against a landscape unchanged since the words were written.

We'll begin at Grundarfjörður fjord, where the peak of Kirkjufell mountain rises beside the cascading waters of Kirkjufellsfoss. With water rushing below and light playing across the slopes, the scene shifts with every passing moment.

At the western tip rises Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-crowned stratovolcano that Jules Verne chose as the portal to the centre of the earth – and on a clear day, it does look like the edge of the world. We'll walk the black pebble beach at Djúpalónssandur, the sea cliffs at Arnarstapi and the lava landscape at Búðir, with a final stop at Ytri Tunga farm – where Atlantic seals haul out on the rocks just metres from shore.

Borgarfjörður is one of those regions that most visitors drive straight past – and that's exactly why we're going. River valleys hide waterfalls that seem to materialise out of nowhere: Hraunfossar, where water wells up from beneath ancient lava fields and seeps into the river in a rippling curtain; nearby Barnafoss churns through the rock with rather less subtlety – and at Deildartunguhver, Europe's most powerful hot spring, the earth makes its presence felt at over 100 degrees Celsius.

The day's centrepiece is Sturlureykir, a family-run horse breeding farm where we'll meet the famous Icelandic horse and hear the stories behind these sure-footed animals. Then, something rather special: rye bread slow baked underground using geothermal heat, a tradition the family has kept for over a hundred years. The bread emerges dark, dense and faintly sweet – shaped by the same forces that define this landscape.

We'll arrive at Húsafell this afternoon, with free time to unwind by the hotel's geothermal pool or explore the forest trails, before gathering for an included dinner together in the hotel. As sunsets arrive late in the Icelandic summer, there's no rush – the valley has a way of making the evening feel long and unhurried in the best possible way.

Hvalfjörður (the Whale Fjord) is one of Iceland's best-kept secrets, bypassed since an underwater tunnel opened and left its shores almost entirely to the birds and the wildflowers. We'll venture into the Botnsdalur valley through a patchwork of birch forest, lupine meadows and volcanic mountains – a place so quietly removed from the rest of Iceland that it feels like a secret kept just for us.

The fjord saves its finest moment for last: Hvammsvík Hot Springs, where a series of geothermal pools sit right at the edge of the fjord, the mountains rising above and the water perfectly warm. We'll slip into the mineral-rich springs: the contrast of cool fjord air and steam settling into something deeply restorative. It's the kind of moment you'll be thinking about on the flight home.

With the warmth lingering, we'll continue to Þingvellir National Park – where Iceland's first parliament gathered in AD 930, and where tectonic plates are visibly pulling apart beneath your feet. This UNESCO World Heritage Site carries the weight of a thousand years of history in every crack and rift of its ancient lava plain.

The ferry from Landeyjahöfn crosses to Heimaey – the largest and only inhabited island of the Westman archipelago – and the island reveals itself gradually: jagged black cliffs, a compact fishing town, and above it all, the raw red cone of Eldfell.

In 1973, Eldfell erupted overnight with no warning, burying part of the town under metres of lava and ash and forcing the entire population of 5,000 to evacuate by boat within hours. The story of what happened next – how residents fought the lava flow with seawater and eventually returned to rebuild – is told with haunting power at the Eldheimar museum, built around one of the preserved houses that was swallowed and later excavated. It's one of the most affecting museum experiences in Iceland.

After an included lunch at a local restaurant, we'll have time to explore the island's dramatic coastline and cliffs. If the season is right, keep your eyes on the clifftops – this is one of the largest Atlantic puffin colonies in the world, and spotting one of those dapper little birds waddling along the edge of the world is, without question, one of the great wildlife moments of any Iceland trip.

Iceland's Golden Circle is famous for good reason, but we'll approach it a slightly different way: our first stop is Kerið Crater, a 6,500-year-old volcanic caldera whose striking red and ochre slopes ring a vivid aquamarine lake. Standing on the rim, looking down into the 'Blue Eye of Iceland', it feels almost too vivid to be real.

Next comes Friðheimar, a family greenhouse farm where tomatoes are cultivated year-round under glass, powered entirely by geothermal energy and Iceland's summer light. A tasting of the farm's own produce – tomatoes and freshly pressed juice – is a quietly charming interlude before Iceland's most famous sights come into view.

Then, the classics: Geysir, where the Strokkur vent erupts every few minutes in a column of boiling water and steam; and Gullfoss, the 'Golden Falls', where the Hvítá river plunges into a canyon that seems to swallow the sound of the water whole.

This evening we'll gather for a farewell dinner at the hotel – geysers and glaciers behind us, a volcanic island's worth of memories to go through, and one last Icelandic evening to make the most of.

Our final morning brings two last discoveries before we return to the city. First, Hespuhúsið, an open plant-dye studio near Selfoss where the owner, Guðrún Bjarnadóttir, dyes wool using traditional methods and natural pigments – a craft that connects directly to Iceland's long tradition of textile making. There's a small museum, a cosy sitting room, and beautiful hand-dyed yarn for sale – each piece carrying something of the place with them.

Then, a fitting farewell to the forces that have shaped everything we've seen this week: the Hellisheiðavirkjun Geothermal Power Plant, one of the largest of its kind in the world. Set on the Hengill volcanic system, surrounded by moss-covered lava fields and steaming vents, this plant produces clean electricity and hot water for Reykjavik – a reminder that in Iceland, the drama of the landscape isn't just beautiful. It's practical.

We'll arrive back in Reykjavik in the early afternoon – the mountains at our backs, and the rest of Iceland already pulling at the memory.