Thursday 7th September

• Meet your YPT guide in Reykjavik and start our adventure, we will be travelling by a private minivan.
• Our first stop will be the Seljalandsfoss waterfall that comes from the famous Eyjafjallajökull. It’s possible to walk behind the fall. We’ll also see the Gljufrabui fall nearby, hidden inside a cave.
• If the weather is good, we will stop at Seljavallalaug, an outdoor swimming pool built in 1928 in the middle of an impressive valley. Even if you don’t want to swim in its naturally hot water, it’s worth going just for the view!
• We’ll then drive to Skogafoss, one of the most impressive waterfalls in the country. We’ll walk to the top for incredible views of the coastline. We’ll also visit the local eco-museum, with reconstructions of traditional turf houses, and walk to Kvernufoss, a beautiful fall at the end of a canyon. It’s still relatively unknown, so we’ll be away from the tourists!
• The next stop is the Sólheimajökull glacier, between the volcanoes Katla and Eyjafjallajökull. We can walk to it and take photos, but not climb it as it necessitates special equipment.
• We’ll arrive in Vik, the biggest town on the south coast (don’t worry, there are only 790 inhabitants). It is famous for its pitch-black basalt sand beach, considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. We’ll enjoy this outwardly landscape and wall to the cliffs, home to numerous seabirds, especially puffins.
• Dinner at Vik’s microbrewery.
• Overnight in Vik, hopefully with northern lights!

Friday 8th September

• We’ll drive to the Kerið crater, where we’ll stop for some photos. Its striking-blue lake lies in the middle of an intact caldera made of red volcanic rock.
• Swim in the Secret Lagoon, the oldest swimming pool in the country, built in 1891. It’s an authentic Icelandic style pool, with natural hot volcanic water and geysers. The perfect alternative to the overcrowded and overpriced Blue Lagoon! [Optional – $20]

OR

• Depending on the weather, and whether people want to go to Secret Lagoon or not, we can stop at the Solheimasandur black sand beach, where an abandoned US Navy aircraft crash landed in 1973. The US Navy salvaged all remaining useful parts from the aircraft, but its shell is still there, in the middle of nowhere, and gives amazing photo opportunities. It’s possible to walk to the wreck (8km round trip) or take a shuttle bus ($20, optional).
• We’ll then do a short drive to Gullfoss, one of the most iconic and photogenic waterfalls in Iceland. We’ll walk along several pathways, offering the best views of the two-tiered waterfall, which is the largest in volume in Europe. Its average flow is 1400m3/second in the summertime!
• Our tour will bring us to Geysir, the place that gave its name to all the geysers in the world. If we are lucky, we may see the eruption of the Great Geysir, one of the highest known geysers in the world. If not, we’ll still have many opportunities to see the nearby geyser Strokkur erupts: it happens every few minutes up to 30 metres.
• On the way back to Reykjavik, we’ll drive though the Thingvellir National Park. Which lies in a rift valley that marks the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and was the place where the Althing – the Icelandic parliament – was founded in 930, making it the oldest parliament in the world.
• Back to Reykjavik right on time for our Greenland pre-tour meeting at 6:00pm at the Lebowski Bar, Reykjavik’s own homage to the cult movie.

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