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​It may be famous the world over as one of the best spots to catch the elusive Northern Lights, but Iceland has a whole lot more besides. Here’s how to fit seeing the best of this magical volcanic island in just a few days with expert photographic guidance from Colin Prior.​

Departure date: 3 October 2016

Prices:

From £3995 per person (single travellers)

Prices for double rooms available on request

Current tour status: Places available

Your itinerary at a glance

3 October 2016 / Arrive Reykjavik, transfer to Hotel Rangá, stay one night in a Deluxe Room.

4 October 2016 / Depart Hotel Rangá heading east to the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, stay two nights a Single Room.

6 October 2016 / Return west to the Hotel Rangá, stay three nights in a Deluxe Room.

9 October 2016 / Transfer to Reykjavik airport for departure.

Prices include:

  • Fully-escorted tour of Iceland by Colin Prior.
  • All photography workshops.
  • Six nights staying in four-star accommodation (four nights at Hotel Rangá, two nights at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon).
  • Breakfast throughout, two set menu dinners on the first and last nights at Hotel Rangá, one premium packed lunch and one BBQ lunch.
  • Group arrival and departure transfers.​
  • Private vehicles with English speaking guide each day for the group, including a Super Jeep on two days.​
  • Private ice walk on the glacier for the group.​

Prices exclude:

  • International flights. Please speak to your Travel Director regarding all international flight arrangements and any overnight accommodation required pre- or post-trip.
  • All meals and other items not mentioned above.

Please note:

During the days when lunch is not included, your guide will suggest suitable venues for lunch which should be paid locally. All dinners not mentioned above should be paid locally to the hotels. Should you choose to arrive/depart later than the scheduled group airport transfers, individual transfers can be arranged by your Travel Director at an additional cost.
​​Your Itinerary

6 nights Reykjavik - South Shore - Reykjavik

​Day 1 / Hella

Upon arrival in Reykjavik you will be met by your driver who will assist with your group transfer to Hotel Rangá at approximately 4pm (please check with your Travel Director regarding your arrival arrangements). Upon arrival at the hotel you will have time to relax before joining Colin and the group to enjoy a set menu dinner and discuss the days to come.

 

Day 2 / The South Shore

Today you can pack lightly for a two-night stay in the eastern part of the South Coast, as you will be able to keep the rest of your luggage safely at Hotel Rangá. Meeting your guide from Luxury Adventures, the day begins with a drive along the South Shore. Here the rugged landscape offers up first-hand evidence of nature’s power, with everything from waterfalls (one of which you can walk behind) and black sandy beaches to mountains, steep cliffs, glaciers and numerous strange lava formations all found along the way. The Solheimajokull glacier tongue extends down from its mother glacier; Myrdalsjokull, Iceland’s fourth largest, and you’ll also spot farms, agricultural livestock and bird life.

 

You’ll also have the opportunity to go up close to a glacier tongue for a walk on the ice. Walking on the glacier is an activity suitable for everybody and when you put on your crampons and walk, you’ll be able to explore the crevasse -riddled outlet glacier with its amazing ice formations, sink holes and jagged ridges. The journey then continues on to the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon where you will spend the next two nights.

 

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon is a four-star newly-opened property, located at Hnappavellir, a popular climbing area. The location is perfect for nature lovers, as it’s right between the Skaftafell and Jökulsárlón glacier lagoons, two of Iceland´s most spectacular natural attractions, and a hiker´s paradise.

   

 

Day 3 / The South Shore

Today will be spent taking in some of Iceland’s most magnificient and rugged scenery, visiting the Vatnajökull National Park, home to the largest glacier in the world outside the Arctics, Vatnajökull, with its many subsidiary glacier tongues, each of which has its own name and distinct characteristics. Huge blocks of ice constantly break off the Breidamerkur glacier tongue – just one of Vatnajökull’s outlets – and large icebergs from the glacier float on the lagoon.

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There’s the opportunity to go sailing on the ice lagoon by zodiac to capture images of the ice at close waters, as well as visiting the Ingólfshöfði cape – an isolated island between the black sands of the south coast of Iceland and the North Atlantic Ocean, and where, if you were to sail due south, you would not touch land until Antarctica.

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After exploring the area with time to shoot the landscape you will return to the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon.

 

​​Days 4 to 6
The South Shore - Hella

Day 4 / The South Shore to Hella

Today the journey continues westward, driving along the South Shore where en-route you will see the impressive canyon Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon which runs through hyaloclastite (soft granular rock) with lava layers and intrusions, the entire formation dating from the Ice Age – about two million years ago. When the ice cap retreated during the last glacial period, a deep lake was formed in a valley above the present gorge, the water being retained behind a threshold of rock, with overflow water running down the slope now cut by the gorge.

 

 

You will also will visit the infamous Reynisfjara Beach and Dyrholaey promontory - some amazing coastal landscapes shaped by the ocean, before You continuing back to the Hotel Rangá, where you will spend your last three nights.

Hotel Rangá
Hotel Rangá is a luxury countryside hotel and the only four-star hotel in South Iceland. It offers all the facilities and services of a modern resort. Located about an hour from Reykjavík, it lies just off the main road right in middle of South Iceland’s panoramic scenery. It provides stunning picturesque surroundings, such as the famous volcano Mt. Hekla, several glaciers and the Westman Islands.


 

Day 5 / Landmannalaugar Geothermal Area, Central Highlands

After breakfast your guide will introduce you to a super jeep/SUV, perfectly suited to take you safely into the Central Highlands, and your destination for the day, Landmannalaugar, one of the gems of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve with all of the reserve’s most impressive features: stupendous ravines, steep rhyolite screes, rocky slopes, mountains with views, boiling hot springs, hot pools, cold and clear springs, contiguous vegetation, light-colored alluvial plains and miscellaneous hydrological conditions. On your way, you’ll pass by the Hekla volcano before arriving at the interior route, across lava fields, black ash and scoria deserts to photograph Landmannalaugar’s contrasting landscapes of black ridges and colorful mountains of green, red, yellow and orange.

 

Day 6 / Thorsmork Glacial Valley

Once again your day will start by driving in a super jeep/SUV. Thorsmork is one of the shiniest pearls in the country’s string of beautiful areas, surrounded by rugged and beautiful mountains, glaciers and glacial rivers, decorated with small birch woods and silver lined with humming brooks.

 
 
 
 
Often difficult to reach, except by mountain vehicles, there are a multitude of small gullies and valleys, clad with low birch-trees that create seemingly endless possibilities for the nature lover. The outlet glaciers tumble and crawl down into the gullies, some of them ending in spectacular glacial lagoons. The glacial melt-off forms rivers that have to be crossed on the way to Thorsmork, which some days can be quite a challenge! An innocent stream can change in a matter of hours into a thunderous torrent, but your skilled driver will be very experienced in these driving conditions and will get you safely across any river.
    
  
This lush region, once a fjord some 12,000 years ago, is home to over 170 species of plants, moss and lichen, and will provide a great spot for your barbeque lunch, as well as numerous photographic opportunities. Then, at day's end, your SUV will transfer you back to Hotel Rangá for your farewell dinner and the final opportunity to see the Northern Lights.
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, have become a trademark of the Hotel Rangá, as it is superbly located in a rural area where light pollution is not an issue in the winter time. By turning off the outside lights, the hotel can provide optimal conditions to view the sky at night. Although there is never any guarantee of seeing the Aurora, a three-night stay here means you have a fairly good chance of experiencing this phenomenon.

There are no accurate long-term aurora forecasts and no research that depicts how the aurora behaves or when it is likely to appear. However, slightly after the autumn equinox and slightly before the spring equinox, there are statistically somewhat better viewing conditions and more consistent northern lights. Whilst the chances are somewhat better of seeing the aurora during this period, it is never guaranteed that the lights will make an appearance. The autumn equinox in 2016 will be on 22 September so your stay will be shortly after this time.
 

Special Aurora Services at Hotel Rangá

  • A wake-up call so guests do not miss seeing the Northern lights should they appear.

  • Warm clothes and blankets so guests don't get cold when viewing the lights.

  • Specially-made benches to lie on and watch the Northern Lights.

  • Helpful, guiding information for those interested in knowing more about the phenomena and what causes them.

 

 

     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Day 7 / Departure
Today you will check-out from Hotel Rangá where your driver will take the group back to the airport for your onward flights. Group transfer time to be confirmed. Please check with your Travel Director for all departure arrangements.
 
Photographic Highlights

  • The South Shore, waterfalls and glacier walking
  • Glacier lagoons - sailing in between the icebergs and the Vatnajokull Glacier
  • Fjadrargljufur Canyon, Reynisfjara Beach and Dyrholaey Promontory
  • Landmannalaugar Geothermal Area, Central Highlands
  • Thorsmork Glacial Valley
  • The Northern Lights from Hotel Rangá (not guaranteed)
​Call your Travel Director on
01244 567 000 
to book, or for further information

Request a call back

Or get in touch 01244 567000