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Categories Winter Tours Adventure & Eco Travel Iceland Winter Tours

East Iceland is a beautiful region of vast reindeer-filled highlands and rugged fjords. This terrain has shaped a people who enjoy welcoming visitors and sharing their heritage. Visit the edge of the untamed highlands where the new Wilderness Center creatively brings to the life how brave frontier families lived more than a century ago. Meet modern day locals through visits to charming fishing villages and farms, discovering strong traditions in the arts and folklore. You might even glimpse some wild reindeer, the region’s symbol.

Highlights:

Journey to the edge of a vast highland wilderness with wild reindeer herds

Travel back over a hundred years to see how highland frontier farmers lived at the interactive new Wilderness Center

Visit a local organic farm and enjoy a delicious farm breakfast

See Iceland‘s largest national forest

Visit Seydisfjordur, a village with beautifully-preserved wooden buildings and a focus on art education and local heritage.

Learn how to photograph northern lights from a local expert

Discover East Fjords fishing heritage at friendly local villages, including chances to sample fish products

Travel the region used as a filming location for Fortitude and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Itinerary

Welcome to the Land of Fire and Ice! On your own, transfer to Reykjavik. We recommend the easy and convenient FlyBus Plus transfers, which can be booked through Iceland Travel. If your flight lands early in the day, a great suggestion is to explore Reykjavik, the largest municipality in Iceland. Ingolfur Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland, built his farm on the peninsula where Reykjavik stands today. The town got its name “Smoky Bay” after the columns of steam that rose from the hot springs in the area and made such a deep impression on the first settlers.

Dinner is on your own. Reykjavik

Farmer‘s welcome – Iceland‘s largest forest – Highland wilderness frontier - A trip into the past

Breakfast at hotel. Be in the hotel lobby with your luggage for group transfer to Reykjavik Domestic Airport and check-in for your flight to Egilsstadir, (population approx. 2,257) the largest town in the Eastfjords region. There you’ll meet your local guide and tour vehicle and start off on your adventure! Follow along the Lagarfljot River, keeping an eye out for its legendary sea monster, as you head into Hallormsstadarskogar, Iceland's largest National Forest. From the forest the road climbs into the starkly beautiful highlands. This uninhabited wilderness is home to wild reindeer, the symbol of East Iceland.

The interactive new Wilderness Center is located just where the road ends and the wild highlands begin. Walk over a bridge taking you more than one hundred years into the past. The Wilderness Center has carefully recreated the homes of Icelanders who settled in and around the remote highlands. You‘ll get a glimpse of what daily life was like in this beautiful but challenging landscape. Afterwards, enjoy a delicious lunch prepared at the Wilderness Center’s historical farmhouse.

After lunch, it’s time to visit the ancient eastern fjords. Head to Nordfjordur fjord and Eskifjordur, a town with a beautiful sea views. As in many fjord towns, Eskifjordur’s heritage is based on fishing. Visit Randulfshus, 19th-century red wooden Norwegian-style building where herring was once processed. Today it holds many artefacts of the area's fishing heritage and is also a restaurant. Here you can sample some Icelandic traditional hardfiskur.

Head east to Faskrudsfjordur town, an Icelandic town with a very interesting historical connection with France. Keep an eye out for the street signs: they are both in Icelandic and French. The town has a gorgeous view over the fjord. Enjoy dinner at a restaurant inspired by both French and Icelandic influences. Afterwards, walk over to the nearby Auroras Exhibition, where you will learn about northern lights. An area photographer who is an expert at taking pictures in all sorts of weather conditions will show you how to photograph northern lights. If luck and weather are on your side, you might have the chance to use these skills during the trip!

Overnight in Faskrudsfjordur.

Scenic Fjord Roads – Painted Wooden Village – Technical Innovators – Northern Lights Hunt

Breakfast at hotel. Today visit the French Museum located near your hotel. Originally a 19th -century hospital that treated French sailors who worked in Iceland, the museum depicts the lives of the French seamen who fished off the coast of Iceland. Faskrudsfjordur was their Icelandic outpost, and they influenced much of the culture and buildings in the town.

Next thread your way south along steep fjords with unbelievable views. The trip takes its time so that you can savour the majestic landscape. This is a route where reindeer sometimes come for winter grazing; hopefully your group may see some of these magnificent creatures. Geologically, East Iceland is one of the nation’s oldest areas; over 140 types of minerals have been found in this area, many created by hot water and lava. Discover the variety at a stone collection created by a local woman to educate visitors about Iceland’s formation.

Enjoy lunch (on your own) in Djupivogur, a pretty town that marks the southernmost point of the East Fjords. Take a walk with your guide in the village and harbour area. The pyramid-shaped Búlandstindur mountain is an impressive backdrop. Keep an eye out for the environmental sculpture, Eggin í Gledivík.

Head into Southeastern Iceland, a landscape dominated by the massive Vatnajökull Glacier. Your destination is the village of Hofn in Hornafjordur. Overnight stay in Hofn. Dinner is on your own. Several restaurants offer langoustines, a specialty of the area. If nature cooperates, you might also see some northern lights in the region.

Glacier Filled Lagoon – Vast Lava Flow - Powerful Black Sand Beach – Amazing Waterfalls

Breakfast at your hotel. Today travel the Ring Road, heading into the region near Vatnajokull National Park, the largest national park in Western Europe. The park is named after Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier, and you’ll see views of the glacier throughout today’s drive.

Continue to the stunning Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon to see the birthplace of iceberg. Take some time here to enjoy the views of icerbergs floating and grinding against each other in the fantastic 180 m (591 ft) deep glacial lagoon.

The tour passes by the Skaftafell glacier area of Vatnajokull National Park. Continue over the vast black sands of Skeidararsandur to Kirkjubæjarklaustur town, former site of a 12-th century Catholic convent. Enjoy a country lunch in this village before crossing over Eldhraun, the largest flow of lava recorded on Earth in history. Visit Reynisfjara Beach and take a walk on the black sands, admiring the extraordinary rock formations and thundering waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Head onwards, passing by the coastal town of Vík and Myrdalsjokull Glacier. Visit two spectacular waterfalls: Seljalandsfoss, which is possible to walk behind (based on trail conditions) and Skogafoss, one of the most photographed falls in the country.

Overnight stay Hvollsvollur town. Dinner is on your own. Keep an eye out for northern lights, often visible on cold, clear nights.

Exciting Volcano Exhibit – Explosive Geysers – Queen of Waterfalls - National Park with Geological Wonders (UNESCO)

Breakfast at your hotel. Today visit the famous Golden Circle region of South Iceland. But first start with a visit to the Lava Centre, an interactive, high-tech educational exhibition depicting volcanic activity, earthquakes and the creation of Iceland over millions of years. Head through the peaceful volcano-framed farmland of South Iceland, glimpsing fields of horses. Visit to the geothermal fields of Geysir.

Here you´ll see steam and boiling water in the bubbling mud pools and spouting hot springs, including the high-shooting Strokkur geyser. A short drive away is the dramatic two-tiered Gullfoss waterfall, a spectacular sight in winter when frozen mid-cascade. Then it´s onwards to Thingvellir National Park (UNESCO)where the world's oldest parliament met for centuries on the shores of Iceland's largest lake.

Tour ends in Reykjavik. The evening is at your leisure.

Arrangements end after breakfast

Notes