Encounter the natural splendor of Iceland—home to powerful waterfalls, massive glaciers, volcanoes, spouting hot springs, and black-sand beaches — on a popular tour to the geological wonders of the island’s north, south, and west.

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Starting at: $6,595 * Price includes special offer * Includes airfare, taxes & all fees Make a Reservation Ask Us A Question or Call 855-330-1542

Seljalandsfoss, near Vik

Godafoss Waterfall

Dettifoss, Vatnajökull National Park

Puffins along the cliffs of Iceland

Atlantic puffins

Breaching whale in Icelandic waters

Iceland's Namaskard geothermal area near Lake Mývatn

Siglufjordur, Iceland's northernmost town

Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Traditional Icelandic home

Thingvellir National Park

The Great Geysir

Strokkur Geysir

Volcanic steam vent

Skógafoss Waterfall

Iceland's Gullfoss Waterfall

Black lava beach near Vík

Black sand beach and basalt columns at Reynisdrangar, near Vik

The colorful capital of Reykjavik

The Statue of Leif Eiriksson and Hallgrímskirkja Church

The Blue Lagoon

The Northern Lights in Iceland

Adventure in Iceland

11 days from $6,595 | includes airfare, taxes and all fees

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Tour Details

TOUR BROCHURE

brochure

WHAT OUR TRAVELERS SAY

Iceland is the most unique place we've ever been and Smithsonian Journeys did a magnificent job of showing it to us. We learned a lot, laughed a lot and had a wonderful time. This is a great tour.

- Richard L.

The trip to Iceland felt adventurous, exciting and comfortable. The place was gorgeous and the leadership skillful. Thanks for the unforgettable experience!

- Mariana V.

Iceland is one of the most revealing places to study the history of our earth. The volcanoes, lava fields, waterfalls and geysers are amazing reminders of the power of nature.

- Judith H.

This trip was a wonderful experience. I loved the beauty and diversity of Iceland. Being led by such an experienced and knowledgeable guide made it very special. I would love to go back!

- J. Trehy

JOURNEYS DISPATCHES

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Accommodations

* Click on hotel name to visit hotel web-site.

Hotel Selfoss

Selfoss, Iceland

This bright, modern 99-room lodging is located on the banks of the Ölfusá River amidst the stunning natural beauty of South Iceland. The hotel offers a restaurant; bar and lounge with fireplace; café; spa with steam room, sauna, thermal hot pool, and massage services; laundry and dry cleaning services; and internet access. Guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, mini-bar, in-room safe, TV, and phone.

Fosshotel Mývatn

Skútustaðahreppur, Iceland

Recently opened in July 2017, the rural yet contemporary Fosshotel Myvatn features 92 rooms in a spectacular location north of Lake Myvatn. The hotel was designed by award-winning Nordic architects using sustainable and ecologically conscious materials, and blends into the surrounding countryside with its timber walls and grass-thatched roof. Amenities include a restaurant, bar with views of the lake, bicycles for rent, and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access throughout. Guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, radio, TV, and phone.

Sigló Hótel

Siglufjörður, Iceland

Sitting on a promontory jutting out into the Siglo fjord, the recently opened Siglo Hotel enjoys wonderful views of the fjord, mountains, and peaceful small town of Siglufjordur. Amenities of the hotel include a restaurant and bar (along with another restaurant and café in adjacent buildings), cozy fireplace sitting room, outdoor hot tub overlooking the harbor, and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. Guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, in-room safe, TV, and phone.

Hotel Husafell

Borgarbyggð, Iceland

A stylish base from which to explore the fjords, valleys, volcanoes, craters, waterfalls, and glaciers of Iceland’s west, Hotel Húsafell is surrounded by some of the country’s most photogenic countryside. Behind the wooden façade that blends into the landscape, 48 welcoming rooms feature sleek and comfortable Nordic furnishings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and paintings by Icelandic artist and sculptor, Páll Guðmundsson. The hotel restaurant offers panoramic views along with its elegant takes on Icelandic cuisine. Guests can also relax at the lounge and bar or enjoy casual fare at the hotel bistro. On the hotel grounds, you’ll find two geothermal pools, hot tubs, outdoor activities such as hiking, eco-walking, and golf. In winter, there’s a wake-up call service when the northern lights are visible.

Hotel Reykjavik Centrum

Reykjavik, Iceland

Opened in 2005, the Hotel Reykjavik Centrum comprises three renovated historic houses in Reykjavik's historic city center. Designed in early 20th-century Icelandic fashion, the 89-room hotel offers a restaurant, bar, and café; Internet access; and laundry and dry cleaning services. Guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, tea- and coffee-making facilities, mini-bar, in-room safe, TV, and phone.

Tour Extensions

Post-Tour Extension

Reykjavik – On Your Own 3 days/2 nights

Make the most of the long days in Iceland’s colorful capital, at your own pace. The extension includes:

2 nights accommodations at Hotel Reykjavik Centrum (First Class)
2 meals: 2 breakfasts
Transfer to Reykjavik airport

Activity Level

Expectations: This Classic Land Journey will feature long touring days, many full-day excursions, some steep ascents/descents, and more active options. Excursions require standing and walking for extended periods of time on uneven terrain (cobblestones, stairs without handrails, lava fields, steep trails with muddy and slippery conditions), embarking and disembarking a boat, and walking in geothermal areas where vehicles are not permitted. The itinerary includes some early morning departures and leisure time may be limited. Walking/hiking tours may feature up to 1-3 mile walks/hikes.

Appropriate for: Travelers who are physically fit, lead active lives, are comfortable participating in long days of activities, and expect some physical exertion.

Testimonials

WHAT OUR TRAVELERS SAY

Iceland is the most unique place we've ever been and Smithsonian Journeys did a magnificent job of showing it to us. We learned a lot, laughed a lot and had a wonderful time. This is a great tour.

- Richard L.

The trip to Iceland felt adventurous, exciting and comfortable. The place was gorgeous and the leadership skillful. Thanks for the unforgettable experience!

- Mariana V.

Iceland is one of the most revealing places to study the history of our earth. The volcanoes, lava fields, waterfalls and geysers are amazing reminders of the power of nature.

- Judith H.

This trip was a wonderful experience. I loved the beauty and diversity of Iceland. Being led by such an experienced and knowledgeable guide made it very special. I would love to go back!

- J. Trehy

Reading List

Highly Recommended

Island on Fire: The Extraordinary Story of a Forgotten Volcano That Changed the World

By: Alexandra Witze, Jeff Kanipe

Can a single explosion change the course of history? An eruption at the end of the 18th century led to years of climate change while igniting famine, disease, even perhaps revolution. Laki is one of Iceland’s most fearsome volcanoes.Laki is Iceland’s largest volcano. Its eruption in 1783 is one of history’s great, untold natural disasters. Spewing out sun-blocking ash and then a poisonous fog for eight long months, the effects of the eruption lingered across the world for years. It caused the deaths of people as far away as the Nile and created catastrophic conditions throughout Europe.Island on Fire is the story not only of a single eruption but the people whose lives it changed, the dawn of modern volcanology, as well as the history―and potential―of other super-volcanoes like Laki around the world. And perhaps most pertinently, in the wake of the eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, which closed European air space in 2010, acclaimed science writers Witze and Kanipe look at what might transpire should Laki erupt again in our lifetime.

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Ring of Seasons: Iceland--Its Culture and History

By: Terry G. Lacy

A remote island with a rich and ancient literature. A land of hot springs and volcanoes. A country with an extraordinary history, a challenging geography and a vibrant contemporary culture. A land of ice.In Ring of Seasons, Terry Lacy--an American who has lived in Iceland for twenty-four years-- brings both the perspective of the outsider and the familiar eye of the long-term resident to this delightful exploration of all facets of Iceland, past and present. She conveys her story with a skillful interlacing of history, religion, politics, and culture to paint a vivid picture of the way Icelanders live today as members of a wealthy society still very dependent upon nature--from a reliance on her icy waters to support an international fishing industry to a watchful cohabitation with the volcanoes that both destroy villages and create new islands.This is a book for all who have been charmed by reading the Norse sagas, for all those intrigued by the country that can claim the oldest living democracy. It is an excellent introduction for anyone planning to visit Iceland and a delightful read for all those who do their exploration from the comfort of an armchair.Terry G. Lacy is an American currently residing in Reykjavik, Iceland.

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Independent People

By: Halldor Laxness

From the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author, a magnificent, epic novel—"funny, clever, sardonic and brilliant" (Annie Proulx)—at last available to contemporary American readers.Set in the early twentieth century, Independent People recalls both Iceland's medieval epics and such classics as Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. If Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is a masterpiece.

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Lonely Planet Iceland 12 (Travel Guide)

By: Averbuck, Alexis, Bain, Carolyn, Bremner, Jade, Dixon, Belinda

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Also Recommended

North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland

By: Gunnar Karl Gíslason, Jody Eddy

An unprecedented look into the food and culture of Iceland, from Iceland's premier chef and the owner of Reykjavík's Restaurant Dill. Iceland is known for being one of the most beautiful and untouched places on earth, and a burgeoning destination for travelers lured by its striking landscapes and vibrant culture. Iceland is also home to an utterly unique and captivating food scene, characterized by its distinctive indigenous ingredients, traditional farmers and artisanal producers, and wildly creative chefs and restaurants. Perhaps no Icelandic restaurant is as well-loved and critically lauded as chef Gunnar Gíslason’s Restaurant Dill, which opened in Reykjavík’s historic Nordic House in 2009. North is Gíslason’s wonderfully personal debut: equal parts recipe book and culinary odyssey, it offers an unparalleled look into a star chef’s creative process. But more than just a collection of recipes, North is also a celebration of Iceland itself—the inspiring traditions, stories, and people who make the island nation unlike any other place in the world.

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Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga

By: Smithsonian Books DC

Replete with color photographs, drawings, and maps of Viking sites, artifacts, and landscapes, this book celebrates and explores the Viking saga from the combined perspectives of history, archaeology, oral tradition, literature, and natural science. The book's contributors chart the spread of marauders and traders in Europe as well as the expansion of farmers and explorers throughout the North Atlantic and into the New World. They show that Norse contacts with Native American groups were more extensive than has previously been believed, but that the outnumbered Europeans never established more than temporary settlements in North America.

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The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings (Hist Atlas)

By: John Haywood

Viking marauders in their longships burst through the defences of ninth-century Europe, striking terror into the hearts of peasants and rulers alike for two centuries. But the Vikings were more than just marine warriors and this atlas shows their development as traders and craftsmen, explorers, settlers and mercenaries. With over sixty full colour maps, it follows the tracks of the Viking merchants who travelled deep into Russia, of Viking mercenaries who served in the emperor’s bodyguard at Constantinople, and Viking mariners who sailed beyond the edge of the known world to North America.

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The History of Iceland

By: Gunnar Karlsson

Iceland is unique among European societies in having been founded as late as the Viking Age and in having copious written and archaeological sources about its origin. Gunnar Karlsson, that country's premier historian, chronicles the age of the Sagas, consulting them to describe an era without a monarch or central authority. Equating this prosperous time with the golden age of antiquity in world history, Karlsson then marks a correspondence between the Dark Ages of Europe and Iceland's "dreary period", which started with the loss of political independence in the late thirteenth century and culminated with an epoch of poverty and humility, especially during the early Modern Age.Iceland's renaissance came about with the successful struggle for independence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and with the industrial and technical modernization of the first half of the twentieth century. Karlsson describes the rise of nationalism as Iceland's mostly poor peasants set about breaking with Denmark, and he shows how Iceland in the twentieth century slowly caught up economically with its European neighbors.

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Iceland Imagined: Nature, Culture, and Storytelling in the North Atlantic (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

By: Karen Oslund

Iceland, Greenland, Northern Norway, and the Faroe Islands lie on the edges of Western Europe, in an area long portrayed by travelers as remote and exotic - its nature harsh, its people reclusive. Since the middle of the eighteenth century, however, this marginalized region has gradually become part of modern Europe, a transformation that is narrated in Karen Oslund’s Iceland Imagined.This cultural and environmental history sweeps across the dramatic North Atlantic landscape, exploring its unusual geography, saga narratives, language, culture, and politics, and analyzing its emergence as a distinctive and symbolic part of Europe. The earliest visions of a wild frontier, filled with dangerous and unpredictable inhabitants, eventually gave way to images of beautiful, well-managed lands, inhabited by simple but virtuous people living close to nature.This transformation was accomplished by state-sponsored natural histories of Iceland which explained that the monsters described in medieval and Renaissance travel accounts did not really exist, and by artists who painted the Icelandic landscapes to reflect their fertile and regulated qualities. Literary scholars and linguists who came to Iceland and Greenland in the nineteenth century related the stories and the languages of the “wild North” to those of their home countries.

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The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman

By: Nancy Marie Brown

Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the known world. She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a baby before sailing home. Or so the Icelandic sagas say. Even after archaeologists found a Viking longhouse in Newfoundland, no one believed that the details of Gudrid’s story were true. Then, in 2001, a team of scientists discovered what may have been this pioneering woman’s last house, buried under a hay field in Iceland, just where the sagas suggested it could be. Joining scientists experimenting with cutting-edge technology and the latest archaeological techniques, and tracing Gudrid’s steps on land and in the sagas, Nancy Marie Brown reconstructs a life that spanned—and expanded—the bounds of the then-known world. She also sheds new light on the society that gave rise to a woman even more extraordinary than legend has painted her and illuminates the reasons for its collapse.

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Last Places: A Journey in the North

By: Lawrence Millman

A classic of northern exploration and adventure, LAST PLACES is Lawrence Millman's marvelously told account of his journey along the ancient Viking sea routes that extend from Norway to Newfoundland. Traveling through landscapes of transcendent desolation, Millman wandered by way of the Shetland Islands, the Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Labrador. His way was marked by surprising human encounters--with a convicted murderer in Reykjavik, an Inuit hermit in Greenland, an Icelandic guide who leads him to a place called Hell, and a Newfoundlander who warns him about the local variant of the Abominable Snowman. By turns earthy and lyrical, LAST PLACES is an ebullient celebration of the exotic North.

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Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland

By: Sarah Moss

Sarah Moss had a childhood dream of moving to Iceland, sustained by a wild summer there when she was nineteen. In 2009, she saw an advertisement for a job at the University of Iceland and applied on a whim, despite having two young children and a comfortable life in Kent. The resulting adventure was shaped by Iceland’s economic collapse, which halved the value of her salary, by the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull and by a collection of new friends, including a poet who saw the only bombs fall on Iceland in 1943, a woman who speaks to elves and a chef who guided Sarah’s family around the intricacies of Icelandic cuisine.Moss explored hillsides of boiling mud and volcanic craters and learned to drive like an Icelander on the unsurfaced roads that link remote farms and fishing villages in the far north. She watched the northern lights and the comings and goings of migratory birds, and as the weeks and months went by, she and her family learned new ways to live.Names for the Sea is her compelling, beautiful and very funny account of living in a country poised on the edge of Europe, where modernization clashes with living folklore.

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Iceland: Land of the Sagas

By: Jon Krakauer, David Roberts

"We raised our fists and cheered. . . . With the sagas in our heads, with Iceland at its wildest beneath our boots, it would not have been impossible to see Bárdr clumping along the summit ridge, prodding the glacier with his staff, ready to show us the way down."Iceland is a pictorial classic on one of the last "undiscovered" countries in Europe--reissued for the first time in paperback. Iceland is often thought to be covered by ice, but in fact it is gloriously green. Lush meadows, wildflower fields, and miles of rich tundra cover a landscape of remarkable variety: deep lakes, bubbling hot springs, tumbling waterfalls, snow-capped mountains. It's also a landscape amazingly alive with massive lava flows and enormous glaciers. The human story of Iceland goes back more than eleven thousand years, and its heritage is told here in a treasury of riveting sagas of real-life heroes and all manner of supernatural beings. Both the land and the people of one of Europe's most gorgeous countries come to life in this colorful account of the authors' adventures as they walk, climb, and photograph their way through Iceland and connect to the bone-chilling sagas and the unfamiliar terrain. With breathtaking photographs from critically acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Krakauer, author of the international bestsellers Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, and a penetrating narrative from Outside contributing editor and travel writer David Roberts, Iceland splendidly captures the spirit of this enigmatic country. Circumnavigating Iceland in summer and winter, Krakauer and Roberts encounter tales of monks and Vikings, outlaws and adventurers, trolls and witches. While touring and photographing, they discover the myths and legends of Iceland's stirring history. Numerous other feats--including a hazardous winter climb to the summit of one of Iceland's tallest mountains--round out a fascinating introduction to this unique and beautiful land.

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Jar City: A Reykjavik Thriller

By: Arnaldur Indridason

Jar City: A Reykjavi

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The Sagas of Icelanders: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

By: Ornolfur Thorsson

A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world's greatest literary treasures--as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured further west--to Greenland and, ultimately, the coast of North America itself.The ten Sagas and seven shorter tales in this volume include the celebrated "Vinland Sagas," which recount Leif Eiriksson's pioneering voyage to the New World and contain the oldest descriptions of the North American continent.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)

By: Snorri Sturluson, Jesse L. Byock

Written in Iceland a century after the close of the Viking Age, The Prose Edda is the source of most of what we know of Norse mythology. Its tales are peopled by giants, dwarves, and elves, superhuman heroes and indomitable warrior queens. Its gods live with the tragic knowledge of their own impending destruction in the cataclysmic battle of Ragnarok. Its time scale spans the eons from the world’s creation to its violent end. This robust new translation captures the magisterial sweep and startling psychological complexity of the Old Icelandic original.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Volcanoes

By: Richard V. Fisher, Grant Heiken, Jeffrey Hulen

Whenever a volcano threatens to erupt, scientists and adventurers from around the world flock to the site in response to the irresistible allure of one of nature's most dangerous and unpredictable phenomena. In a unique book probing the science and mystery of these fiery features, the authors chronicle not only their geologic behavior but also their profound effect on human life. From Mount Vesuvius to Mount St. Helens, the book covers the surprisingly large variety of volcanoes, the subtle to conspicuous signs preceding their eruptions, and their far-reaching atmospheric consequences. Here scientific facts take on a very human dimension, as the authors draw upon actual encounters with volcanoes, often through firsthand accounts of those who have witnessed eruptions and miraculously survived the aftermath. The book begins with a description of the lethal May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens--complete with an explanation of how safety officials and scientists tried to predict events, and how unsuspecting campers and loggers miles away struggled against terrifying blasts of ash, stone, and heat. The story moves quickly to the ways volcanoes have enhanced our lives, creating mineral-rich land, clean thermal energy, and haunting landscapes that in turn benefit agriculture, recreation, mining, and commerce. Religion and psychology embroider the account, as the authors explore the impact of volcanoes on the human psyche through tales of the capricious volcano gods and attempts to appease them, ranging from simple homage to horrific ritual sacrifice. Volcanoes concludes by assisting readers in experiencing these geological phenomena for themselves. An unprecedented "tourist guide to volcanoes" outlines over forty sites throughout the world. Not only will travelers find information on where to go and how to get there, they will also learn what precautions to take at each volcano. Tourists, amateur naturalists, and armchair travelers alike will find their scientific curiosity whetted by this informative and entertaining book.

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History of the World Map by Map (DK History Map by Map)

By: DK

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Travel Insurance

For the convenience of our travelers, Smithsonian Journeys includes a basic medical expense and evacuation plan through Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand, at no additional charge. This plan provides post-departure Medical and Dental coverage of $250,000 per person and Emergency Assistance and Transportation coverage of $1,000,000 per person (U.S. Residents Only). Note: For full details regarding these coverages please review the following Plan Documents here.

In addition, we recommend that travelers purchase a travel protection plan to help protect their travel investment from unforeseen events such as cancellation due to illness, flight delays due to adverse weather, baggage loss, and more. For your convenience, Smithsonian Journeys offers an optional Travel Protection Plan administered by Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand. For those interested, optional "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage is available for an additional charge. Note: Certain eligibility requirements apply and Cancel for Any Reason coverage is not available to New York residents. For full details regarding this coverage please review the following Plan Documents here.

To learn more about the Travel Protection Plan, you may visit https://www.generalipartner.com/smithsonianjourneys or call the administrator, Trip Mate, a Generali Global Assistance & Insurance Services brand at (866) 501-3252.