Grand Countryside

ICELAND’S OUTER CIRCLE WITH WHALE WATCHING
 

Mountains, rivers, glaciers and volcanoes will unfold as we take you exploring in four easy stages. Only four hotels are used which makes the days more relaxed and the evenings a time to ponder and talk to your fellow travellers about your time spent in ever-changing scenery. There will also be opportunities to do some walking in the beautiful countryside. The contrasting boat trips included in this tour will make you wonder if you have travelled in many different countries... icebergs on the south coast and lush green islands on the west. This is truly a classical adventure with hotels offering private facilities and good Icelandic hospitality.
The hotels used on this tour are often “summer hotels”, used most of the year as boarding schools or country hotels which are simple and clean. On some departures this tour may be operated in reverse.

HIGHLIGHTS AND VALUES
- Whale watching tour included, weather permitting
- We only stay in four hotels which means less packing
- Introduction to the Icelandic horse
- Visit to four national parks
- Visit to Glaumbær folk museum included
- Visit to the nature baths at Lake Mývatn included
- Boat trip on glacial lagoon included
- Average of two hours walking a day
- Bird watching boat trip around the islands of Breiðarfjörður fjord included

GRAND COUNTRYSIDE - ITINERARY

Day 1: REYKJAVÍK-BORGARFJÖRÐUR
The day starts with a drive to the famous Gullfoss and Geysir. We also visit the beautiful church of Skálholt and the Þingvellir National Park, site of the Viking Parliament, before continuing to Reykholt, home of the 13th century poet, Snorri Sturluson. We stay in Borgarfjörður for the next two nights.

Day 2: SNÆFELLSNES
Today we drive around the Snæfellsnes peninsula, which is dominated by the glacier where, according to Jules Verne’s book, the Entrance to the Centre of the Earth can be found. We visit small fishing towns and drive through interesting lava fields and on to the town of Stykkishólmur where we take a boat trip around the islands of Breiðafjörður, home of the puffins and the white tailed eagle.

Day 3: EYJAFJÖRÐUR-ÞINGEYJARSÝSLA
We stop at the beautiful waterfalls of Hraunfossar before heading for Skagafjörður where we visit the farm museum at Glaumbær and are introduced to the Icelandic horse. We continue to Akureyri for a sightseeing tour of the town before driving  on to our accommodation in the Húsavík area for the next three nights.

Day 4: HÚSAVÍK-WHALE WATCHING
We start the day with a 3 hour whale watching tour from Húsavík, weather permitted. Afternoon is at leisure to ponder around the town with the possibility to visit museums and the church.

Day 5: GOÐAFOSS-MÝVATN
We visit the waterfall Goðafoss, enroute to Lake Mývatn. There is lush vegetation here and many different species of birds, some of which are not found anywhere else in Europe. We visit the lava field Dimmuborgir and climb up to the rim of the ash crater Hverfjall. Before heading back to our accommodation we relax in Mývatn Nature Bath.

Day 6: DETTIFOSS-FLJÓTSDALSHÉRAÐ
We travel around Tjörnes Peninsula and visit the magnificent waterfall Dettifoss, the most powerful in Europe. For the next three nights we will stay in the neighbourhood of Egilsstaðir.

Day 7: FLJÓTSDALUR-SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR
We tour around the Lake Lögurinn, passing the farm mansion at Skriðuklaustur with its large unusual type of house. When conditions are suitable we walk up to Hengifoss, one of the highest waterfalls in Iceland. We also visit the fishing town of Seyðisfjörður.

Day 8: BORGARFJÖRÐUR-EYSTRI
This short wide fjord and grassy fertile valley with a charming fishing village of the same name is situated north-east of Egilsstaðir. Magnificent colourful mountains and numerous beautiful rocks and rare stones are to be found here.

Day 9: FLJÓTSDALSHÉRAÐ-SKAFTAFELL
Vatnajökull, Europe’s biggest glacier, dominates the landscape with its glacial tongues calving into a glacial lagoon. We take a boat trip on the lagoon among the icebergs. For the next two nights, we will stay in the neighbourhood of Skaftafell National Park.

Day 10: SKAFTAFELL
The whole day is spent walking or relaxing at Skaftafell.

Day 11: SKAFTAFELL-REYKJAVÍK
We return to Reykjavík through the fertile meadows and the sandy desert of the south coast, overlooked by mountainous cliffs and glaciers. There are several beautiful waterfalls on the way and we may spot puffins and even some seals.

GRAND COUNTRYSIDE TOUR

Iceland’s Outer Circle with Whale Watching GJ/80 E-M

Type:
A compact circle tour of Iceland with hotel accommodation

Duration:
11 days / 10 nights

Departure and Return:
From our office at Borgartún 34 on Mondays at 09:00 returning Thursdays between 16:00-18:00

Pick up for tour:
Between 08.15-08.45 from any accommodation in Reykjavik

Language:
All tours are guided in English and German

Group size:
From 8 to 30 passengers

Accommodation:
We only stay at 4 hotels during the tour. 2 nights in West Iceland, 3 nights in North Iceland, 3 nights in East Iceland and 2 nights at the Vatnajökull national park area.
All the hotels on this tour have rooms with private facilities and are country or summer hotels, used most of the year as boarding schools and are simple and clean.

Meals:
10x breakfast and 10x dinner from dinner on the first day to breakfast on the last day. Lunch stops will be made at restaurants or café-shops en route.

Included on tour:
Boat trip on Breiðafjörður fjord (day 2), a visit to Glaumbær folk museum (day 3), horse-show in Skagafjörður (day 3), whale watching tour from Húsavík (day 4), entrance fee to the Nature Baths at Lake Mývatn (day 5) and sailing on Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon (day 9). The whole day is spent walking or relaxing (day 10).

On tour:
There is an average of 1-2 hours walking each day, and it is an easy tour which everybody can participate in. Good walking boots are needed on all our tours, as well as waterproof clothing.

Note:
We sometimes have two groups departing on the same date. In this case, small change on itinerary might be expected, like other hotels. A reversed itinerary might be expected.

Other highlights:
This is truly an amazing and comfortable coach tour around Iceland with a visit to four national parks, and even some time to relax or own explorations (day 4 and 10).

New service:
Supplement for guaranteed window seat on our escorted coach tours which includes a window seat and next seat remaining empty (passenger gets actually two seats) as well as a pillow and blanket for upgraded comfort. Seats will be reserved in the front area of the bus.

See further information:
under General Information about Escorted Grand Tours

YEAR 2010

GRAND COUNTRYSIDE DEPARTURES

All tours depart at 09:00
80/E Monday 21 June - 01 July
80/I Monday 19 July - 29 July
80/M Monday 16 August - 26 August

DURATION: 11 days / 10 days
LANGUAGES:  This tour is guided in English and German
ACCOMMODATION:  Hotels/Country Guest Houses
MEALS: 10x breakfast and 10x dinner from dinner on the first day to breakfast on the last day.
GROUP SIZE: From 8 to 30 passengers
ALSO INCLUDED: Whale watching tour (weather permitting), Bird watching boat trip around the islands of Breiðarfjörður fjord, Introduction to the Icelandic horse, Visit to four national parks, Visit to Glaumbær folk museum, visit to the nature baths at Lake Mývatn, boat trip on glacial lagoon and an average of two hours walking a day.

Price in EUR:
per person in Twin room: EUR 2.460.-
Single room supplement EUR 635.-
VIP-seating supplement: EUR 260.-

GRAND COUNTRYSIDE

A tour to remember. Very good with many different activities. All rooms of high standard. Very good meals but for me, too much. Driver and guide superb.
Maria Gomez, Mexico
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Outstanding - comprehensive tour. Rocky, our guide, made the whole experience magnificent. Loved all the variation of bus, 3 boat tours and hikes. Liked seeing the whole island SLOWLY. Lots of time to experience an area. We have gone on tours all over the world and Rocky has been the best guide EVER! He is knowledgable about geology, geography, birds. He planned special surprises. Seals, whales, reindeer, puffins, lobster lunch, farmhouse meals and many photo stops. He made maps for us to follow every day. I give lectures at Harward University and talk about customer service and meeting customer expectations. Rocky is certainly an excellent example that I will be referring to of an outstanding person who goes above and beyong customer expectations!!! We just loved the tour because Rocky helped us experience Iceland in a very meaningful and informed way. The hotels were nice - pretty settings. Meals were good. Bus very clean and comfortable
Preferred Adventures, USA
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Excellent tour. Knowledgable and friendly guide that always made sure we were OK. Knew a great deal about Iceland and its history and kept us well informed about the sites we were seeing. Very nice hotels. Excellent meals at all times. Especially enjoyed the lunch at the farmhouse. Coach very comfortable. Driver professional and kept the bus very clean inside and out.
Preferred Adventures, USA
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Excellent tour, excellent guide. We were quite content with most of the hotels. Very good meals. Rocky, our driver guide was a delight.
Scantours UK
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Good variety of experiences and sights. Rocky, our guide, has a wealth of information and is a good driver. Very organized. All hotels were very good but the single room at Fosshotel Reykholt is very small. The set dinners were quite good too. Very very good driver.
Borton Overseas, USA
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Great tour, excellent guide, all hotels fine, very good and tasty meals, excellent driver
Dorchester Travel, England
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It was a perfect and well organized tour. We had an amazing holiday
Scantours, UK
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It was a trip of a life time. So glad we came all the way from Australia to see this amazing country. Thank you
Travelscene, Australia
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Excellent tour, excellent guide. We loved Fosshotel Husavik best, then Reykholt, then Hallormsstadur and Skaftafell. Meals best at Hallormsstadur and Skaftafell then Husavik, then Reykholt.
Island Erlebnisreisen, Germany
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Excellent tour. Organization could not have been better. Guide was superb. He made our holiday very special. He is knowledgable, kind, amusing - a real asset to your company.
Hotels in general good. Meals wonderful.
Scantours, UK
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So many highlights each day. A wondeful mix of touring and hiking. Rocky's driving skills, commentary and humour made the trip more memorable. Most hotels wonderful. Good variety of meals, well presented, local produce. Rocky cleaned bus inside and outside at least once a day
Scantours UK
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