6-Day Around Iceland Ring Road Tour With Blue Lagoon

Please be ready at your Reykjavík pickup point at 8:00 AM. Collection can take up to 30 minutes depending on where you're staying, so there may be a short wait.

The first day covers the Golden Circle, Iceland's best-known sightseeing route, before continuing along the South Coast.

We start at Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that matters both geologically and historically. Icelanders founded the Alþingi here in 930 CE, one of the world's earliest parliaments, and the rift valley traces the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American plates are slowly pulling apart.

Next is Geysir, the hot spring that gave the world the word "geyser." Geysir itself is quiet these days, but neighboring Strokkur performs every few minutes, sending boiling water 15–20 m (49–66 ft) into the air, sometimes as high as 40 m (131 ft). Fumaroles and steam vents bubble around it, a clear read on the geothermal activity underfoot.

From there, it's Gullfoss, where the Hvítá river drops in two stages into a deep canyon. The falls are fed by the Langjökull glacier.

Following the Ring Road onto the South Coast, we reach Seljalandsfoss waterfall, where a path leads behind the cascade. Bring rainwear, as the spray carries a long way, and the walk to the back is what most people come for.

A short way on is Skógafoss waterfall, a 60 m (197 ft) wall of water about 25 m (82 ft) wide, falling over what was once Iceland's coastline. On clear days, the mist creates a rainbow against the ice-capped mountains beyond.

The last stop is Reynisfjara black sand beach, with its basalt column cave, tall cliffs, and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks just offshore, which folklore casts as trolls caught by the sunrise. Stay well back from the sea here. The sneaker waves are strong and hard to predict, and they ride much farther up the sand than expected.

You'll spend the night at a country hotel near Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Between September and April, its distance from any town makes it a good place to step outside for the Northern Lights.

Day 2 is dedicated to glaciers. We pass Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap that hides the Katla volcano, then continue onto the Eldhraun lava field, left by the 1783–1784 Laki eruption, one of the largest lava flows in recorded history. Moss now covers the rock in every direction.

Next is Vatnajökull National Park, the country's biggest, home to Europe's largest glacier outside the Arctic, with the green Skaftafell wilderness at its center. 

From April to October, you'll hike one of Vatnajökull's outlet glaciers with a certified guide, past crevasses and sculpted blue formations. From October to mid-April, the hike is replaced by Crystal Ice Cave inside the glacier. Meltwater reshapes the caves each year, so every winter brings different colors and curves.

At Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, icebergs calve off Breiðamerkurjökull and drift through the water in shades of blue and white. Many wash onto nearby Diamond Beach, resting on the black sand before returning to the sea.

You'll spend the night in Southeast Iceland.

Day 3 heads into the Eastfjords, a quieter side of Iceland with sharp peaks, narrow inlets, and fewer people. Watch for reindeer inland and puffins on the cliffs in summer.

We stop in Djúpivogur, a small fishing village and Iceland's only Cittaslow town, part of an international slow-living movement. Just outside it, along the shore of Merry Bay, stands Eggin í Gleðivík: 34 granite eggs by the artist Sigurður Guðmundsson, one for each bird species that nests there.

We also pause at Egilsstaðir, East Iceland's biggest town, on the Lagarfljót river, where folklore places a serpent, the Lagarfljót Worm, in its depths.

The rest of the day and the night will be at the Wilderness Center on the edge of the highlands. You'll cross a wooden bridge to restored farmhouses, with meals from an open kitchen using local ingredients and a stone hot-spring bath built the traditional way.

Day 4 takes us from East Iceland to the north. First is Stuðlagil, a canyon lined on both sides with tall hexagonal basalt columns above the turquoise Jökla river. These formations stayed underwater until the Kárahnjúkar hydropower plant redirected the river in 2007, lowering the level and revealing one of the largest collections of basalt columns in Iceland. In winter, snow can close the access road, so we'll swap to another site when needed.

Around Lake Mývatn, we visit Námaskarð, a steaming field where mud pots boil and fumaroles hiss over sulfur-streaked ground. Mývatn itself ("midge lake") is shallow and full of birdlife, and nearby stands Dimmuborgir, "the dark castles," a maze of tall lava pillars and arches.

The geothermal lagoon on Day 4 is optional and paid separately. Depending on availability and the schedule, this stop uses either Earth Lagoon Mývatn (currently closed for renovations)  or Forest Lagoon near Akureyri. 

Last is Goðafoss, the "waterfall of the gods," a broad, horseshoe-shaped cascade. By legend, when Iceland accepted Christianity around the year 1000, the law speaker threw his Norse idols into the falls, and the name stuck. From there, we reach Akureyri, North Iceland's largest town, on Eyjafjörður, where you'll spend the night with time to look around.

Day 5 starts on the water, with a whale-watching boat trip into Eyjafjörður. Sightings here are among the most reliable in Iceland, at around 98% in summer, though these are wild animals and viewings can’t be guaranteed. Humpbacks are the usual stars, alongside minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, and porpoises. The water is sheltered, so the ride stays calmer than open-ocean tours. 

From there, we loop around Tröllaskagi, the Troll Peninsula, past coastal views and ski slopes, and stop in Siglufjörður. Once Iceland's herring capital, it boomed so rapidly in the early 20th century that its docks, laid end to end, would have stretched more than 6 km (almost 4 mi), earning the nickname "Klondike of the Atlantic."

We continue through Skagafjörður, a broad fjord scattered with islands, then past farming country to the night's hotel near Laugarbakki.

Your last day explores the Borgarfjörður region of West Iceland, starting with a short climb to the rim of the Grábrók crater, with the surrounding lava field below.

Next is Reykholt village, home in the 1200s to Snorri Sturluson, the chieftain and writer behind the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, two major sources on Norse mythology and the Norwegian kings. His stone bathing pool, Snorralaug, is preserved beside the old farmstead. Nearby, Deildartunguhver pushes out 180 l (48 gal) of near-boiling water a second, making it Europe's most powerful hot spring, enough to heat the towns of Borgarnes and Akranes.

We move on to Hraunfossar, the "lava falls," where springs seep out of the Hallmundarhraun lava field and pour into the Hvítá river in dozens of thin streams. Just upstream is Barnafoss, the "children's falls," named for a legend in which two children drowned. We also stop by a horse farm to meet Icelandic horses up close.

Heading back, we’ll take the coast road along Hvalfjörður, or Whale Fjord, and return to Reykjavík around 5 PM.

The day ends at the Blue Lagoon. Round-trip transportation takes you to the milky-blue, mineral-rich pools on the Reykjanes peninsula and back again, with Comfort entry covering a towel, one silica mud mask, and one drink.

• We'll email your transfer tickets and Blue Lagoon admission voucher before the tour departs.
• The geothermal bath on Day 4 is optional and paid separately. While Earth Lagoon Mývatn is closed for rebuilding, this stop can include Forest Lagoon near Akureyri instead.
• In winter, roughly from October to mid-April, the glacier hike becomes a visit to the Crystal Ice Cave.
• Weather and glacier conditions can determine which outlet glacier is used. Options include Svínafellsjökull, Falljökull, and Sólheimajökull.
• Hotels may change during the trip.
• Solo travelers can add a single-room supplement for a private room. Without it, you may share with another solo traveler of the same gender.
• Hiking boots, a waterproof jacket, and waterproof pants can be rented when booking. Reserve them in advance, as they're not available on site.

Pickup begins at 8:00 AM from your hotel or a nearby pickup point in Reykjavík. Collecting all guests can take up to 30 minutes, so your exact pickup may fall between 8:00 and 8:30 AM. You'll find all the points we serve on the Arctic Adventures pickup list.

For the Blue Lagoon transfer on Day 6, the default pickup and drop-off point is the BSÍ Bus Terminal, with departure at 6:00 PM. To be picked up at another authorized Reykjavík point instead, request it before the tour departs. Pickup from those points starts 30 minutes earlier, at 5:30 PM.