Details of the Trip

• Day 1 – Keflavik - Reykjavik  Evening Flight from the UK to Keflavik and transfer to your hotel.

  Day 2 – Hveragerdi - Vik – Reynishverfi – Dyrholaey  Drive east towards the south coast and pass through the small ‘greenhouse’ town of Hveragerdi, with an abundance of geothermal activity. If you wish it is also an ideal place to carry out a rural settlement study or take a hike to many hot springs which are warm enough to bathe in. The latest hot springs that have appeared here did so after the Olfus earthquake in 2008. Visit the black sand beach and dunes at Vik, the most southerly point of Iceland. See the incredible hexagonal basalt columns and impressive cliffs of Reynishverfi. The coastline between here and Dyrholaey is worthy of study with a variety of features including Iceland’s answer to Durdle Door – an immense natural rock arch. Overnight in the countryside.

  Day 3 – Solheimajokull – Skogar – Seljalandsfoss - Eyjafjalljokull flood plain Drive west where you will reach the Solheimajokull glacier to study the moraines and see first hand how the glacier is shaping the land. Enjoy an optional glacier walk or trip up onto the Myrdalsjokull icecap. Visit the waterfall at Skogar, this is a broad, block waterfall that thunders 60m over a cliff edge. Close by is an interesting museum which looks at rural life through the ages, complete with re-constructed turf houses - a great opportunity to see how the Icelandic way of life has been influenced over the years by the country’s geography and harsh climatic conditions. Continue towards Seljalandsfoss, a narrow plunge waterfall where the water plummets over a former sea cliff, far enough away from the bedrock to allow you to walk behind it. Close by you will see an area affected by a jokulhlaup (glacier burst) from the recent Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption, here students will see evidence from where glacial flood water has washed down the valley. Continue to your accommodation in the countryside.

  Day 4 - Thingvellir – Geysir – Gullfoss - Reykjavik

  Travel to a geothermal power plant or hydroelectric plant and enjoy the power plant’s interactive display and guided tour. Then on to the rift valley at Thingvellir, where the divergent North American and Eurasian tectonic plates can be found, pulling apart at an average rate of 2.5cm per year – it is also where Iceland's national assembly, the Althing, was set up in 930AD. Look out for ropey lava as you then make your way across the landscape, passing many fissures. Continue to Geysir, where Iceland’s most reliable geyser Strokkur spouts every 5 minutes or so. Nearby, witness the immense power of the two-tiered waterfall Gullfoss which flows from a glacier into a rift valley. Return to your accommodation in Reykjavik or, if you prefer to a rural guesthouse.

  Day 5 - Reykjavik – Krysuvik - Bridge between Continents – Blue Lagoon

  Take a city tour of Reykjavik. Afternoon travel to Krysuvik and witness the solfataras (boiling mud pools).

  Continue through the beautiful lava deserts, along the shore line where the power of the Atlantic can be seen pounding the coastline. Next is a crater row accessible by dirt road, where you can see a typical fissure eruption site. There is also the "Bridge between Continents", where a wooden bridge spans a fissure, said to be where the mid-Atlantic ridge enters Iceland, thereby demonstrating continental drift. Next spend the afternoon in the Blue Lagoon where you can take a dip in the milky blue geothermal waters of Iceland’s most famous attraction. Overnight in Reykjavik.

  Day 6  – Reykjavik – Keflavik   Early morning transfer to Keflavik international Airport

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• Itinerary File