Autumn guided discovery

Departure West. After the bypass of the Whale Fjord, the road crosses the marshy tundra of the Borgarnes region and reaches the base of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, a narrow snowy mountain range jutting far into the ocean, pointing west as a finger with the magnificent volcano Snæfellsjökull -the glacier of Snowfell-crowning its tip.

The legendary Snæfellsjökull volcano crowned by a majestic immaculate glacier, rushes out of the ocean like a boreal Fuji-Yama. It is the entrance passage of the legendary "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne. Hike to the tip through desolate lava fields covered with moss and lichen contrasting with the pure white snow. Hiking (and bird watching from the end of March) on the basalt cliffs of Arnarstapi, then to the deserted black pebble beaches of Djúpalónsandur. The bay of Grundarfjördur is famous today for its beautiful solitary and lonely Kirkjufell mountain that attract photographers in any season since it became a celebrity on the net. It is true that it is beautiful!
The road finally reaches the pretty fishing harbor of Stykkishólmur.

Drive east through a beautiful empty area along the bay of Breidafjordur dotted with innumerable islets and reefs. Then by the Swan Plateau the trail reaches the North Coast. In Hvammstangi there is the possibility in option of visiting an interesting small museum devoted to pinnipeds. The road then passes around the Vatnsnes peninsula through vast snowy coastal moors where one meets the herds of stuffed horses, so much their fur is thick in winter. At the farm of Ósar "the Estuaries" we can observe a large colony of harbour seals and the photogenic and strange reef (a dike) of Hvítserkur.

Continue to the horse breeding fjord Skagafjörður, where we visit the old farm Glaumbær with its perfectly preserved and maintained traditional peat construction. Rounding the Giants Peninsula Tröllaskagi by the old village of Hofsós and its old tarred wood warehouses, facing the impressive tabular islands Drangey and Málmey. The road reaches the isolated fjord Siglufjörður, former center of the herring fisheries, village at the world’s end. Visit the museum in the old canneries devoted to the great era of herring fishing. The new tunnel, completed in 2010, allows us to reach the majestic Eyjafjörður Fjord, at the bottom of which lies the small town of Akureyri.

• Domestic return flight to Reykjavik the next morning for those who are living the trip en-route
• Domestic flight from Reykjavik to Akureyri for participants taking the trip en-route for the last 6 days 

On to Mývatn via the old farm of Laufás with its perfectly preserved and maintained traditional peat construction., then Goðafoss, a magnificent cataract partly or completely frozen in this season. It is in the "Fall of the Gods" from a promontory that an early Christian leader threw the effigies of the old pagan gods of the Nordic pantheon for the chagrin of Thor and Odin. We discover the shores and volcanoes of Lake Mývatn. Strange formations of lava, pseudo craters, bubbling sulphur pots and fumaroles, and the impressive lava chaos of Dimmuborgir. At the end of winter, in very early spring, when the lake ice begins to thaw, countless flights of wild ducks converge to this shrine of birdlife, a paradise for ornithologists where both American and European species coexist. (Optional outdoor spa bath in the middle of volcanoes (Nature Baths www.jardbodin.is)

On the high desert plateau of Möðrudalsöræfi, amidst the wet tundra, is one of the most isolated farms at the highest altitude in Iceland. Naïve, charming architecture amidst a magnificent, vast and hostile landscape. White immensity where emerges alignments of small volcanic cones under a steel sky that is dyed orange red or antique rose at dawn and dusk. We can sometimes meet large herds of wild reindeer.

• Domestic return flight to Reykjavik the next morning for those who are living the trip en-route
• Domestic flight from Reykjavik to Akureyri for participants taking the trip en-route for the last 4 days 

Domestic return flight to Reykjavik for those who have only registered for the first part of the trip. (Please let us know if you prefer a morning or afternoon flight)

The road descends from the plateau, along the interminable glacial valley of Jokulsdalur. It ends up reaching the wooded area of Egilsstaðir, a small village on the shore of the long turquoise lake of Lagarfljót. The legend hides an aquatic monster, close cousin of Nessi in Scotland. From Egilsstadir, the route leads to the Eastern Fjords. Fáskrúðsfjörður, for nearly two centuries was a port of call and vital supplies for the fleets of Bretagne and French Flanders. The mountains that surround the fjords of Stöðvarfjörður and Berufjörður are particularly beautiful and impressive. Visit the pretty fishing port of Djúpivogur "deep bay", and the old trading post in one of the most beautiful scenery of mountains and sea in the region.

Between the two majestic capes Austurhorn and Vesturhorn lies the lagoon Álftafjörður, "fjord swans." This is not really a fjord, but a large lagoon where thousands of immature swans arrive early in spring. We are less than 1000 km from the coast of Scotland, this beautiful country where the whooper swans winter. At Höfn in Hornafjörður, the huge Vatnajökull is offered to our gaze. We enter the south coast of Iceland. The beautiful lagoon Jökulsárlón is occupied by a large herd of blue icebergs streaked with intense black. The spectacle of the seals surfing in the current is gorgeous. The massive ice mass Öræfajökull dominates the Skaftafell glacier park. Several phenomenal sub glacial eruptions occurred in recent years, with cataclysmic water releases down the coastal desert, the latest in 1996.

Surrounding the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur: Eldhraun. This vast expanse of lava is from the phenomenal Laki eruption in 1783-4 (the world’s largest eruption in historical times), not far in the interior highlands, parallel to the fault of Eldgjá. Dependent on snow visit Fjarðárgljúfur gorges and Eldhraun pseudo-craters.
Wandering along the black sand beaches and grassy headlands of Vik in Mýrdal. Following the rapid and accurate flight of Northern Fulmars, above the Arctic Tern colonies, on the basalt cliffs among exuberant Angelica, lots and lots of puffins hurry up-and-from between the ocean and their burrows. (The puffins and terns are more observable beyond mid-August, but fulmars remain until fall.) Walk on the beautiful beach of black sand Reynisfjara between the famous reefs and the promontory of Reynisdrangar. Dyrhólaey arch with its impressive black basalt. Beautiful waterfalls Skógafoss (optional visit to the Folk Museum Skógar). We flank Mount Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in April 2010 and disrupted air traffic worldwide. Beyond the graceful Seljalandsfoss fall, we reach the vast pampas of Rangá that stretch to the foot of Mount Hekla.

The majestic Hekla volcano, which rises at the end of a grassy plain and marks the entrance to the volcanic highlands, is one of Iceland's best known volcanoes; it is on the edge of the inhabited lands and the desert Highlands.. The large southern pampas-like breeding plain leads us to the famous gushing springs of Geysir and the great cataract of Gullfoss, "the Golden Fall" partly frozen by ice. Arrival in Reykjavik in the middle of the afternoon.