Highlights

In the centre of Iceland’s sprawling capital city, the modern organ-pipe-shaped Hallgrimskirkja church dominates the top of town. Cosy bars, cafes and shops line the surrounding streets heated by geothermal waters. The regenerated harbour is home to a striking modern concert hall. Popular trips include the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa near the village of Grindavik, and the Golden Circle tour taking in Gullfoss Waterfall and the mighty Strokkur geyser in Thingvellir National Park.

Considered one of Iceland’s most impressive, this thunderous waterfall in the Westfjords region gives the impression of a bridal veil as it spreads its tumbling waters down a series of ever-growing cascades. Dynjandi is one of the most photographed sights in Iceland. Walking up to it takes 15 minutes passing five smaller waterfalls. Nearby, Hrafnseyri is the birthplace of Jón Sigurdsson, 19th-century leader of the Icelandic Independence movement. The museum includes an Icelandic turf house.

Surrounded by fjords in the Westfjords region, Isafjordur is a bustling fishing town in northwest Iceland with colourful wooden 18th- and 19th-century houses. Nearby is Sudavik, home to the Arctic Fox Centre. Iceland’s only mammal, the arctic fox lives on the lush tundra of Hornstrandir Nature Reserve - the northernmost peninsula in the Westfjords. Offshore, Vigur Island is a bird sanctuary popular for puffins but also arctic terns and eiders. You will also find Iceland's smallest post office.

Grímsey is a remote island located 40 km off Iceland’s north coast. Many people travel here for the purpose of setting foot in the Arctic Circle, the only place in Iceland where you can. The island is also home to fewer than 100 people, but over one million seabirds. Birdlife thrives here thanks to the lack of egg predation and the well-stocked surrounding seas. Grímsey has one of Iceland’s largest tern nesting sites and largest puffin colonies.

Hrisey Island is a small island in the Eyjafjordur fjord in northern Iceland. It is home to various wildlife, including puffins, seals, and whales. Hriseyjarfjall Mountain is the highest point and offers views of the surrounding landscape and the vast expanse of Eyjafjörður fjord. Despite its size, Hrisey Island possesses a rich cultural heritage. Traditional Icelandic crafts, such as hand-knitting and woodworking, preserve the island's identity.

In northern Iceland on Eyjafjördur, Akureyri is known for its colourful old town, heart-shaped traffic lights and woodlands. Nearby tours of Lake Mývatn, the most geologically active area in Iceland, include lava formations, hot springs, caves and rifts, boiling mud pools, volcanic craters, the roaring Godafoss waterfall and Game of Thrones locations. Puffins nest on the inhabited island of Grimsey that crosses the Arctic Circle, while Hrísey island is said to have powerful healing energies.

Brightly painted wooden houses line Seyðisfjörður’s port, regarded as east Island’s cultural hub with a lively arts scene disproportionate to its size. Seyðisfjörður has attracted writers and artists and hosts a summer arts festival. Surrounded by incredible nature, the nearby Skálanes nature reserve is known for its diverse wildlife with over 47 bird species, as well as 150 plant species. Reindeer, seals and porpoises often populate the area.

With Viking-era origins, Djupivogur, a tranquil fishing village with fewer than 500 residents, is renowned for its unhurried pace of life and the art installation 'The Eggs at Merry Bay,' featuring 34 granite eggs representing local bird species. Nearby, Vatnajökull National Park, covering 14 percent of Iceland, offers a wild expanse with Europe's largest ice cap, Vatnajökull Glacier, thundering glacial rivers and active volcanoes.

Ten million Atlantic puffins make Heimaey, in the Westman Islands off southern Iceland, the largest puffin colony in the world. Despite a population of 4,000 people, puffins have even been spotted in the town of Vestmannaeyjar. A small volcano museum charts the story of the town’s devastation in 1973 by lava flow from the Eldfell volcano, where visitors can hike up to its windy top for panoramic views passing by signs of that eruption.

Today you'll disembark the ship in Reykjavik and continue your onward journey

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