A whistle stop tour through the extremes of Iceland's landscape and weather! The itinerary is essentially waterfalls on day one, glaciers on day two and the 'golden circle' on day three. We had atrocious weather (lashing rain and 100mph winds) on day one so perhaps visiting three waterfalls wasn't the best idea. They were very crowded and the weather made it impossible to really appreciate them. The glacier walk on the second day had to be abandoned due to high winds but not until after about an hour in the weather putting all the kit on and probably another hour attempting to get up the path. The northern lights are elusive and I found them disappointing - you can't really see them with the naked eye, only through a camera lens set to the right exposure. We saw them on a separate bus tour on our last night in Reykjavik, not on the tour itself. Thankfully we had sunshine and calm for the last day. The landscape is beautiful and the food was delicious, if not all that varied. The long drives were broken up well with rest stops and road side sights.
Iceland has a magical landscape and warm and friendly people who clearly love and want to care for the environment they share as their home. The hiking is hard but oh so worth it. Most of the time we were on trails only frequented by sheep, not people so you truly earned the sights of the trip. Thora was the most amazing guide. Her love for her country and all it has to offer shines through her smile and knowledge.
I had researched about Iceland and the places to be visited but had not anticipated the scale of the island and the grandeur of the scenery. The weather was not as rainy as was forecast but it was windier than I expected, the weather suited the landscape and the experiences on the trip. Our guide was excellent - full of information and stories - never a dull moment.