Iceland is a magical place! We had a fabulous time exploring different parts of the island, and had a well-curated list of attractions and experiences. Our travel agent put together an excellent itinerary for our very active family, with lots of varied options to choose from. He also made himself readily available for questions, and handled a near-crisis beautifully when our upcoming accommodation had a plumbing problem - he re-booked us at a fantastic hotel before we even knew there was an issue. I would have liked a trip summary page simply with location names, drive times, recommended visit timing, and map links (note that these items were included in the longer, detailed itinerary). However, as we discovered, Iceland is very easy to navigate. Our accommodations were excellent, and restaurant recommendations were spot-on.
In March 2019 we did this marvelous trip. For early spring the weather was nice and the landscape beautiful: surrealistic geothermal pools on Reykjanes and snowcapped mountains above the glaciers. Right in time the driver picked us (family of 2 parents and 3 young-adults from the Netherlands) up at the airport. On the way to Hvolsvllur we visited the geothermal pools of Krsuvik. A warm welcome at Base Camp Midgard. We absolutely prefer a small family-owned and local-based company instead of a big travel agency/company. Another advantage is the location: much closer to the highlights in the south than a hotel in Reykjavik. Breakfast and dinner (and the drinks at the bar) were fine. A cozy atmosphere with a lot of adventurous people (young or somewhat older).The trip to Prsmrk with the Ford SuperJeep was great. Due to the driving skills of Christian we crossed various rivers to get as far as possible into the Valley of the Thunder God Thor. We explored by foot the surroundings of the Eyjafjallajkull volcano. On the way back to Midgard BaseCamp we visited the Seljlans Falls. The third day we headed to the Slheimajkull Glacier. A long time ago I climbed various mountains in the Alps, the Andes and the Himalaya but walking on crampons on the glacier and -safely- descending in a crevasse is impressive too. Really worrying is the decline of the glacier in the last decades. A dramatic effect of the global warning. Please show the picture of the sign to D. Trump.The last day on our way to Reykjavik- we visited the impressive Gullfoss waterfall (thanks to Sigridur Tmasdttir who saved the area), Geysir and the xarfoss waterfall.Summarizing a great trip in just 4 days.
Overall a fabulous trip - expect alot of time travelling (hazard of the desire to go further afield than just the usual 'Golden Circle' combined with ever changing weather conditions), but then you get to see some incredibly beautiful sights.When you come home and think about all the wonderful lasting images you have seen and things you have done you will wonder how it all fitted into 5 days!