Due to the different Icelandic alphabet and spellings I'd never be able to remember (much less pronounce) I decided to cut and paste the daily itinerary for our trip and will insert my comments at the end of each day.
Never mind . . . after much reflection (and aggravation in editing my video tape) I have decided to not do a travelogue and made longer comments on the photo page. Guess I put all this text in italics for nothing. Most people probably don't read the travelogues anyway.
Day 1: Reykjavík - Kjölur -
Skagafjörður
Our first stop will be at the ancient parliament site Þingvellir. Then
we drive through the beautifully sited village Laugarvatn towards the
famous sites Geysir and Gullfoss. We will drive along the interior road
Kjölur to Skagafjörður. Up on arrival in Sauðárkrokur we turn up to the
valley to the Hotel Tindastoll, where we will stay the first two nights
and have the opportunity to bathe in the gorgeous geothermal hot pot in
the backyard.
Day 2: Skagafjörður
In the morning we will visit the geothermal pool at Reykir at
Reykjaströnd, the place where the Saga hero Grettir the Strong swam to
the island Drangey. In the afternoon we'll go on a boat tour from the
harbour town Sauðárkrokur out to the islands on the bay and even to try
our luck at catching a cod or two. Later this day we stop for a riding
show at the farm Flugumýri in Skagafjörður, the Eldorado for Icelandic
horses.
Day 3: Skagafjörður – Siglufjörður-Akureyri
We start the morning by having a look at the very realistic Emigration
Museum in Hofsós on our way to and through the historical "herring
town" Siglufjörður, offering the very special herring exhibition &
show. We drive further on through the towns Ólafsfjörður, Dalvík and
Akureyri to a luxurious privately owned lodge in the next valley,
Fnjóskadalur, for two nights. Your guide prepares you the most
enjoyable dinner meal that night.
Day 4: Fnjóskadalur – Húsavík – Dettifoss – Mývatn – Fnjóskadalur
This day we make a big round tour, passing Húsavík and the National
Park Jökulsárgljúfur with many nature gems like the waterfalls Goðafoss
and Dettifoss and the unique Lake Mývatn. Here you'll enjoy the great
evening buffet of Htl. Sel before returning to the lodge.
Day 5: Akureyri - Víðidalur
We drive again through Akureyri with a little stop there also to buy
some tree-plants, to prepare for day 8. In the evening we'll visit a
restored turf farm in the Skagafjörður area. This evening´s
accommodation is planned at a farm in one of the valleys of
Húnavatnssýsla District, near the beautiful waterfall
Kolugljúfur.
Day 6: Víðidalur – Vatnsnes - Laugarhóll
In the morning we visit the interesting rock formations Borgarvirki and
Hvítserkur before we drive around the peninsula Vatnsnes, famous for
its seal-colonies. We pass around the fjord Hrútafjörður before we
start to move along the interesting fjordscape of the coastal
area "Strandir", the eastern and outermost part of the Westfiords. In
Hólmavík, the biggest local town, we visit the most interesting
exhibition of sorcery, informing us about the mystical days of black
magic, which characterized this area in earlier times.
In the afternoon we reach our accommodation at Laugarhóll in the beautiful Bjarnarfjörður valley, which offers very good open air geothermal bathing facilities. Here our accommodation is planned for two nights.
Day 7: Laugarhóll - Strandir - Laugarhóll
We will drive further north to a place, which very few tourists visit.
You will experience silence and calmness of this fjord-carved area and
its stunning features.
Day 8: Laugarhóll - Laugar
We move along the mountain road Þorskafjarðarheiði to the beautiful
calm fjords of the southerly Westfjords. Before we drive around the
Klofningur-peninsula and head to our accommodation for the two last
nights at Laugar in Sælingsdalur, offering once more a gorgeous
geothermal open-air swimming pool, we will leave our contribution to
the reforestation of Iceland by planting some small trees at the
Reykjanes peninsula.
Day 9: Laugar - Snæfellsnes – Laugar
We dedicate this day to the interesting and scenic peninsula
Snæfellsnes, which is said to offer Iceland in a nutshell. We travel
through the surprisingly varied landscape of the northern part of the
peninsula, all the way to the tip, where the glacier and volcano Mt.
Snæfellsjökull reigns, the field of Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the
Center of the Earth". After a walk on the jagged coastline by the
village Arnarstapi we return to our good accommodation at
Laugar.
Day 10: Laugar – Borgarfjörður - Reykjavík
We depart from our good site at Laugar to visit the restored farmhouse
of the viking and discoverer Erik the Red before we drive over to the
beautiful area of the Borgarfjörður-valleys. Having visited some of the
beautiful natural sites in the vicinity, we take the course via the
Kaldidalur pass between the glaciers Langjökull and Ok down to
Þingvellir, the site of the former out-door parliament. The last leg is
a drive along the beautiful lakeside road to Nesjavellir before we come
back to Reykjavik.
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