Adventures in Iceland

In November I travelled to Iceland, as part of a group tour. During my first year of business, I had a mentor, my friend Hayley who I met whilst on a work trip, on the Queen Mary 2. Hayley has been a Travel Counsellor for 12 years, and Hayley and her business partner Carla were hosting a group tour. This was a 3 night tour, organised by Obeo Travel. We flew from London Heathrow to Reykjavik. On the day that Grindavik was evacuated due to a possible Volcanic eruption. There were some changes to our itinerary, which Obeo Travel handled fantastically. We were collected from the airport and taken to our hotel, which was approximately 45mins-1 hour. That evening, we had an organised tour, a Northern Lights Cruise. We were collected from the hotel and taken to the harbour for a trip out on the boat to see the Northern Lights. We were able to borrow one of the many overalls available to keep warm, which I would recommend. You can then enjoy the evening on the 360-degree viewing platform taking in the panoramic views, listening to the expert aurora guides. Sadly, we didn’t see the Lights, but it was a fantastic cruise. The following day, we had a free day, some of us explored Reykjavik, first of we walked to the ‘Fly Over’. This is a simulated flight ride. Here we were suspended, feet dangling before a 20 metre spherical screen whilst a film whisks us away on a journey across Iceland. Special effects include wind, mist and scents. It was a fanatic experience. We spent the rest of the day walking and exploring the City. I went inside Hallgrimskirkja church. It’s both a parish church and a national sanctuary in Iceland. The tower is 73 metres high which I went up and enjoyed the views of the city, the blue channels, and the surrounding mountain circle. We then went for something to eat, before we had to get ready for our Lagoon experience. One of our group was brave enough to try fermented shark, this is a national dish of Iceland, which has been cured and hung to dry for 4 to 5 months. Apparently, it wasn’t too bad! That evening we were meant to visit the Blue Lagoon, However due to the possible Eruption, Obeo Travel managed to move us to the Sky Lagoon. The Sky Lagoon was just a short drive from the City, it’s also adult only. It was an amazing experience, Here we experienced the seven steps in The Ritual, these included a cold plunge, sauna with a view, cold fog-mist, sky body scrub, steam room and a relaxing shower. It was such a relaxing experience, floating through a breathtaking canyon and taking in a view toward Mount Keillir, whilst enjoying a glass of something fizzy! Monday, we had a full day of activities planned. This was a Golden Circle tour. We were all really excited about this day. We were collected from the hotel by our very own Super Jeep and an extremely knowledgeable guide. It was dark whilst we drove out of the City, it doesn’t get light until 10am in November. We drove 45 mins out of the City to the Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is where Iceland’s parliament was founded in 930 AD. It also holds the meeting of the North-American and Eurasian tectonic plates, and this is the reason its said you can talk between continents at this specific location. We then moved on to drive off road in the Jeep to Langjokull Glacier. We stopped to be kitted out with overalls, gloves, buff and a helmet and off we went for an hour of adventure on snowmobiles, dashing across snowfields. This was my first time on a snowmobile, and I was a little scared! Afterwards, we continued our journey, on to Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most powerful waterfalls, this was a wow moment for me. We had some lunch and visited the gift shop. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to see the highly active Geysir Hot Spring area with it’s boiling mud pits and spouting hot springs. What a site it was to walk round and see these springs erupting. After dinner, some of us decided to go on the Northern Lights Cruise again, to try and see the Lights, sadly we didn’t. You receive a voucher if you don’t see the lights, to go back again, free of charge to try again. I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Iceland. There are so many things to do and see. I would recommend taking plenty of warm clothing if you are travelling during the winter months. Waterproof trousers, thermals and comfortable footwear are also a good idea. Even though I didn’t see the Northern Lights, it didn’t take away from having the most amazing time we all had as a group. If you are thinking of booking a trip to Iceland, please get in touch and I would love to be able to start planning this for you.