An Orange Jacket Private Journey
For Yogesh and Friends
This is Iceland at its most generous. Twenty-two hours of daylight. Black sand beaches lit by golden midnight light. Waterfalls you walk behind. Lava fields, basalt cliffs, icebergs drifting across a lagoon to the sea. Four of you, one Nissan X-Trail, and the whole south of the country to drive.
Day One
Wed · 15 July
Touch down at Keflavík. Pick up the car. Drive the short, soft road into Reykjavík.
You land to afternoon light that won't fade. The car waits at Blue Car Rental, ten minutes from the terminal. Fifty kilometres of lava and bay carry you into the city. Tonight is gentle: a walk along Old Harbour, the Sun Voyager sculpture catching the light, dinner at Gló. Sleep when you want. The sun won't tell you to.
Day Two
Thu · 16 July
A walk through Þingvellir National Park where two tectonic plates pull apart. Then a slow city afternoon.
You drive to Þingvellir before mid-morning. The walk is short and the geology is loud: two continents, drifting apart at the rate your fingernails grow. By one you're back in Reykjavík for lunch. The afternoon belongs to the city: Hallgrímskirkja's tower for the view, Harpa's glass honeycomb at the harbour, Laugavegur for the wander. Dinner at Garðurinn, fully vegetarian, ten minutes from the hotel.
Day Three
Fri · 17 July
Drive north to Snæfellsnes. Lava beaches, basalt arches, a black wooden church, and a mountain shaped like an arrowhead.
You leave Reykjavík by nine, coffee at Borgarnes by ten. By midday you're at Búðakirkja, a small black church alone in a lava field. The afternoon is Arnarstapi cliffs and puffins, then Djúpalónssandur black pebble beach where shipwreck iron from 1948 still rusts in the sand. By late afternoon you stand at Kirkjufell, the arrowhead mountain Game of Thrones called beyond the Wall. Frame it through the waterfall. Check in at The Old Post Office by six. Dinner in the village.
Day Four
Sat · 18 July
Descend into a lava cave. Loop the peninsula. Watch a glacier-topped volcano change colour all day.
Today is slower. Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-topped volcano Jules Verne sent his explorers into, watches you all day. By eleven you descend into Vatnshellir, a lava tube formed eight thousand years ago, helmet and lamp, the only way to see Iceland from the inside out. Lunch in Ólafsvík by the harbour. The afternoon loops east through Stykkishólmur, the most photogenic harbour town in west Iceland. Back to Grundarfjörður by five. Dinner local.
A note on the light
From late May through early August, Iceland sits inside the midnight sun. Twenty-two to twenty-four hours of daylight every day. You'll find yourselves at waterfalls at one in the morning with golden light, and at black-sand beaches near midnight in soft pink shadow. Sleep when you want. The country won't tell you to.
Day Five
Sun · 19 July
Cross the country to the south coast. Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi hidden in a moss canyon, then Skógafoss. A stretch where waterfalls fall every few kilometres.
The long drive south. You'll be through Reykjavík by mid-morning, lunch by one in Hella or Hvolsvöllur. The afternoon is a stretch of road where waterfalls fall every few kilometres. At Seljalandsfoss you walk behind sixty metres of cold spray. A short walk away, Gljúfrabúi hides inside a moss canyon, an opening in the rock. Skógafoss comes last, a wall of water, five hundred and twenty-seven steps to the top if you want them. Starlight Pods by six.
Day Six
Mon · 20 July
Iceland's most theatrical beach. A small village watched over by a hilltop church. Puffin colonies in full nesting season.
A slower day. By ten-thirty you're at Dyrhólaey, the arch and the puffin colony in full July nesting. Lunch at Skool Beans in Vík, fully vegan, the best coffee on the coast. Reynisfjara opens after lunch: black sand, basalt columns climbing the cliff like organ pipes, Reynisdrangar sea stacks offshore. Respect the Atlantic, it throws sneaker waves without warning. Vík village sits inland, hilltop church visible from anywhere. Back at the pods by six.
Day Seven
Tue · 21 July
A canyon with hundred-metre walls. A black basalt waterfall. A lagoon where house-sized ice chunks float to sea.
You drive east. By ten you're walking the rim of Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon of moss and stone. Skaftafell next, where a short hike takes you to Svartifoss, a waterfall falling past a wall of black basalt columns. Lunch at Skaftafell. By four you're at Jökulsárlón, where house-sized ice chunks calve off Vatnajökull and drift across the lagoon to the sea. Across the road, Diamond Beach, where the same ice washes back as translucent jewels on jet-black sand. Höfn by eight. Cooking night in the apartment.
Day Eight
Wed · 22 July
Höfn sits at the edge of Vatnajökull, the ice cap that covers eight percent of the country.
Today is yours. The morning is open: hike the glacier if you've added it, photograph the cliffs, or sleep in. By mid-afternoon you drive to Stokksnes, the black sand peninsula at the foot of Vestrahorn, the most photographed mountain in Iceland. Stay until the light softens. Dinner in Höfn at Pakkhús or Kaffi Hornið, both veg-friendly. If you're not done, the Hoffell hot tubs sit out by the glacier for a late soak.
Day Nine
Thu · 23 July
A long drive west along the south coast. A walk to a half-buried plane wreck. A cabin under the mountain.
The longest single driving day, but Iceland keeps giving. Lunch in Kirkjubæjarklaustur by one. Mid-afternoon you reach Sólheimasandur, four kilometres of flat black sand each way to the wreck of a US military DC-3 that belly-landed in 1973. The plane is still there. Photographers find it from miles around. By six-thirty you're at the cabin under Rauðafell, kitchen ready for the second cooking night, hot tub if it's running. The drive is done.
Day Ten
Fri · 24 July
A park between continents. A geyser. A two-tier waterfall that thunders gold. And a milky-blue spa to close the trip.
The classic Iceland day, and a classic for a reason. Þingvellir at ten, where Iceland's parliament met for the first time in 930 AD. Geysir at noon, where Strokkur erupts twenty to forty metres into the air every five to ten minutes. Lunch en route, your pick. Lindin in Laugarvatn does a respectable veg plate by the lake. Gullfoss at half-two, the Golden Falls, two stages of thundering water. By six you're at the Blue Lagoon for the sunset soak, two or three hours in milky-blue water. Drop the car at Keflavík by nine. Konvin Hotel by half-nine. Last Iceland night.
Day Eleven
Sat · 25 July
Breakfast at Konvin. Short shuttle to Keflavík terminal.
Breakfast. The shuttle to the terminal is fifteen minutes. By the time you board, the sun is still up and probably won't set before you land at home. Iceland keeps for you in photographs and the small ache you'll feel for a week.
Where you'll sleep
Nights 1 + 2 · 15 to 17 Jul
Reykjavík
A clean, modern city hotel in Kópavogur, ten minutes from Reykjavík's main streets. Breakfast included.
Nights 3 + 4 · 17 to 19 Jul
Grundarfjörður, Snæfellsnes
Boutique guesthouse in a postcard fishing village, fifteen minutes from Kirkjufell.
Nights 5 + 6 · 19 to 21 Jul
South Coast
Glamping bungalows close to the south coast waterfalls. Cosy, simple, grocery and cafés walking distance away.
Nights 7 + 8 · 21 to 23 Jul
Höfn
A full two-bedroom apartment with kitchen, in the lobster town of Höfn. Cooking-night ready.
Night 9 · 23 to 24 Jul
Hvolsvöllur area
A private cabin under Rauðafell mountain. Kitchen, possibly a hot tub. Quiet end to a long driving day.
Night 10 · 24 to 25 Jul
Keflavík, by the airport
Modern airport hotel, fifteen minutes from KEF terminal. The last short hop before flying home.
Your ride
Iceland rewards a vehicle with ground clearance and four-wheel drive. The X-Trail is the right size for four travellers: high enough for gravel approach roads, big enough for four large suitcases plus four shoulder bags, comfortable for the long driving days.
Pre-booked for you
July books out months in advance. We hold these slots so you just turn up.
Day Four
A 45-minute guided descent into an 8,000-year-old lava tube on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Helmets and lamps included.
Day Ten · Sunset
Sunset slot at the milky-blue geothermal spa. Two to three hours, towel and welcome drink included.
If you want more
Tell us before you fly. We'll secure the slot. These sit outside the package.
Snorkel or dive between two continental plates at Þingvellir. Day Two.
45-minute amphibious boat tour among the icebergs. Day Seven.
Guided 3 to 4-hour crampon walk on Europe's largest ice cap. Day Eight.
Guided 3-hour hike on a south-coast glacier tongue. Day Six.
3-hour boat tour, humpbacks and minkes peak July. Day Four.
Vegetarian along the way
Iceland is more vegetarian-friendly than people expect. Here is a hand-picked list of veg-strong stops on your route.
Why Orange Jacket
Six years of running adventure travel from India to the ends of the earth. Hand-picked stays. Pre-booked slots. A real human on call through the journey. We don't just hand you an itinerary, we carry the trip with you.
What's covered
What's separate
Your investment
Group of four · ₹11,28,000
All inclusions listed above. GST extra at 5%. Optional add-ons billed separately if you choose to book any.
Bring from home
Lonid Apartment and the cabin at Rauðafell both have full kitchens. Bring your favourite ready-to-eat packs from home, anything that travels well and reheats fast.