Day 1: Arrival in ReykjavÃk
Participants will be arriving on a variety of flights, flybus tickets will be sent out in advance. The first night accommodation in a three star ReykjavÃk city hotel is included.
Hotel ReykjavÃk (1 night)
Day 2: Locations on Iceland’s south coast
As we travel along the south coast our locations en route include the classic waterfalls of Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss. During the afternoon we arrive in VÃk famed for it’s black beaches, sea stacks and basalt columnar architecture including Reynishellir a superb basalt cave. Our hotel has some nice outdoor hot pools for relaxation unless we are rushing out to photograph the aurora!
Hotel VÃk (1 night)
Day 3: To Skaftafell National Park
We travel Iceland’s south coast passing through vast lava fields and glaciated mountains to the Skaftafell National Park. Here we will make a short walk across glacial moraine to the glacial tongue of SvÃnafellsjökull. Here we have remarkable close up perspectives of bluish green ice, the milky brown lagoon; a surreal icy landscape including Iceland’s highest mountain, Hvannadalshnjúkur. En route to our hotel we will check out the layout of Glacier Lagoon and beach for both sunrise and the possibility of aurora.
Hali Hotel (4 night)
Day 4-6: Locations in South East Iceland
Our base is very well situated for all our locations; just a ten minute drive to the glacier lagoon and the black sand ice beach. Both locations are excellent for sunrises and aurora; we can be there in a very short time. Our daily locations are chosen in conjunction with the weather or the aurora forecasts. We have to be very flexible to get the best images and we will often revisit worthwhile locations. Some of our locations we keep secret, with this in mind here is an overview of some locations for days 4–6 in no particular order.
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Jökulsárlón beach: icebergs and sculptures at sunrise, seals are quite common here.
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Jökulsárlón Lagoon: we will photograph here on several occasions in all different light. This also makes a fine location for the Aurora as it is easily accessible from our accommodation and gives fine foreground for images; very dramatic!
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Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon, a remote less visited location.
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Mountain locations, lakes with great reflections
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Possibility of Reindeer
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SvÃnafellsjökull Glacier at sunset
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Natural ice caves beneath the Vatnajökull Glacier, Europe’s largest ice cap (Feb/March only)
It’s worth noting that Wild Photography Holidays is run by photographers who have lived in Iceland for many years. They have an intimate working knowledge of the landscapes, the light and the diverse terrain! We do not publish all of our locations.
Day 7: Return to Reykjavik
This morning we will take a final visit to the glacier lagoon and beach for sunrise and morning light; basically photographers could visit this location a thousand times and never tire of its magic. During our drive back to Reykjavik we have the opportunity to work the locations that we missed on the way out east due to poor weather, light or simply lack of time. Back in the city we will go out together for a final celebratory meal.
ReykjavÃk Hotel (1 night)
Day 8: Homeward Flights
Today participants can choose to leave on any flight as transfers are always timed to connect to the flights. Check out from the hotel is around midday. There is a space to leave luggage if neccessary.