Grandeurs of Iceland: A Family Tour for Families with Teenagers

On the outskirts of Reykjavik, you can see a glacier glinting in the sunlight, but the distant peak is actually 75 miles away. Snaefellsjokull Volcano rises to a height of 4,744 feet and serves as the setting for Jules Verne’s famous novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth. The landscape comes to life outside of Reykjavik. Your private transfer will meet you at the hotel after breakfast and lead your family to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Gold and pink sand line the beaches as brown and black sheep graze on the yellow wildflowers and sprawling grass.

At Gerduberg, basalt columns rise to 45 feet above the ground and demarcate a clear line between the plateau and the shore. The staggering peak of the volcano comes closer into view. Your guide will tell stories about the glacier and its connection to the folklore of the Iceland. Locals tell tales of how the volcano is one of the seven energy centers of the world.  At Snaefellsjokull National Park, your guide will lead you into an underground area around the glacier formed by a network of lava tubes. Enter Vatnshellir Cave, a cavern more than 8,000 years old created by a volcanic eruption from a neighboring crater.

The lava rushed down the hills and cooled on the surface, but the lava river continued to flow and drained out, leaving behind an empty tube with a cooled roof. The cave takes you 115 feet below the surface and reaches a length of 656 feet. Ice crystals form in the depths of the cave and glisten against the rocky ridges. The air is colder the deeper you travel beneath the earth, and the kids are equal parts excited and timid to travel so deeply. The stone walls are craggy and cool against your fingers, but the experience is unforgettable.

The history of Iceland intertwines with the landscape. The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is the setting for the famous Eyrbryggja Saga, a written document that describes the longstanding feud between the two Norse communities that settled Iceland. The stories continue as you make your way back to the Borgarfjordur Region with a stop at Deidartunguhver Hot Spring. Steam pours out of the bubbling water to blanket the hillside, and your viewpoint will allow you to look into the naturally steaming pools. The water heats up 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and the geothermal activity is potent enough to heat the water showers in a 45-mile radius. At Thingvellir National Park, the kids will marvel at the vision of the North American and European tectonic plates that pull away from each other at an average rate of half an inch a year.

As the tectonic plates move, a canyon is formed that grows wider with every year. A turquoise river winds at the base of the cliffs and provides a visual representation of the continental drift, known as the Silfra Fissure. The park also maintains the status of housing the oldest existing Parliament in the world, which first assembled in the 10th-century AD. A boardwalk leads to a boulder known as Law Rock that marks the original meeting place of the Parliament. Later, the Parliament met at the foot of the Almannagja cliffs. The stone acted as a natural amplifier to broadcast the speaker’s voice to the crowd, and the kids will try to clap against the stone to hear if it echoes.

Today you will make your way to the stunning geothermal area of Geyser.  The hot spring Strokkur spouts a water column into the air on an average of every eight minutes. The pressure builds beneath the earth until the water erupts from the hole up to 65 feet high. Waves spill out around the circled area just before the aerial stream. Your kids will gasp audibly, and their eyes will grow wide. You will follow the Hvita River, which originates from the Hvitavatn Glacial Lake. The water carries the sediment held inside the glacier and creates a golden glow in the sunlight on the two tiers of the falls.

The water thunders down the first, smaller tier and banks off of the cliff in a tumultuous pool before it cascades 105 feet into the gorge, practically disappearing from view. A walkway will guide your family to the rocks that overlook the whitewater as the mist splashes up from the rocks. You can see where the water slips down into the crevice. As you reach the southern coast, you will stop at Dyrhólaey Cape, near the town of Vik. The sunlight streaks across the black sand beaches to touch the sweeping green meadows. At the headland, the kids will point to a perpendicular cliff that reaches almost 400 feet above the water. A narrow rock rim contains a small arch that is carved into its center, which resembles a door opening to the sea.

Between May and August, the puffins build their nests in the cliffs and roost. You can see them as they dive into the water in search of fish. Your family will leave the town of Vik for the day and set out for the lava field at Eldhraun. The largest eruption in Iceland’s history created the high hills of the southern landscape. The eruption lasted from 1783 to 1784 and is referred to today as the Skafta River Fires. The lava field covers 218 square miles and features one of the largest lava tube networks in the country with more than 200 caves.

Your guide will explain how the lunar landscape was perfect training grounds for the Apollo 11 crew, who trained on the silt and barren terrain. Today, moss covers the field to present a soft green glow in the sunlight that leads to Kirkjubaejarklaustur village. After you explore the Skaftafell National Park, you will make your way to Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon. The icebergs rise out of the gray water and will captivate your family. Step out onto a zodiac boat and traverse the lagoon’s nearly seven square miles of surface area.

Your guide will reach out to an iceberg and gather some of the ice for your family to taste. The frigid, pure ice melts into the refreshing water in your mouth. The lake is now the deepest lake in Iceland at approximately 814 feet, and your captain will lead you to a close, but safe, distance from the Breidamerkurjokull Glacier. The edge of the glacier floats in the lake as calving ice falls into the water to create the diverse field of icebergs around you.

In the morning, your family will leave the quaint community of Vik behind and make your way towards the capital city of Reykjavik. When you reach Reykjavik, your family will check into the comforts your luxurious hotel in the heart of the city. Your guide will meet you in the hotel lobby ready to lead you through the streets of Reykjavik where colorful homes line the sidewalks. In season, whales break through the surface water on the sea and splash down near the shores of the city. The towering edifice of Hallgrimskirkja Church is visible from 12 miles away as its white concrete tower shines like a beacon at 244 feet tall.

Your guide will lead you first to the Reykjavik Settlement Exhibition, a spectacular archeological ruin and museum focused on the 10th-century Viking longhouses and artifacts unearthed in the area between 2001 and 2002. The kids will be drawn to the fragments of the boundary wall located at the back of the museum, which represents the oldest Reykjavik’ oldest humanmade structure, dating back to the 9th-century. The museum provides a multi-media panel that the entire family can enjoy as you are steered through the different layers of the construction of a longhouse. Artifacts in the exhibit range from iron axes to oil lamps, and recently archeologists discovered a spindle whorl inscribed with runes.

In the morning, the locals stroll along the shores of Tjornin Lake. Arctic tern and common eider swim along the water’s surface as whooper swans call out in the morning light. The Saga Museum features stories and wax models from the elaborate history of the country to create a lifelike creation of the island and its inhabitants from centuries ago. After breakfast, your private transfer will you’re your family in the hotel lobby and escort you to Keflavik International Airport for your flight home. You will have fully engaged with the splendor of the landscape, learned about the culture first hand, and shared the unparalleled wonder as a family.