Iceland in Autumn - Glaciers, Icebergs & Waterfalls

At the junction of two continents, on the outermost fringe of habitation, Iceland was born millions of years ago from the depths of the ocean. This spectacular island sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, that great cleft in the Earth’s crust that runs north to south through the Atlantic Basin and which is slowly, centimetre by centimetre, widening the Atlantic Ocean and pulling the Americas and Europe/Africa apart. This irrepressible force of nature has created an island blessed with some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth, a place where geology and geography text books come to life and where the explosive processes of land formation can be watched in action.

While Iceland’s vast interior covers more than 50,000 square kilometres and is dominated by volcanoes, glaciers and endless stony deserts, its coastal regions are, by contrast, vibrant, colourful and productive, and none more so than at Oræfasveit in the south-east. Oræfasveit is one of the most beautiful and multifaceted regions in the whole of Iceland, isolated and squeezed between the Atlantic’s pounding surf and the enormity of the Vatnajökull ice cap. Although popular in the summer, few travellers venture here in September to enjoy the spectacular scenery in all its autumnal glory.

Iceland is also one of the main staging-posts along the Atlantic ‘flyway’ for birds breeding further north, providing an opportunity to refuel on their long migration south. The plaintive cries from flocks of Golden Plover drift over russet-coloured moorlands, while Gyrfalcons patrol overhead and small parties of geese briefly reunite, joining Whooper Swans to graze the autumn grasses before continuing south. Along the coastline Purple Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin and Knot eagerly feed and are joined from time to time by chattering flocks of Snow Buntings. The unambiguous sound of Great Northern Divers enhances the otherworldly atmosphere at Thingvallavtn, and Barrow’s Goldeneye are often encountered on the River Sog.

We begin our holiday with a 3-hour flight from Heathrow to the international airport at Keflavik. From here we will drive, by minibus, through ancient lava fields to our first hotel close to the most celebrated of all Iceland’s landscapes, Thingvellir. This is a very special place. Not only is Thingvellir an iconic place in Iceland’s history (the setting for the world’s first parliament), but it sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge itself and is one of the few places where you can walk from Europe to America in just a few steps! In September the heathland is also awash with the subtle russet-brown, yellow and fiery-red hues of autumn. Gullfoss, one of Iceland’s most spectacular waterfalls, thunders nearby, while no visit to the region is complete without time-watching the geothermal features and boiling mud pools at Geysir.

Next we head east along the south coast to Skaftafell, passing an inspirational landscape of golden grasslands, soft cushions of green and grey Rhacomitrum mosses, weird black lava formations and lofty rhyolite mountains en route. It is no surprise that the area surrounding Skaftafell and the Vatnajökull ice cap was declared a national park in 1967 and, covering nearly 5,000 square kilometres, Vatnajökull National Park is the largest single protected area in Europe. Our hotel for the next two nights lies in the shadow of Iceland’s highest mountain with views of its dramatic snow-bound 2,200-metre peaks.

One of the most majestic natural spectacles in Iceland is the ice-lagoon at Jokulsarlon on the edge of the Breidamerkurjokull Glacier. The lagoon is filled with icebergs of every conceivable shape and size which have calved off the glacier and then become trapped. Jokulsarlon is renowned for its unique interplay of light and ice and, since there is no better way to appreciate this spectacle than from the water, our tour includes a boat ride on this amazing lagoon.

All too soon we must retrace our journey back to Keflavik, through a landscape of countless waterfalls that plunge from towering cliffs into the valleys below. For our final two nights we will be staying near Reykjavik and have a chance to explore the lava fields that erupted in 2021. Finally, on our last full day, we will explore the capital before — weather permitting — taking a whale-watching cruise out of Reykjavík. This will offer an opportunity to enjoy some of the amazing marine mammals that inhabit Iceland’s rich coastal waters, as well as an interesting variety of seabirds. Sightings usually include Minke Whale and White-beaked Dolphin, and perhaps even Orca or Humpback Whale for the fortunate few — a fitting finale to our time in Iceland before we return to Keflavik Airport for our flight home.