Glacier Lagoon & Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon Tour from Reykjavík with Northern Lights

A short stop by the church above Vík, Iceland's southernmost village, with a view over the roofs and the Reynisdrangar basalt sea stacks standing off the black beach. Local legend says the stacks are trolls caught by the sunrise. The stop is about 20 minutes, a few steps from the minibus.

Fjaðrárgljúfur is a winding canyon up to about 100 metres deep and 2 kilometres long, cut by the Fjaðrá river. The basalt walls are around two million years old, but the canyon itself was carved in roughly the last 9,000 to 10,000 years by glacial meltwater. The result is a sharply zigzagging gorge with mossy, near-vertical walls, seen from an easy marked path along the rim.

Foss á Síðu is a slim waterfall about 30 metres high, falling over a basalt cliff beside an old farm of the same name on the Ring Road. The farm is one of the oldest recorded in the country, mentioned in the Landnámabók, the Book of Settlement. The water comes from a small lake, Þórutjörn, above the cliff, and the fall is thin rather than powerful, which is part of its appeal: it looks almost like a ribbon. A quick photo stop at a waterfall that drops off the cliffs next to a farm, seen from the roadside.

Jökulsárlón is a lagoon filled with icebergs that calve from Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, and drift slowly out towards the sea. It formed in the 1930s as the glacier retreated, and has grown from about 8 km² in the 1970s to roughly 25 km² today. At over 280 metres deep it is the deepest lake in Iceland. It is free to view from the shore.

Diamond Beach is a black sand beach directly opposite Jökulsárlón. Chunks of ice break off Breiðamerkurjökull, drift across the lagoon and out to sea under the Ring Road bridge, and the current pushes many of them back onto the sand, where they melt slowly and catch the light like scattered diamonds. It is a short walk under the bridge from the lagoon, and entry is free.

From the outside, Hofskirkja looks like a low green mound with a dark timber gable at each end. The side walls are thick stone and the roof is turf laid over stone slabs, which is how Icelanders built churches and farmhouses for centuries. This church was built in 1883 to 1884 and is often called the last turf church built in the country. It is still the parish church of Öræfi, with the ice of Vatnajökull rising behind it. The interior is normally closed.

A longer break in Vík before the drive west, with restaurants, a supermarket and toilets in the village. Food is not included, so this is your chance to eat or to pick up snacks for the road.

Seljalandsfoss drops 60 metres from what was once the edge of the coastline, before sea levels fell after the last ice age. The Seljalandsá river is fed by meltwater from Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010 and grounded flights across Europe. It is one of the few waterfalls in Iceland with a path behind the falling water, so expect to get wet and bring a waterproof jacket. In summer you can walk behind the waterfall on a wet path.

From September to April, if the sky is clear and there is activity, your driver-guide stops at a dark spot away from the lights on the way home so you can look for the aurora. Sightings cannot be guaranteed, as they depend on cloud and solar activity. Dress warmly, as you will be standing outside for about 30 minutes.