Active Holidays In Iceland

Iceland is famous because of its wide variety of tourist attractions. Some trips involve traveling quite a bit into the interior of island, while others focus on smaller areas on the coastline. Iceland has something for everyone: for those who are interested in more traditional vacations and those who like extreme sports. Tours range from a few days to a whole holiday. Nature tours will delight visitors with breathtaking landscapes, fresh lava fields, roaring waterfalls and beautiful ice caps.

You can visit the uninhabited interior of Iceland only in July and August, unless you choose specially organized winter tours. Touring Iceland in the winter is unforgettable: both beginner and advanced skiers can practice their skiing skills, and you can opt also for ice fishing and glacier tours on snowmobile.

As you can see, there is no better destination for the active tourist than Iceland. There is a wide selection of activity vacations all over Iceland: glacier tours, hiking, river rafting, fishing, horseback riding, swimming, whale watching and boat tours.

Glacier tours are one of the favorite options of tourists visiting Iceland. Glacier tours are made either on snowmobiles, or super jeeps. However, those who like hiking will not be disappointed: more than a half of Iceland is over 400 m above sea level, and a great part of the island is covered by lava, glaciers or sand. There are few marked walking paths, but despite this, hiking is very popular.

Water sports enthusiasts will also enjoy their stay in Iceland: they can choose from kayaking on inland rivers or rafting in glacial waters. Swimming is also popular, and the water of hot springs is used in indoor and outdoor swimming pools everywhere. Water temperature is about 29 degrees Celsius, but there are also jacuzzis, saunas, solariums and hot spots with temperature between 36 to 44 degrees Celsius.

Iceland is a great place for salmon and trout fishing. The main season for salmon fishing is from the middle of June to mid-September. For salmon, permits have to be reserved well in advance. Trout fishing opportunities differ from one river or lake to the next, but usually the season lasts from April/May until late September/October. Permits for trout fishing can be obtained more easily, usually in only one day. Ice fishing is very popular in the winter. A lot of people do sea angling: the beginning of the season is in late May and lasts until the end of August. The end of season is marked by tournaments in different parts of Iceland.

Iceland is the perfect spot for whale watching. The North Atlantic encircling Iceland is full of whales of various sizes and species. There are whale-watching ports all around the coastline, and thousands of tourists enjoyed the spectacular whales.

Iceland is also the heaven of bird watchers: the largest birdcliff in the West Fjords is Ltrabjarg. Here one can find numerous cliff nesting species. Ltrabjarg is also famous because the world's largest razorbill colony lives here. Westman Islands are also popular, because here are many kinds of seabirds and this is the largest puffin population in Iceland.

-->