Join the 2019 Fulbright Alumni Insight Trip to Iceland!

Known as “The Land of the Fire and Ice”, Iceland has active volcanoes, glaciers and caves waiting to be explored. Learn about the Viking roots of Iceland and and visit its charming churches. Take a trip through Icelandic cuisine with their highly-acclaimed innovative dishes, all the while enjoying the company of fellow Fulbrighters.

About the trip

Total cost: $2,900 (shared room); single rooms available for an additional $1,200 (subject to slight change)

Dates: July 14 – 20, 2019 (subject to slight change)

Travel partner: MUNDO 

Contact: travel@fulbright.org

Registration

To register for the trip, pay your deposit and submit your registration packet by April 12, 2019.

Itinerary

1

July 14, 2019

July 14, 2019
  • Participants fly into Iceland and gather at Keflavík - a village very close to the International Airport. As flights from the U.S. come in between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m. usually.
  • In the afternoon we head to Borgarfiordur in West Iceland. We will stay at Hótel Húsafell, a luxury hotel that offers comfortable rooms with all amenities. A fine dining restaurant offers a nordic menu, influenced by international cuisine. In the area around Borgarjordur, the beauty and the variety of Icelandic nature is everywhere to be seen. Magnificent views overlooking mountains, fertile regions, colorful birdlife, abundant rivers and lakes, fjords and bays, along with gushing geothermal activity. Natural resources are all around. But West Iceland has more than magnificent nature. Land and history form an unbroken whole as the scene of sagas like Sturlunga, Egils Saga, Eyrbyggja and Laxdaela, as well as being rich in folklore and tales of adventure. Tourist operators go out of their way to make history available to travellers, each in their own fashion. At the same time, new tales of people, trolls and beings of adventure are created. We will visit one of Iceland’s most famous museums, The Settlement Centre. It tells the Saga of The Settlement of Iceland and Iceland´s most famous viking and first poet Egill Skallagrimsson. It gives the traveler a good foundation for further knowledge when traveling in Iceland.
Dinner and rest.

2

July 15-16, 2019

  • Visit and walk around Húsafell - a different life in a fiord. From there you can visit the glacier Langjökull, the lava Hallmundarhraun, the medieval cultural center of Reykholt (manuscripts, sagas, medieval Iceland) as well as we take a bath at Krauma (hot springs luxury). The mighty Langjökull, the ‘Long Glacier’, is the second-largest glacier in Iceland, at 935 square kilometres (361 square miles). For jeep and snowmobile trips, Langjökull is the most popular glacier in Iceland, and skiing and hiking here is possible as well. Hallmundarhraun lava field was formed in giant eruption close to the Langjökull glacier around the year 930 and is 8-9 cubic kilometers. Hallmundarhraun includes three caves Surtshellir/ Stefánshellir they are together 3500 meters, longest lava cave in Iceland. Viðgelmir lava tube is the largest of all lava caves in Iceland the tubes volume is well over 150,000 cubic meters.
Optional Krauma Spa Dinner at the hotel

3

July 17-18, 2019

  • We drive from Borgarfjorður and head north to Siglufjorður. Here, the mountains, the lake and the black sandy shores call to us, and there is a wide selection of walks and hikes in both mountain and valley to tempt the visitor. A few hours walking through the area's rugged landscape gives one the chance to savour the peace and tranquillity which emanates from these natural elements. The town was formed in the golden years of the herring. Then, when the herring left, there came a crisis. But it is amazing to see how the fiord was renovated, primarily thanks to the inversion of a rich business man returning to his natal village. The Herring museum in Siglufjordur is the largest marine and industrial museum in Europe. It is housed in three widely differing premises where the visitor can become acquainted with the pursuit of the "silver darlings" and the processing of that valuable commodity. The museum received the European Museums Award, the Michletti Award, in 2004.
  • From Siglufjorður we visit the capital of the North, Akureyri, and the Lake Mývatn as well as Hofsós with its museum on the West goers (Icelanders who left for America looking for a better life around 1900). Akureyri is by far the most densely populated community outside the Reykjavík area, and is the centre of trade, culture and services for the north of Iceland. Lake Myvatn is one of the highlights of the north. Birdlife by the lake is abundant and a visit to the new Bird Museum is worthwhile. Myvatn Nature Bath is located just east of Reykjahlid village, where travellers can enjoy a relaxing dip in the warm natural water. In the Myvatn region there are many marked hiking routes.

4

July 19, 2019

  • Driving back to Reykjavík - City tour and a reception for Fulbrighters.
Hotel Natura Dinner at Nauthóll

5

July 20, 2019

  • Day at leisure until departure

What's Included

  • Double room accommodations in comfortable hotels (2 occupants per room). Single rooms are available for an additional $1,200
  • Breakfast daily
  • Seven group meals as indicated in the itinerary
  • Transportation by private, air-conditioned motor coach/minibus/van, as well as group transfers as appropriate
  • English speaking guide(s)/interpreter(s) to accompany participants through the whole tour period
  • Preparatory reading materials
  • Admission and fees to museums and program activities as listed in itinerary (some activities are at an additional, optional cost)
  • In-country health insurance, not including airlift or emergency evacuation to the U.S.

What's Not Included

  • Flights to/from Reykjavik
  • Expenses of a purely personal nature
  • Room service charges
  • Transportation of luggage in excess of weight allowance
  • Gratuities to the bellmen and waiters
  • Travel Cancellation Insurance
  • Gratuities for guides
  • Daily meals that are not organized for the group
  • Extra beverages at group meals
  • Visas or other entry documents

Please read all the information in our registration packet for terms on cancellations, refunds, and other policies. Note that we highly recommend waiting to purchase flights until after the registration period has closed and the trip has been confirmed.

Membership requirements: Please also note that you must be a current member of the Fulbright Association in order to join the tour. If you are not a member, you can click here to join, or if you are a lapsed member, please click here to renew your annual membership. Not a Fulbright alum? No problem! The Fulbright Association welcomes all supporters of the mission of the Fulbright Program to join as Friends of Fulbright. Tour registrants may also bring one non-member guest. Please indicate who your guest is in your registration materials.

If you have any questions, please give us a call at (202) 775-0725 or e-mail us at travel@fulbright.org.