Iceland Expedition (Full Circuit, 18th Edition)

Nine nights around the full circuit of Iceland, self-driven in convoy with crew support, now in its eighteenth running since 2015.

Eighteen editions is worth noting on its own: this is a well-worn route for the operator rather than a new product, and the full circuit is the right ambition, since the south coast alone is what most visitors see.

Reykjavik opens it, then the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, which packs a volcano, lava fields, cliffs and black beaches into one headland. The north follows at Lake Myvatn, a volcanic landscape of craters, mud pools and lava formations, with Godafoss nearby, then the Eastfjords, which are remote, steep-sided and barely visited. The glacier-carved south coast comes next with Skogafoss and the Glacier Lagoon, where icebergs calve off and wash up on Diamond Beach as polished blocks on black sand, and an ice cave at Katla under the glacier. Gullfoss and the geothermal Forest Lagoon complete the circuit, with whale watching and Icelandic horse riding available.

The format is a self-drive convoy with crew support around the clock; the detailed inclusions were not itemised on the page and are worth confirming at booking, and 5 per cent GST and 2 per cent TCS are added to the trip cost, as are the optional whale watching and riding. The price shown is per person. The ice caves are a winter proposition and the interior roads a summer one, so the dates change the trip considerably. Ten days is the minimum for the full ring road at a sensible pace, and the Eastfjords are the stretch that makes the extra days worthwhile.