South Iceland

private photo tours
South coast, Jökulsárlón and Vestrahorn

Our guided photo tours of South Iceland will give you incredible photo opportunities. The South coast is rich with towering waterfalls and black sand beaches. At Jökulsarlon you can photograph glacier icebergs and the Öræfajökull glacier reflected in the stillness of – the glacial lagoon. These multi-day trips give you good opportunities to capture the Northern lights at top Iceland locations, such as Jökulsarlon, Reynisfjara or Vestrahorn mountain. Because we arrange your hotel near these locations, sunset and sunrise can be very convenient also.

The diversity of the landscape and the frequency of great locations means that a photographer can be engrossed in photography all day and most of the night.

Day tours

A one day photo tour will take you as far as the black sand beaches at Vik and Reynisfjara, the Snæfellsnes peninsular or around the Golden Circle. This can be booked below by selecting 1 day tour on the booking form.

The drive to Jokulsarlon and back is too far for a driver who is instructing photography on a quality guided tour, but it is possible to book a bus tour, or private taxi tour.

Two day tour Itinerary

The 2 day tour of the South coast and Jökulsárlón is a fairly tight schedule.

Day 1

Your photo guide will pick you up from your Reykjavik Hotel in the morning. After a couple of hours driving, you will experience the South coast waterfalls at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss. In the afternoon we may shoot at Dýrholaey and a sunset at Vík (shorter days). We could leave these locations until day 2 if there is a chance of a sunset at Jökulsárlón (longer days). We check in to our Jökulsárlón hotel and enjoy a traditional Icelandic meal. Northern lights photography at Jökulsárlón and surrounding nature if conditions are good.

Day 2

After sunrise at the glacier lagoon or ice beach, we head back along the South Coast with stops at waterfalls and lava landscapes. In the afternoon we head to wards Vik or Dyrholaey for afternoon light or sunset (shorter days), or Seljalandsfoss for the sunset (longer days). The tour finished with a drop-off at your Reykjavik hotel a few hours after the final photo stop.

Driving Time 6 hours per day.

Three day tour

Add an extra day to make a three day tour.

The extra day could begin with a sunset on the glacier ice beach, glacier lagoon or an Ice cave adventure. The Jokulsarlon ice beach has incredible photographic opportunities. One full morning there will leave you yearning for another. Dividing the morning between the lake and beach can be very successful After a warming Icelandic lunch, you can explore other glacier lagoons and the incredible glacier landscapes or head East to Vestrahorn mountain for Sunset. Enjoy a second night at the Jökulsárlón hotel where we can enjoy a tasty fish supper, some local beer and go through some of our pictures. Northern lights photography if conditions are good.

The extra night could increase your chances of Northern lights on the glacier lagoon.

The extra day is great for glacier activities.

Four day tour

Add 2 extra days to make a four day tour.

Making this a 4 day tour gives you many more choices. You could stick to the South East and explore the Skaftafell National park and the Svartifoss waterfall. This way you would have an extra morning on the Ice Beach and another chance for auroras at Jokulsarlon. It is easy to schedule some glacier activities with this extra day.

Or you could change location to explore some other South Iceland locations such as the Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall on the Golden circle. This would give you a total South Iceland experience.

Suggestion: This map shows a 4 day route including the Golden Circle.

Svartifoss waterfall – Skaftafell National Park

Five day tour

Add 3 extra days to make a five day tour.

A 5 day tour matches Tony Prower’s 5 day Winter workshop. With 4 nights near the glacier lagoon, there is a 90% chance of capturing the Northern lights at Jökulsárlón. There will be many opportunities for an Ice beach sunrise as well as experience different conditions at the glacier lagoon. With extra days to explore Vestrahorn and Skaftafell as well as some glacier activities, this is the ultimate Jökulsárlón photo tour.

Alternatively, you could include the Golden Circle and Snæfellsnes peninsular within the 5 days.

Suggestion: This map shows a 5 day route including Snæfellsnes and the Golden Circle.

Brunahorn Mountain – East Iceland.

Book your tour

Private photo adventures

Private tours are quick to confirm and extra flexible to fit your plans. You can choose to share your private tour which will reduce costs as passengers join.

Book your private tour here.

Seasons: Running all year

Timings:

Winter (Mid Sept – Mid April ) start times are around 09.30. We shoot regular hours which could include night shooting for Auroras and sunrise/set on the ice beach.

Summer (Mid April – Mid Sept)
The tour could start after 14.00 in the Summer. Mid-Summer, this could involve shooting through the night hours (22.00-06.00) and sleeping in tents during the day.

Meals

Breakfast is included at the Hotel. We usually eat evening meal in Restaurants. Prices are between $30-$50 for a main meal. But we can be flexible if you wanted to cater for yourselves

Accommodation:

We stay overnight near the locations in a 3 star hotel (winter) or Camp locally (Summer)*. Your accommodation will be arranged for the duration of the tour, let us know your preferences. Guest rooms have private bathrooms. Rooms can be single, twin or triple. Hotels are arranged at the best locations for Northern lights.