We took a late flight out from Birmingham and arrived into Keflavik airport in the early hours of the morning. Our Icelandic adventure began with a drive through the lava fields of the Reykjanes peninsula, eerily lunar in the darkness, which took us to Reykjavik and the Reykjavik City Hostel, a very popular accommodation choice for our schools. We checked into the hostel and went straight to bed, excited to see more of Iceland’s breath-taking scenery on our first tour the following day!
Our first stop was the Friðheimer greenhouse, an interesting example of Iceland’s innovative and extensive use of its natural geothermal energy resources, and an excellent brunch opportunity! The use of geothermal energy to heat greenhouses in Iceland dates back to 1924, and the industry is heavily subsidised by the country’s environmentally-conscious government.
We continued the geothermal theme at Geysir, where we made sure to snap the obligatory “erupting geyser” selfies at Strokkur geyser, a very active fountain geyser which shoots boiling water up to 40 metres into the air every 5 minutes. We had an Icelandic lunch of traditional sourdough bread and stew at the Geysir Exhibition Centre, and then immediately regretted it as we tested out the centre’s earthquake simulator!

Our final visit was the historic Þingvellir National Park, where the first Icelandic parliament (and the nation of Iceland) was founded in 930. Þingvellir has played a central role in Icelandic culture, although many visitors are more likely to recognise it as a key filming location in the Game of Thrones saga! The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and is famous for the high level of tectonic activity that it experiences. Students visiting Þingvellir can see continental drift in action, the faults in the ground marking the lines where Iceland is slowly being pulled apart.
We arrived back in Reykjavik in the early evening, and headed into the city centre in search of dinner and sightseeing. We weren’t quite brave enough to try the traditional Icelandic delicacy of fermented shark, but did enjoy some of the more easily recognisable fish delicacies! We also fitted in a visit to the ultra-modern Hallgrimskirkja church, whose soaring belltower (built to reflect Iceland’s rugged natural landscape) can be seen from all over Reykjavik.
We headed back to our hostel exhausted, but delighted with everything that we had seen. Our next daytrip would be to the South Shore, whose breath-taking attractions will need a whole new blog post to describe!
To find out more about Diverse School Travel and our outstanding Geography trips visit our website at www.DiverseSchoolTravel.co.uk.
By Laura Whitaker and Jamie Gardiner.