Aboard M/Y Ocean's Seven · 18 – 25 July 2026. Seven nights from Reykjavík into Iceland's wild northwest: a dive between two continents at Silfra, helicopter days over glacier and highland, the Westfjords by yacht, the seabird cliffs of Hornstrandir, and the Arctic Circle at Grímsey.
Iceland straddles the mid-ocean ridge of the North Atlantic, a country of just 360,000 people where the continent is still pulling itself apart. It is the land of fire and ice: volcanoes, hot springs, bubbling mud pools and spouting geysers coexist with massive icecaps and glaciers.
Much of the island is still taking shape before your eyes, raw landscapes born of volcanic eruption and the scour of glaciers. Other corners have hardly changed since the first Norse settlers arrived more than 1,100 years ago, and the old language and sagas stay close to the surface.
Near the coast lie green valleys and working harbours; inland is a desert of icecaps and lava, crossed here by helicopter. Thundering waterfalls lead down to a coast of tranquil fjords, empty beaches and towering sea cliffs, a delight to explore by sea.
The trip opens in Reykjavík, Iceland's cosmopolitan capital, with time for its galleries and a first dinner at Tides in The Reykjavík EDITION. At Þingvellir, in the rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, comes the rare chance to dive the crystal-clear Silfra fissure between two continents. A helicopter day then crosses Þingvallavatn, the Langjökull ice cap and the Snæfellsnes peninsula on the way north to the Westfjords.
Board Ocean's Seven at Bíldudalur and wake beneath Dynjandi, the great tiered waterfall of the Westfjords. A 4x4 run along Kjaransvegur, the single-lane track hand-cut around Arnarfjörður, leads to Þingeyri. Further north lie Vigur, a small inhabited island alive with puffins and eider, and Ísafjörður, the colourful capital of the Westfjords beneath its mountains.
North into Hornstrandir, the uninhabited nature reserve, for the Doctor's House at Hesteyri and the vast seabird cliffs of Hornbjarg. On toward the Arctic Circle at Grímsey, then a second helicopter day over the Askja caldera, Herðubreið and the volcanic highlands. The voyage ends at Akureyri, the lively capital of the north.
Roughly 390 nautical miles by sea and two helicopter days, from Reykjavík through the Westfjords and Hornstrandir to the Arctic Circle and the north coast. Click any stop on the map to dive in.
"The experience in Iceland combines helicopter flightseeing, private cultural encounters, and the freedom that only a superyacht-based expedition can offer."
Ocean's Seven · IcelandThe trip begins in the world's northernmost capital, with a morning through its art scene: the studios of Ólafur Elíasson and Ragnar Kjartansson, the i8 Gallery, and the Björk exhibition at the National Gallery of Iceland. Then a first dinner at Tides, the signature restaurant of The Reykjavík EDITION, on the harbourfront beside the Harpa concert hall. A polished, view-filled start before the expedition heads into the wild.
Set within Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Iceland's first parliament, founded in 930 AD. Silfra is the water-filled fissure where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart, fed by glacial meltwater filtered for decades through lava rock, with visibility beyond 100 metres and the rare chance to dive between two continents. One guest dives the fissure with dive master Birgir; for those who stay dry, it is a rare chance to stand in the rift with a foot on each of the two tectonic plates, the North American and the Eurasian. Dinner ashore at Matur og Drykkur, a long-standing Reykjavík favourite built on old Icelandic recipes with a modern touch.
An 11am helicopter departure from Reykjavík: over Þingvallavatn and its geothermal fields, up across the Langjökull ice cap, then west to the Snæfellsnes peninsula for a happy-hour stop at Dalur, a private estate high on the peninsula beneath the Elliðatindar mountains. The flight continues around Snæfellsnes and along Breiðafjörður to land at Bíldudalur, where Ocean's Seven waits.
Wake at anchor beneath Dynjandi, also called Fjallfoss, the largest waterfall in the Westfjords: a multi-tiered cascade dropping around 100 metres in a broad trapezoidal fan, with six smaller falls below. An optional morning hike climbs alongside it. One of the most memorable starts to a day anywhere in Iceland.
A 4x4 run along Kjaransvegur, the rugged single-lane track around Arnarfjörður cut largely by one man, bulldozer operator Elís Kjaran Friðfinnsson, working alone through the summer of 1973 after the road service judged the terrain too treacherous. It hugs sheer cliffs and the tidal shoreline on the way to Þingeyri, with views over the fjord reachable no other way.
A private visit to Vigur, one of the few inhabited islands in the Westfjords, home to just three people, alive with Arctic terns, puffins, eider ducks and little auks. Exclusive island access and a personal welcome from the family who call it home.
The unofficial capital of the Westfjords, a colourful fishing town of historic timber houses beneath dramatic mountains, best explored on foot with a local guide. A clifftop road climbs Bolafjall to a viewing platform 638 metres above Ísafjarðardjúp, and the Ósvör Maritime Museum nearby recreates a 19th-century turf-roofed fishing station. Dinner at Tjöruhúsið, widely held to be the best fish restaurant in Iceland.
A morning at Hesteyri, once a whaling and herring station whose last year-round residents left in 1952. Its Doctor's House, built in 1901, is now kept by host Hrólfur, a warm and accomplished musician who welcomes visitors with coffee, home baking and a tune on the Icelandic langspil. Beyond lies Hornbjarg, sea cliffs rising vertically to 534 metres and home to one of Europe's largest seabird colonies, with cod fishing and a coastal hike before the yacht relocates toward Grímsey and the Arctic Circle.
Meet the yacht at Siglufjörður, once the herring capital of the north, then a second helicopter day over Iceland's most dramatic interior: the Askja caldera and its crater lake Öskjuvatn, past Herðubreið, the "Queen of Icelandic Mountains", and over the ice caves of Kverkfjöll above Jökulsárgljúfur canyon, with lunch at Egilsstaðabúið in Egilsstaðir while the helicopter refuels.
The voyage ends at Akureyri, the cultural hub of northern Iceland, a lively small city with a strong art scene: the Akureyri Art Museum anchors the Listagil, or Art Street, district, surrounded by independent galleries and studios. A final morning ashore before the flight home.
In Eyjafjörður, off Akureyri, humpback and minke whales feed through the summer months, among the most reliable whale watching in Iceland.
Whale Watching · In the NorthM/Y Ocean's Seven is a 41.9-metre (137'6") expedition yacht, built by Kingship in 2012 and refitted in 2024, designed inside and out by Vripack on a steel hull.
She accommodates up to twelve guests in five staterooms, with a crew of nine, and carries a range of 4,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.
Stabilisers run at anchor and underway. On deck: a sundeck bar, a hot tub, sun and shade lounging, and gym equipment, with tender and water-toy storage for expedition days ashore.
Born under the high-summer Arctic sun, Dagný is Icelandic to the core. She holds a Master's degree in marketing and international business from the University of Iceland and studied in Australia and Denmark, and her love of travel and the outdoors led her into adventure tourism.
She has planned and guided adventure trips across Iceland since 2011 and worked on small expedition vessels since 2014 as a naturalist and cultural expert in the Arctic and Scandinavia. In recent years she has sailed extensively in Antarctic waters as a logistics coordinator and paddle-sports guide.
When she is not at sea, Dagný splits her time between Iceland and British Columbia, teaching mountain biking on Vancouver's North Shore and guiding heli-kayaking trips on secluded alpine lakes. A keen photographer, she loves sharing the stories and traditions of her homeland, and several of the images on these pages are her own.
Layers are everything. Iceland in July is mild but changeable: long daylight, and weather that can swing from sun to wind and rain within an hour, cooler still on the water, the cliffs and in the highlands. Pack for wet zodiac landings, deck time and the Silfra dive day. Tick items off as you go: your progress is saved on this device.
Expect roughly 8°C – 13°C (46 – 55°F) near the coast, colder in wind and at altitude, and conditions that change fast. Dress in layers so you can adjust through the day. A typical dress for a landing:
Expedition Clothing
Equipment & Personal
Documents & Logistics
A short shelf for the flights and the days at sea. The first titles are the great works of Icelandic literature, from the medieval sagas to a Nobel laureate; the rest carry you into the land and the north coast you sail.
The masterwork of Iceland's Nobel laureate: a stubborn sheep farmer's fight for independence in the harsh countryside. The great Icelandic novel.
The medieval prose epics that are Iceland's founding literature, written on this island 800 years ago and still central to how Icelanders see themselves.
A British writer's year living in Reykjavík through the aftermath of the financial crash and a volcanic eruption. Warm, sharp and modern.
A luminous novel of the last woman executed in Iceland, set on a farm in the north near Akureyri in 1829. Read it before the northern leg.
The turbulent life of the warrior-poet Egill Skallagrímsson, one of the greatest of all the sagas and a window onto the Viking age.
A photographer and a writer retrace the saga sites across the island. A beautiful companion to the history underfoot.
Recommended Viewing
The band's homecoming film, touring Iceland with free concerts in fields, fjords and tiny villages. The landscape as its own character.
An award-winning Icelandic film of two estranged brothers and their sheep in a remote northern valley. Dry, tender and unmistakably Icelandic.
Iceland's only Oscar-nominated film: an elderly couple leave Reykjavík to journey home across the country. A quiet classic.
The light, the wildlife and the landscapes make Iceland one of the most rewarding places to photograph. A few things worth knowing before you sail.
In the Field
For the camera and lenses you bring on deck and ashore.
On Your Phone
Tips for shooting on a phone.
Reykjavík to Akureyri aboard M/Y Ocean's Seven, 18 – 25 July 2026. Your EYOS expedition team will be in touch before departure. Any questions in the meantime, we are glad to help.