Reykjavík → Akureyri

The trip begins in the world's northernmost capital, with time to browse Reykjavík's galleries and 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; the others walk the rift above.

A helicopter day 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, 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 Egilsstaðir while the helicopter refuels.

The voyage ends at Akureyri, Iceland's unofficial capital of the north, 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.