Expedition to Iceland – Hamburg to Reykjavík via North Atlantic Islands

Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city with a history dating back to Charlemagne. A major port, this vibrant city is home to art and culture, extensive shopping facilities, Baroque buildings and waterfront vistas. With its well-known fish market, art galleries and Museums together with several beautiful parks including a botanical garden, this is a city with something for everyone. British visitors who remember the Swinging Sixties may like to visit the streets around Grosse Freiheit, where an unknown pop group called The Beatles gave their first public performances in various local clubs before achieving worldwide fame.

Your adventure begins

Your journey starts in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany and one of the greenest urban areas in Europe.

There's much to see and do in Hamburg. If you have time, you'll find many attractions in the old town district of Altstadt, including the St Nikolai Memorial and the historic street of Deichstraße. Hamburg is also home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Chilehaus and the world's largest historic warehouse complex in Speicherstadt. Art lovers should head to Kunsthalle, the nation's foremost art museum.

Once you embark MS Fridtjof Nansen, you'll have time to meet the crew and Expedition Team and settle in as we set sail.

Witness the drama of these famous fjords

With a backdrop of cloud-shrouded mountains and tumbling waterfalls, of small farms and jade-green waters, we'll explore one of the world's most breathtaking fjords. Wind, rain, or shine, head to the deck to take it all in: glide past narrow passages and soak in dramatic scenery that reveals itself from every angle. In autumn, drifting mist and shifting light create an especially memorable atmosphere.

If conditions allow, you may also have the chance to hike to Preikestolen, ’The Pulpit Rock’, one of Norway's most iconic natural landmarks. Rising high above the fjord below, it's worth every step of the climb.

Founded by Dutch fishermen in the 17th century, Lerwick today is a busy town and administrative center. Handsome stone buildings—known as lodberries—line the harbor; they provided loading bays for goods, some of them illegal. The town's twisting flagstone lanes and harbor once heaved with activity, and Lerwick is still an active port today. This is also where most visitors to Shetland dock, spilling out of cruise ships, allowing passengers to walk around the town.

Explore Scotland's northernmost town

Welcome to the Shetland Islands. Lerwick, the capital, is a friendly, Victorian-influenced fishing town set in beautiful scenery. Navigate its narrow lanes on foot to discover little shops selling local whiskies, woollen sweaters, and fudge, then head to the old waterfront for the Shetland Museum, home to Pictish carvings and intricate lace shawls. Nearby, Fort Charlotte and the regal town hall are worth a look. 

Keep your binoculars handy: grey and common seals bask along Lerwick's beaches, and red-throated divers, redshanks, and curlews are often spotted from the shore. 

More than 600 miles (nearly 1,000 kilometres) from Denmark’s west coast lie the Faroes, a triangle of eighteen windswept islands, seventeen of which are inhabited. Only 48,500 people plus some 70,000 sheep roam these remote lands. Much of the islands’ heritage reflects a medieval past, beginning with the arrival of farmers from western Norway who settled here in the 9th century. Evidence of this Scandinavian heritage is preserved through centuries of isolation; ancient structures can still be seen in villages clustered around old churches. Sheer cliffs and waterfalls carve Streymoy, the largest of the islands, where Torshavn is one of the world’s smallest capitals with about 12,400 inhabitants, plus another 5,000 living in the suburbs of Argir and Hoyvik. Visitors find interesting museums, churches, monuments and all the amenities of a modern town and thriving harbour here. The world’s oldest, still active parliament was founded in the Viking age. Today, it houses the main offices of the local government. Many of the attractions are found outside of Torshavn in the rugged beauty of Streymoy. There are fields with grazing ponies and sheep, tiny hamlets where residents live in half-timbered houses topped by green grass roofs, and dramatic rock formations. Birds by the thousands populate the craggy seaside cliffs, which make an ideal stopover for migratory gannets, guillemots and puffins. The Faroes' climate is generally wet and windy. Because of the Gulf Stream, the temperature is a good deal more moderate than the latitude might imply; it also helps to keep Faroe harbours ice-free year-round.

A visit to Streymoy in the Faroe Islands

Founded by Norsemen in the 10th century, Tórshavn, Thor's Harbour, is one of Northern Europe's oldest capitals, set on Streymoy, the largest of the Faroe Islands.

Wander through cobbled alleyways lined with colourful turf-roofed houses, or visit the local museums to learn about the city's origins and the islands' flora, fauna, and geology. A short walk out of town brings you to Svartafoss, where a waterfall tumbles over mossy rocks. Along the seafront, look out for eider ducks and the distinctive Faroese starling with its beige-tipped wings.

The Faroese way of life

Hidden in a narrow fjord on the island of Eysturoy, Oyndarfjørður is a small village far from the Faroe Islands' well-trodden paths. A handful of families live here among turf-topped hills and weathered boathouses, and visitors are welcomed into the quiet rhythms of everyday Faroese life.

Walk alongside the streams that cut through the settlement, meet locals whose families have been here for generations, and learn how traditions have been shaped by centuries of isolation, fishing, and life at sea. It's one of the most genuine encounters with the Faroes you can have.

Exploring the fjord-cut coastline

Iceland's east coast is cut by deep fjords, lined with tumbling waterfalls and bird-filled cliffs. Quiet villages dot the shoreline, including Bakkagerði, known as Iceland's puffin capital, where nearby platforms at Hafnarhólmi let you watch Atlantic puffins nesting in their thousands.

Beyond the birds, this is a landscape steeped in folklore and drama. We might visit Álfaborg, the legendary 'elf rock' said to house the queen of the 'hidden people' – huldufólk – and look up at the jagged Dyrfjöll peaks and colourful rhyolite mountains framing the fjord. Thanks to our Zodiacs, we can reach stretches of this coastline that are otherwise inaccessible, exploring Iceland in true expedition style.

The town of Húsavík sits below Húsavíkurfjall mountain on the eastern shore of Skjálfandi bay. Just above the town is lake Botnsvatn, a popular place for outings. The lake is just the right size for a nice hike around it. The lakes surroundings are rich in vegetation and bird life and trout is said to be abundant, though small. Húsavík harbour lies below the bank right in the heart of town. The harbour once boasted a large fishing fleet, bustling with the activity of fishermen. It still serves as a fishing harbour but today's activity revolves more around the successful whale watching businesses. The first organised whale watching excursions in Iceland started from here in 1995. Since then, whale watching has become a major attraction and Húsavík continues to be the leading destination for whale watching. In addition to the tours, a fascinating whale museum is located right by the harbour. Húsavík is considered to be the oldest settlement in Iceland. The Swedish explorer, Gardar Svavarsson, spent one winter there in 870 AD during which time he built himself a house from which the settlement derives its name.

Iceland's best whale watching spot

Today you'll discover Húsavík, a charming fishing town and one of the best places in the world to see whales. It looks out over Skjálfandi bay, where humpback and minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises, and even the elusive blue whale are regularly spotted.

On shore, the Whale Museum brings you closer to these giants, while the Exploration Museum tells a more unexpected story: in the 1960s, NASA sent 32 Apollo astronauts to train in the lunar-like lava fields nearby, preparing them to collect rock samples on the Moon. For something more relaxing, soak in the geothermal waters at GeoSea overlooking the bay, or end the day with a beer at the local microbrewery.

Vigur Island is a little more than a mile (1.6 km) in length and about 450 yards (412 m) wide. This green oasis punctuates the waters of the Ísafjarðardjúp fjord east of the town of Isafjordur. The island is home to a single farming family and has some meticulously preserved historical landmarks including Iceland’s only windmill, built in 1840 and used until 1917 for grinding imported wheat from Denmark; and a 200-year-old rowing boat, which is still in use to ferry sheep to the mainland. Summer is the best time to see large numbers of Atlantic Puffins, Arctic Terns and Black Guillemots. One of the export articles from this small island was eider down and one can see where the eider ducks nest and how the down is collected and cleaned.

Explore one of Iceland’s wildest islands

A serene sail through the Westfjords brings us to Vigur, a tiny island isolated beneath vast skies and surrounded by seabirds. Life here follows a slower rhythm, shaped by the sea, the seasons, and generations of tradition.

Wander between historic buildings, watch puffins and eider ducks at close range, and learn how the island's small community still practises the centuries-old craft of eiderdown collection. Keep watch on the water too: whales are often spotted in the surrounding fjords.

Visit Iceland in miniature

Snæfellsnes is a peninsula of dramatic coastlines, volcanic peaks, lava fields, black sand beaches, and traditional fishing villages, all set beneath the glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull volcano. It inspired Jules Verne's book, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and it's often called Iceland in miniature because almost every landscape the country is known for can be found here in one compact stretch of coast.

From our port in Grundarfjörður, overlooked by the iconic Kirkjufell mountain, you can join excursions around the peninsula or explore the surroundings on foot.

It’s hard to imagine, as you stroll Heimaey’s idyllic streets of white wooden houses, that this island was literally torn apart by a spectacular volcanic eruption, just over 40 years ago. The fact that you can visit incredible Heimaey at all is something of a miracle – because the oozing lava of the Eldfell volcano threatened to seal the harbour off completely. Fortunately, its advance was halted by gallons of seawater, pumped onto it by the plucky islanders, who saved their fishing industry in the process. Iceland's famous for its scenery, and the huge castles of volcanic rock that rise out of the sea's waves here are some of the country's most dramatic.

Discover the town that defied a volcano

Our first stop is Heimaey, the only inhabited island in the Westman Islands, off Iceland's south coast. In 1973 an eruption nearly buried the town, and the island still carries the evidence.

Visit Eldheimar, a museum built around an excavated house frozen mid-disaster, then hike to Stórhöfði, where around eight million puffins nest each summer, or climb Mount Eldfell for views of the town from the volcano that almost destroyed it.

Sprawling Reykjavík, the nation's nerve center and government seat, is home to half the island's population. On a bay overlooked by proud Mt. Esja (pronounced eh-shyuh), with its ever-changing hues, Reykjavík presents a colorful sight, its concrete houses painted in light colors and topped by vibrant red, blue, and green roofs. In contrast to the almost treeless countryside, Reykjavík has many tall, native birches, rowans, and willows, as well as imported aspen, pines, and spruces.Reykjavík's name comes from the Icelandic words for smoke, reykur, and bay, vík. In AD 874, Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson saw Iceland rising out of the misty sea and came ashore at a bay eerily shrouded with plumes of steam from nearby hot springs. Today most of the houses in Reykjavík are heated by near-boiling water from the hot springs. Natural heating avoids air pollution; there's no smoke around. You may notice, however, that the hot water brings a slight sulfur smell to the bathroom.Prices are easily on a par with other major European cities. A practical option is to purchase a Reykjavík City Card at the Tourist Information Center or at the Reykjavík Youth Hostel. This card permits unlimited bus usage and admission to any of the city's seven pools, the Family Park and Zoo, and city museums. The cards are valid for one (ISK 3,300), two (ISK 4,400), or three days (ISK 4,900), and they pay for themselves after three or four uses a day. Even lacking the City Card, paying admission (ISK 500, or ISK 250 for seniors and people with disabilities) to one of the city art museums (Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir, or Ásmundarsafn) gets you free same-day admission to the other two.

Disembark in Reykjavík

Your expedition ends in Reykjavík, a city that rewards a longer look. Stroll Laugavegur for independent shops and coffee, take in the striking Hallgrímskirkja church, or lose an afternoon in the city's galleries and museums. If you can, we highly recommend staying an extra night.

This marks the end of your time with us for now, but we hope it won't be the last.