Majestic Iceland: A Spectacle of Fire and Ice

At a Glance

Iceland, Iceland
Aug 29 - Sep 5, 2026
7 Nights
Level: 4
We rate all trips on a 1 to 5 scale. A designation of 1 would be trips with the least amount of activity, such as our beach trips, where it's up to you if you'd like to be active. Our adventure trips (such as the Inca trail hike) are a 5. Most of our trips are rated 3, for people who don't mind a fair bit of walking.
14-15 Travelers

!What's Included?

Starting At

$7,399

Deposit: $500

Home >Trip >Majestic Iceland: A Spectacle of Fire and Ice

All Meals, Immersive Activites on a Packed, One Week Itinerary

Iceland sits at the edge of the Arctic Circle, a dramatic island where glaciers meet volcanoes and the landscape feels utterly untouched by time. Black sand beaches stretch beyond steaming hot springs. Basalt columns rise like ancient cathedrals. Waterfalls thunder into frigid fjords while lava fields sprawl toward a horizon marked by moonscape ridges.

And yet, for all its raw, elemental beauty, Iceland also offers refined Nordic sophistication—world-class restaurants, striking architecture, cutting-edge art, and excellent shopping. It’s a place of wonderful contradictions: wild yet welcoming, remote yet remarkably progressive (hello, most gender-equal country in the world).

We have easy, interest-free payment options. 

NextTribe always seeks out women and women-owned businesses on our trips, and in Iceland, that’s delightfully easy. We’ll meet women entrepreneurs, artists, and other locals who add considerable warmth to this chilly landscape. Our tour is led by an Icelandic woman our age who knows exactly what we want to see and experience—and she’s as passionate about the environment as she is about showing off her country. For each traveler, she plants a tree to help preserve Iceland’s fragile ecosystem. That means your booking removes the equivalent of about 21 kg of CO2 per year. Not bad for a vacation.

Please note that this is a sample itinerary. Accommodations and activities may change but we will always replace them with something of equal or better value.

NOTE: NextTribe members receive a $100 discount on price.

 

5 Reasons We Love This Trip

  • Landscapes like nowhere else. We’ll be wandering through some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth—from glaciers to volcanoes (the “Fire and Ice” that makes this feel like the perfect Game of Thrones location, if you ask us).
  • Water, water everywhere. Waterfalls, beaches, geysers, and—most importantly—HOT SPRINGS. The most glorious hot water awaits at the end of a three-mile hike: a natural river where we’ll soak our hiking-weary bones. We’ll also kayak around actual icebergs in a dazzling glacier lagoon, which is exactly as cool as it sounds.
  • Surprisingly fantastic food. Iceland may not be famous for its cuisine, but prepare to be pleasantly shocked. All dinners are included, and we’re hitting some of the country’s best restaurants—including one that sits inside a gleaming greenhouse and another where you’ll dine surrounded by rows of tomato plants and sunflowers. It’s farm-to-table taken very literally.
  • The Northern Lights. Maybe. Since we’re going late in the summer season, we have a decent shot at catching nature’s greatest light show. Cross your fingers and pack your camera.
  • Women rule. We’ll meet remarkable women throughout the trip, starting with our guides and including a reception with women artists in a beautifully restored dairy barn in Reykjavik. Get ready for genuine connection—with locals and fellow travelers alike.

Meet Your Guide: Jennifer Gongaware

A nomad at heart, Jennifer has always been wild-eyed and curious about the world. She says “As a little girl, my daydreams included “if I could be any animal in the world, what would I choose?” The answer was ALWAYS a BIRD! How exciting it would be to fly high above the landscape, wind at my nose, exploring and observing the world below!” Having just completed her 42nd year as a Flight Attendant, she says there was something to this dream of hers.

Here’s what Jennifer says about Iceland: “I escaped Covid in June 2021 for a visit with my two young adult children, and we all fell in LOVE.  We spent 10 days driving the entire coastline of this beautiful country. We adored the kind Icelandic people, the breathtaking natural beauty, soaking in the hot springs, waterfalls, lava flows and glaciers, and the BIG SKY. I am elated for the great opportunity to share my love of Iceland with all of you.”

Photos

Map

Sample Itinerary

Itinerary Overview

To view the full itinerary and to download a brochure, Click here.

Saturday, August 29th: Welcome to Iceland

Sunday, August 30th: The Most Famous Volcano

Monday, August 31st: High and Wet

Tuesday, September 1st: Ice Ice Baby!

Wednesday, September 2nd: The Big Blower

Thursday, September 3rd: A Folly by the Fjord

Friday, September 4th: Getting Blue

Saturday, September 5th: Farewell, Iceland!

Logistics

Arrive in Reykjavik-Keflavik Intl. Airport (KEF) On Saturday, August 29th.

Your first activity is at 5:00 PM, so give yourself enough time to arrive at the hotel by then.

NextTribe will arrange your transfer to the hotel.

Depart from Reykjavik on Saturday, September 5th at any time.

Next Tribe will arrange your transport to the airport.

We require all international travelers to purchase travel insurance. We strongly recommend trip protection insurance to protect your investment.

No visa is required for US Citizens to visit Iceland. Please make sure your passport is valid for at least 6 months beyond the end of the trip.

You will be receiving periodic communications from us leading up to departure with other important details included. If you have any questions, you can contact our travel manager, Marcy, at travel@nexttribe.com

What's Included

  • 6 Dinners
  • 6 Lunches
  • 6 Breakfasts
  • Ground Transportation
  • Airport Transfers
  • All activities in itinerary

What's Not Included

  • Airfare
  • Alcohol not mentioned above
  • Travel Insurance
  • Gratuities

Gratuities to local guides, drivers, maids and hotel staff, alcohol, unless mentioned in itinerary, travel insurance, round trip airfare, passport and visa fees, personal items such as phone calls, laundry, baggage fees and items not expressly listed as included.

Additional Add-Ons

Hotels

Exeter Hotel

Reykjavík

Hotel Vik

Vik

Exeter Hotel

Reykjavik

Our travelers love us (yay!)

Colleen M., California

What I love about the NextTribe trips is that there is so much camaraderie of other women that are like you, and then the fabulous things that the organizers puts together to give you that viewpoint, it’s awesome.

Courtney M., Texas

What I love about NextTribe trips is that you get the experience from an insider’s perspective—someone that has ties to the community and focused on building relationships from the start. I’ve been on a trip with another women’s travel group that dropped a guide in, not personally knowing anything about the locale, traditions, or culture. She was there to make sure you showed up on time, got on the bus, etc. With NextTribe, you feel like you’re having a personalized experience with your best girlfriends.

Donna B., Washington

I didn't know anyone going on the trip but that didn't stop me from signing up. I have learned that some of my life's greatest adventures have come from taking a risk and jumping in feet first. So glad I did with NextTribe! I may not have known anybody at the start, but now I feel like I know everybody.

Connie B., Pennsylvania

I love to meet and interact with strong, mature women from across the country as we learn together.

Leslie M., Georgia

I always come by myself on NextTribe trips because I like to meet super fun and interesting women. We're always doing fun and interesting things in great cities that you couldn't do on your own because you wouldn't know the people or places or the insiders.

Teresa S., Kentucky

NextTribe fills the need I have to travel with older interesting women who are curious about the world and want to share the journey.

We write articles about all our trips. Read about these special experiences.

Let’s Do This!

Starting From

$7,399

Did you know we have easy payment plans for our trips, interest free? Think of this as a layaway plan to feed your soul.

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What to Expect Traveling with NextTribe

You’ll be embraced by a tribe of travelers, starting with smart, fun women who lead our trips. We even have a code of community for both travelers and guides.

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Terms & Conditions

Here’s the boring stuff we encourage you to read so there are no surprises.

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Travel Insurance – Do You Need it?

Short Answer: Yes, we require trip protection insurance for all international trips. For domestic trips, we strongly suggest it. Protect your investment if things go wrong.

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Frequently asked questions

What’s different about your trips?

We curate trips specifically for curious, engaged women over 45. You’re pretty well assured that your fellow travelers will be a lot like you–since you’ve all responded to the idea of “aging boldly.”. That means built-in compatibility in your small group, including the woman who is leading the adventure.. In addition to specializing in group travel for people who don’t normally like group travel, we also pride ourselves on creating experiences that allow you to interact with local women or get deeper into the culture than you would if you planned the trip yourself.

Where do you go?

We have a wide range of weekend jaunts here in the U.S. for those who want a quick getaway. We also love taking women to Mexico, where founder Jeannie Ralston used to live. We’re always talking about pushing boundaries, and we’re doing that in the geographic sense too. For those with more time, we offer trips all over Europe, to India, Vietnam, Peru (for a hike on the inca Trail to Machu Picchu). Soon, our travelers will be getting passport stamps in even more countries on six continents. Be saving those frequent flier miles!

What do you mean by transformational travel?

NextTribe is affiliated with the Transformational Travel Council, an international group of travel professionals dedicated to making the world a better place, one trip and one traveler at a time. We recognize that travelers, especially post-pandemic, are looking for more than just a date and a destination. They can shop for that anywhere online. Our community honors the intention behind a traveler’s investment in a trip. Our travelers want to have fun (we do too!) and to travel with a sense of purpose and belonging. That’s why we go to great lengths to provide ways for women to self-select by reading the articles in our magazine and the content of our website. If you like what you see, you’re likely to be a NextTribe traveler, and we look forward to seeing you on a trip soon!

What if I travel solo?

If you really prefer to book your travel yourself and go it alone, we applaud you. That’s brave and bold and we would never try to talk you out of it. But our trips are designed so that even a woman who’s used to traveling alone, or someone shy about meeting new people, will feel comfortable in our group. Our trip leaders are there to “read the room” and make sure everyone feels included and respected.

What if I don’t like group travel?

We don’t either! Not the way most groups do it. If you feel like doing what the group is doing, great! Join us for dinner or just some of the activities. All the benefits of solo travel and the comfort of being with a group. Our groups are small (normally around 12 to 14 women) and in most situations, you are free to opt out of an activity. We figure you’re grown-ass women who know what’s best for you.

What’s the price range of your trips?

We are committed to providing what we call “affordable-luxury” travel. Don’t expect
the Four Seasons, but who wants to stay in a gilded bubble anyhow? We always look for good value and offer wonderful hotels and memorable experiences that won’t break the bank and will get you closer to how locals live. Our prices depend on the length of the
trip and the destination. We offer domestic trips for under $2,000 for a shared room, which we encourage. If you don’t have a roommate we will match you with someone. Sometimes this has resulted in lasting friendships with new travel buddies., Some of
our longer trips–two weeks in India or Vietnam, for example–will cost between
$4,800 and $6,000.

What’s included in the price?

Our trips cover most everything you’ll need to dive into a destination. Hotels and most meals, plus special experiences such as hands-on classes and sessions with local artists, writers or entrepreneurs are almost always included, but each trip is different so please be sure to read The Experience and the itinerary. We occasionally have an add-on for an extra price, but those are clearly designated. What’s not covered as a rule are airfare, alcohol and tips.

Do you have payment plans?

We sure do. It’s easy to pay for our trips by setting up automatic credit card charges at regular intervals, interest free. Think of it as the layaway plan to feed your soul.

How do I get trip discounts?

Our NextTribe members get a discount on every trip. Plus, members are the first to hear about new trips and receive upgrades on rooms if they’re available. Check out our three different membership levels here.

What’s the average age of women on the trips?

We welcome all women over 45, but most of our travelers are in the 50 to 65 age range. More important than age is the spirit of the traveler–her curiosity about the world, and her eagerness to embrace new opportunities. We’ve found women of any age with those qualities fit in well with our groups.

What’s the activity level of the trips?

Most of our trips are geared for active travelers who like to walk–a rating of 3 on our 1-5 rating scale. Here are some examples of how we rate. A designation of 1 would be our beach trips, where it’s up to you if you’d like to stroll down the beach, or play in the waves or walk around the small town. Trips where we have dedicated transportation for much of the time (such as India) are a 2; Paris is a 3 because we believe the best way to appreciate a city is to view it on foot. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is a 4, because you’ll be walking up some hills (at 6,000 feet altitude) and occasionally on cobblestone sidewalks. Our Inca trail trip is a 5, as are our more adventurous outdoor trips.

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