08 Jun 2026 - 15 Jun 2026 (8 days)
EUR3,995 NO SPACES AVAILABLE
Tour Leader: Robert Williams
Tour Price (Per person): EUR3,995 (USD4,548 * GBP3,459 * AUD6,479)
Single Supplement: EUR1,180 (USD1,343 * GBP1,022 * AUD1,914)
Lying far out into the North Atlantic Ocean, the volcanic island of Iceland is the land between two continents; a land of fire and ice with its Viking heritage. While Iceland doesn’t have a long list of breeding birds, those that do occur are in many cases abundant, with globally important populations of waders, wildfowl and seabirds. In fact, its towering cliffs are among the largest seabird colonies on the planet, with five species of breeding auk, including Atlantic Puffin and Thick-billed Murre (Brünnich’s Guillemot), while the numerous lakes and wetlands are teeming with an array of divers, ducks and waders, such as Harlequin Duck, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red‐necked Phalarope and Purple Sandpiper. Top of many people’s wish list is the world’s mightiest falcon, Gyr Falcon, and Iceland has a healthy population of this supreme predator. As a backdrop to all this there is also the country itself, with its volcanoes, lava fields, glaciers, spouting geysers, mud pools, dramatic coasts and black sand beaches making for spectacular and other-worldly scenery at every turn!
Atlantic Puffin; Thick-billed Murre (Brünnich’s Guillemot); Harlequin & Long-tailed Ducks; Barrow’s Goldeneyes; Red‐necked & Red Phalaropes; Purple Sandpiper; Gyr Falcon; Common Loon (Great Norther Diver); Whooper Swan; Snow Bunting; Razorbill; Black-legged Kittiwake; Glaucous & Iceland Gulls; Rock Ptarmigan; Pink-footed Goose; European Golden Plover; Red-breasted Merganser; Horned (Slavonian) Grebe and Short-eared Owl.
White‐beaked Dolphin; Minke, Killer, Humpback or even Blue Whales; Arctic Fox.
tundra, coast, pelagic, lagoons, wetlands, lakes, volcanic landscapes, rivers
day time temperatures average between 16 - 20ºC, while coastal wind and evenings are cooler
6 with 1 Rockjumper leader
UNDEMANDING: This tour is ideal for birders and wildlife enthusiasts of all experience levels. It’s suitable for most mobility levels and offers a relaxed pace, ensuring an enjoyable experience for everyone.
relaxed, with some long days (due to Iceland's latitude and the time of year, daylight is almost 24hrs a day)
comfortable
mostly easy
Lake Myvatn, Godafoss Waterfall, Gullfoss - the ‘Golden Waterfall’, Great Geysir and Strokkur Geysir, Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, Reykjanes Peninsula
good to excellent
I was extremely pleased with this tour. The local guide, Jason, was very helpful and Stephan was extremely knowledgeable and excellent at finding all the targets that we were looking for. I would travel anywhere at any time with him again.
Our trip to Madagascar was wonderful! Rockjumper did a great job with tour logistics, lodging, etc. Best of all was our guide! Lev Frid is an amazing birding/nature guide. He is incredibly good at not only hearing, identifying and finding the birds, but Lev is also able to quickly (and patiently) help all the tour participants get on the birds. In addition, he is just a really fun guy to be with. His sense of humor kept us laughing and his wealth of birding stories kept everyone interested and engaged during the trip. It was amazing to see the wildlife of Madagascar and having Lev as a guide made our experience that much better.
The trip was run superbly from start to finish. The logistics, despite some difficulties imposed by weather conditions and countrywide fuel shortages, were impeccable and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Stephan did a superb job in ensuring that we all saw as many of the species as possible. He is an accomplished guide and I enjoy traveling with him.
Both Andre and Uthai were remarkably tireless and effective in finding and identifying birds, including some of the most elusive species in Thailand. They also did a great job of organizing the logistics of the trip. Our meals were already prepared when we arrived at restaurants and all of the hotel arrangements were handled smoothly. We probably will not consider going on another standard Rockjumper trip. Birding steadily from dawn to after dark was a bit much, especially for 22 uninterrupted days. This pace is appropriate for most serious birders so I don’t fault the guides, but we plan to shift to a style of traveling in which we can set our own schedule. We might consider one of Rockjumper's relaxed tours, but we're not concerned about long hikes and muddy trails as long as the schedule allows for a little down time to read, reflect and recover.
I was very pleased with the birding. I saw all 29 endemics and a total of 42 life birds. The leaders are great at finding, luring in and identifying birds. I appreciated that the focus was very much on the birding. The food and accommodations were excellent and appropriate. I wonder if we should have spent our last night near the coast but am not sure how that would have affected our birding success.