LEGEND OF THE ICELANDIC SAGAS

SHIP OFFERING THIS ITINERARY

Seabourn Venture

Seabourn Venture was launched in July of 2022, designed and built for diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards. She includes a plethora of modern hardware and technology that will extend the ship’s global deployment and capabilities. This ship features an innovative design, created specifically for the ultra-luxury expedition traveller. She is also designed to carry a complement of double sea kayaks as well as 24 Zodiacs that can accommodate all onboard guests at once, which will allow for a truly immersive experience. Venture features 132 all veranda, all ocean-front suites.

Day 1 Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavík, established by Viking settler Ingólfur Arnarson around 870 C.E, is the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland. The census of 1703 recorded that Reykjavík had 69 residents and consisted of a farm and a church. The impressive statue of Leif Erikson, in the center of town, reminds all of Iceland’s Viking heritage. Its name translates to ‘smoky bay’, due to the geothermal nature of the surrounding area.

Today about 200.000 people live in the Icelandic capital, roughly 60% of the country’s population. It has evolved into a sophisticated city. The northernmost national capital in the world is also one of the cleanest, greenest, and safest on Earth.  Walking Reykjavik streets one will find rich culture, history, music, shopping and in the late hours vibrant night-life. Colorful rooftops and the elegant spire of Hallgrímskirkja Church dominate Reykjavik’s skyline. Known for its arts, Reykjavik hosts a number of internationally recognized festivals, notably the Iceland Air music festival, Reykjavik Arts Festival and the Reykjavik International Film Festival.

Day 2 Grundarfjordur

The charming small fishing village of Grundarfjörður is located in the middle of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and thus provides easy access to Stykkishólmur, Snæfellsbær and the Snæfellsnes National Park. Its best-known landmark is undoubtedly the peak of Mt. Kirkjufell. Translated as ‘church mountain,’ Kirkjufell is the most easily recognizable peak, and one of the most photographed mountains in Iceland. During summer months a Viking Village is built in the center of town where Viking re-enactments occur quite regularly. During the Á góðri stund town festival in July, the town’s 900 residents decorate their houses in red, blue, yellow, and green, transforming the town into a spinning kaleidoscope of color.

The town first began trade in 1786, and around 1800, French merchants came to Iceland and settled in Grundarfjörður, where they constructed a church and a hospital. The town has prospered through the fishing industry for a long time. The surrounding sea is rich with birdlife & marine life throughout the year.

Day 3 Dynjandi

Today, you are welcomed to the Westfjords, a secluded and untamed region of Iceland, as you set course for Arnafjörður, a sprawling fjord that meanders in myriad directions.

A jewel in the crown of this fjord is the magnificent Dynjandi Waterfall, also known as Fjallfoss. This natural spectacle cascades down a mountain for approximately 100 meters, its silhouette from afar resembling a bridal veil. Dynjandi, along with the grasslands at its base, forms a vital habitat for various seabirds and ducks, making it a must-visit destination for nature enthusiasts.

Day 4 Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

The small Greenlandic town of Ittoqqortoormiit sits at the entrance to Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord on Earth. Although founded in 1925, the original colonists to the area were Palaeo-Eskimo peoples 4,000 years ago.

Housing 500 people, Ittoqqortoormiit derives its name from Greenlandic meaning ‘Big-House Dwellers’. A walk through town, reveals a vibrant Greenlandic culture. Seal, muskox and even a polar bear skin can be seen drying on racks outside of private homes. Greenlandic sled dogs sit patiently on their leashes in front yards, awaiting winter, their wooden sledges propped against buildings. In the local food store seal and whale meat are among the regular traditional foodstuffs laid out beside common western items. Ittoqqortoormiit has a post office where you can purchase Greenlandic stamps and mail your postcards as well as a quaint church, its gabled interior painted in white and sky-blue. The entire community, in fact, is a picturesque kaleidoscope of color, each building painted in bright hues of red, blue, yellow and green.

Days 5 – 6 Scoresby Sound, Greenland

Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord in the world, cuts into the East Greenlandic Mountains 350 kilometers, is 50 kilometers wide and occupies an area equivalent to the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. This is one of the most remote and wildest regions on Earth. It was named in honour of English explorer William Scoresby who mapped the fjord in 1822.

Wildlife, including muskox, foxes, Arctic hares, short-tailed weasels and lemmings are commonly seen in the large river-valleys. Near Hekla Haven, large areas of expansive tundra dotted with hundreds of freshwater ponds have transformed into the brilliant reds and yellows of Arctic autumn.

You will discover a wonderland of geological color in the Rødefjord, or Red Fjord. The entire ford is walled with cliffs of 300 million-year old Permian red sandstone. Røde Ø is a monolithic icon island of the rock, which is sometimes called New Red.

You will come upon a headland intruding beyond a small bay called Sydkap, or South Cape. The slopes are rounded, made up of glaciated floors of stone interspersed with colourful tufts of tundra vegetation. On the headland stand two huts, one sturdy-looking red one, and another ruinous and bleached. This is a likely place to inspect the hut, still used by people hunting musk oxen or fishing the nearby rivers for arctic char. The scenic scale of the panorama, the colors of the sky, the sea and the tundra plants, and the patient parade of ice giants in the sound comprise another perfect Greenland experience.

Day 7 King Oscar Fjord and Alpe Fjords

King Oscar Fjord cuts 110 km from the Greenland Sea into the island’s eastern coast, forming the northern border of the Scoresby Land peninsula. It was named by A.G. Nathorst in 1899 for Oscar II, who was king of both Norway and Sweden between 1872 and 1907. It is a major fjord, up to 16 miles in width, with breathtaking shorelines of looming mountains cradling glaciers within their passes. Along with the varied wildlife to be seen, the fjord offers impressive geological panoramas revealed by sparse arctic vegetation on the slopes. Its northern end abuts Ella Ø island, as well as Lyell Land and Scorseby Land. offers dramatic views of the fjord and the Stauning Alps to the southwest.

Located within the Northeast Greenland National Park, you’ll understand Alpe Fjord’s name when you survey the breathtaking span of tall mountains lining its eastern shore. Photographers will also want to have their long lenses ready, because this is a place where musk oxen are frequently seen. Many icebergs create endlessly fascinating studies of form, color and light.

Day 8 Ella Island and Blomster Bugt

Ella Island sits at the confluence of five iceberg-filled fjords and is considered one of the most stunning island landscapes in Greenland. It is the home of the legendary Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. Established in 1941 to enforce Danish sovereignty in Greenland, the elite Sirius Patrol is comprised of 12 men in 2 man teams that travel by dogsled for months at a time. There are few locations on Earth that can boast such an awe-inspiring view as the patrol’s basecamp. Vertical cliffs rise 1,350 meters directly behind the bright red buildings of the base, creating an almost surreal scene.

The broad valley of Blomster Bugt (Flower Bay) gets its name from the colorful flowering plants on its shores. The landing attracts us with fantastical geologic formations, a lake with great northern divers raising their young, a quick-footed population of white arctic hares and frequent groups of grazing musk oxen. There is an early 20^th-century hunters’ hut to poke around, and the tundra meadows guarantee some of East Greenland’s most memorable views.

Day 9 Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord

The Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord is one of Greenland’s largest fjord systems, penetrating the eastern coast at Foster Bay from the Greenland Sea. It is completely contained in the huge East Greenland National Park, with two main tributary fjords, the wide Nordfjord to the north and the smaller Geogfjord to the south. The Nordfjord culminates in the broad face of the great Waltershausen Glacier, the largest one flowing from the Greenland Ice Sheet. In the other direction, at the end of Ymer Island, stands the looming, reddish mountain called the Devil’s Castle, with a striking lighter-colored band running diagonally across its face. The fjord system boasts the full panoply of Greenlandic wildlife, from four species of seals, walrus, beluga and narwhals in the sea to caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, arctic foxes and arctic hares and other small mammals on land. The birds are likewise encompassing, from breeding populations of seabirds to gyrfalcons, geese and eider ducks, upland birds such as ptarmigans, snowy owls and ravens. The fjord is renowned for the exceptionally tall, steep mountains that line its waterways.

Day 10 At Sea

Spend this day at your own leisure, reflecting on the incredible journey you’ve had this far.

Day 11 Siglufjorour, Iceland

Siglufjörður is the northernmost town on the Icelandic mainland, a small fishing village of some 1,200 people. Founded in 1918, it was in the past the capital of the North Atlantic herring fishing industry. The Síldarminjasafnið Herring Era Museum, one of Iceland’s largest seafaring and industrial museums, houses three different areas where one can learn about both the traditional and the modern herring industry.  A collection of many historic fishing vessels and artifacts is proudly displayed by the people of Siglufjörður, detailing how herring was salted, processed and collected. The small harbor with its colorful fishing boats and the red-roofed steeple of the Lutheran church dominate the village-scape.

The natural beauty of the area includes high mountains that rim the fjord, freshwater lakes, the Hólsá river, black sand beaches, and a wealth of birdlife all around. This northernmost region of Iceland is renowned for some of the largest and most dramatic waterfalls in the country.

Day 12 Akureyri

Akureyri is the second largest urban area in Iceland with a population of around 18,000. Nicknamed ‘The Capital of the North,’ it is situated at the head of Eyjafjörður, the longest fjord in Iceland, only 62 miles (100 km) from the Arctic Circle. Surrounded by snow-streaked mountains, the Akureyri hills flourish in summer with a profusion of arctic wildflowers. Mt. Kerling is the highest peak visible from town, at 5,064’ (1,538 m). Often cloudy, with a mild climate, Akureyri has much less precipitation than its southern counterpart Reykjavik. It is a cultured city, with a university, numerous galleries, museums, art exhibitions, and live theater performances.

Nearby Hrísey Island is a spectacularly beautiful and peaceful island often called ‘The Pearl of Eyjafjörður,’ with an atmosphere of calm and settled tranquility. Numerous Atlantic puffins fly overhead, and the occasional whale is seen traversing the fjord.

Day 13 Eskifjordur

In the deeply serrated Eastern Fjords of Iceland’s east coast, the fishing village of Eskifjordur is scattered along the shore under a looming peak. Founded as a trading post in 1789, it thrives today on the fishing industry. The townsfolk proudly claim the striated peak of Hólmatindur as their personal landmark., although the town takes its name from the other peak Mt. Eskja. The Maritime Museum, housed in a building dating from 1816, traces the history of the town and its linkage to the sea, as does the moving statue to lost mariners on the main road.  Helgustadaman was once renowned for the crystalline spar mineral mined there, and a couple in the town have spent a lifetime collecting and cutting beautiful minerals and crystals from all over Iceland. Their display of over a thousand specimens is in their home but open to visitors. The town’s church also has displays of art.

Day 14 Heimaey, Westman Islands, Iceland

Heimaey Island is the largest in the Westman Islands located four miles off the south-west coast of Iceland. One of the most visually impressive islands in Iceland, it is ringed by tall, vertical sea cliffs many hundreds of feet high.  Heimaey is also the home to over eight million Atlantic puffins, more nesting puffins than anywhere else on earth. A local story tells that puffin chicks, taking their first flights at night, often become stranded in the village streets, where the local children rescue them and set them free the next day.

In January of 1973 the island received the nickname, ‘Pompeii of the North’ when a volcanic eruption and lava flow destroyed half the town. This caused a crisis when the town’s only harbor was nearly blocked by advancing lava. Nowadays it is a lively place with a vibrant culture and over four thousand residents. Archaeological excavations suggest that people lived on Heimaey as early as the 10th Century.

Day 15 Reykjavik, Iceland

Disembark, farewell your fellow expeditioners and end your adventure in Reykjavík.