Favorite Norway/Iceland excursions?

Roger that, aquaduck, but the only Copenhagen to Dover cruise that includes Iceland that I can find sails August 16, so the OP will hit Iceland August 21. Am I missing something? So there is a bit of real darkness, though admittedly not much. Wasn't meaning to be picky, just for planning purposes that it would be hard to see waterfalls in the actual dark for those hard core go-all-night folks. I have heard of people reversing their days in Iceland to avoid tourists.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/iceland/reykjavik?month=8&year=2018

Having been there end of May, the twilight is more than enough to see by. It just lasts a LOT longer than what we're used to at home.
 
We did this cruise last summe! It was amazing!!

In Reykjavik we did the Glacier Safari 4x4 and ice cave excursion with DCL. It was expensive but worth it! I tried to book it privately but due to timing no one could do it so had to go with DCL. We first stopped at the Thingvellur UNESCO site then drove to the Langjokull glacier and toured the ice cave. It was experience in itself driving on the glacier to get to the ice cave. On the return to the port we stopped for lunch and to see a waterfall. It was an awesome experience!

In Stavagner, our favorite, I booked a boat tour of the Lysefjord. It was much less expendive to do it privately with rødne. The tour was 3 hours which left us plenty of time to walk around the town and have lunch.

In Alesund, we did the kayak excursion through DCL and it was a disaster. It was very windy which made it very hard to kayak. Never again!! After the kayaking we walked up to the scenic overlook which was beautiful as wondered around the town.

We also stopped in Akureyri Iceland which I see you are not. It was a beautiful port as well.

Have a wonderful time!!

The ice cave excursion is doable on your own. You just have to get the car ASAP as soon as the Magic disembarks guests. We did this last year and was able to get to Langjokull glacier before our scheduled tour. We even had to wait for the previous tour group to finish. And since you have your own car, you can drive to Thingvellur after the ice cave tour and make the most of the "daylight".

DCL charges $779 per person for the tour for ages 8 and above whereas if you book Into the Glacier directly it is only $200 for ages 12 and above. My 2 kids were free and I just saved more than $1500 just for them alone.

Last year, we were at Reykjavik beginning of July and there was no total darkness. It was just twilight for couple of hours. You can actually go sightseeing and will be able to see the waterfalls.
 
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This was taken at 3am just to give an idea.

Oh my, I don't know if I uploaded that correctly :confused3
 
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Highly recommend a south coast tour in Iceland. It gives you a good idea of the grandeur of the landscape. Waterfalls, black sand beach, horses, sheep.

I absolutely agree with this. The tour is amazing. We did Iceland OYO last year and loved our tour of the south coast.
 
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I would avoid booking any excursions through you'll come out way ahead booking on your own. I recommend renting a car in Iceland. Exploring on your own is the way to go.
 
I have been told that it's daylight 24/7 during the summer...I just don't think we could do much more than 10hrs of excursion the first day...but it's great to know that even if our excursion ends late, we won't have to worry about not being able to see the scenery.
My friend and I stayed on the ship for our overnight in Reykjavik, but it was still light outside ("twilight") at 1 am. Of course it was also the end of June, when the days are literally at their longest of the entire year.
 
Can I ask what you did in Kirkwall? We have that port next summer.
Like the previous poster, we spent the morning visiting the cathedral and looking around town on our own. Then we did a DCL excursion that visited standing stones (I'm an Outlander fan so it was necessary) and the rugged coastline. It was called something like "Dramatic Cliffs and Stones." We got some great pictures overlooking the cliffs, but then someone commented that it looked kind of like California, where I'm from, which was ironic and absolutely true in hindsight. But I'm also an English teacher who covers Frankenstein, which partially takes place in the Orkney cliffs, so I thought it was worth it for me to see it with my own eyes.
 
I will say one more thing of all the ports/countries I've been to Iceland was by far my favorite. I'm doubtful I'll ever cruise there again it would be a lot of money for a repeat, but I'm hoping to do land trip there one day. Two days was not enough.
 
Like the previous poster, we spent the morning visiting the cathedral and looking around town on our own. Then we did a DCL excursion that visited standing stones (I'm an Outlander fan so it was necessary) and the rugged coastline. It was called something like "Dramatic Cliffs and Stones." We got some great pictures overlooking the cliffs, but then someone commented that it looked kind of like California, where I'm from, which was ironic and absolutely true in hindsight. But I'm also an English teacher who covers Frankenstein, which partially takes place in the Orkney cliffs, so I thought it was worth it for me to see it with my own eyes.

We did the exact same tour - Standing Stones and Dramatic Cliffs - on our stop in Kirkwall. I really love cliffs and thought this was a small excursion we can do and go into town as well. We didn't expect to enjoy it as much as we did. It was a very simple tour that became one of my family's favourite excursion. It was very windy and it rained the whole time we were at the cliffs, but even the short time we were there, we enjoyed it. Perhaps because it's one of the few places we went that didn't involve castles, cathedrals and ruins that it became a strong contrast to all the other places we visited on our British Isles cruise.
 
We are a family of four and our 2 boys were about 9 and 13 when we did this cruise.
For Reykjavik: the Golden Circle tour! ours included also a tour of a geothermal station, so it lasted about 12 hours total if my memory serves me correctly, but was totally worth it! The National park and Gulfoss waterfall were spectacular, and the Geyser area was fun (with nice shopping opportunities)! Also, the Blue Lagoon! sure, it's touristy, but both the adults and kids got a total blast out of it! For what it's worth, we liked Iceland so much that we went back by ourselves the following year and went to the Laugarvatn spa. It is also beautiful and is more authentic of course, by a nice lake, but Blue Lagoon is much, much bigger and much more spectacular.
For Akureyri: we went horseback riding by ourselves, at a place with absolutely gorgeous scenery, called Pólar Hestar: www.polarhestar.is/
They picked us up at the port, took us for a short visit to the very interesting Laufás historic farm nearby , and then we had an hour of horseback riding (they had longer tours, but our youngest was about 9 yrs old so we didn't want to overdo it; this was also the reason we booked directly through them instead of with DCL, because DCL wouldn't allow children younger than 10 to book a horseback riding excursion)... Oops, I realize you are not going there, but will leave the comments there in case they are useful to someone.
For Stavanger, we did the Iron age farm: it was ok, the children liked trying archery and running around, but I wouldn't say it's a must, whereas my parents did the Lysefjord cruise and raved about it.
For Kristiansand, we went walking in the town and did the open air museum, which was nice, especially for the kids. The town is really nice, we had a bite to eat in the harbour at a nice restaurant called Bølgen & Moi.
 
I will say one more thing of all the ports/countries I've been to Iceland was by far my favorite. I'm doubtful I'll ever cruise there again it would be a lot of money for a repeat, but I'm hoping to do land trip there one day. Two days was not enough.
Agreed! We liked it so much, we did go on a 2 week vacation there the next summer! Rented a car and either apartments or small cottages (much better than hotels which are outrageously priced!). Did one week around Reykjavik/Golden Circle, and one week around Akureyri/Myvatn. One of the best trips of my life, truly a unique place!
 
Like the previous poster, we spent the morning visiting the cathedral and looking around town on our own. Then we did a DCL excursion that visited standing stones (I'm an Outlander fan so it was necessary) and the rugged coastline. It was called something like "Dramatic Cliffs and Stones." We got some great pictures overlooking the cliffs, but then someone commented that it looked kind of like California, where I'm from, which was ironic and absolutely true in hindsight. But I'm also an English teacher who covers Frankenstein, which partially takes place in the Orkney cliffs, so I thought it was worth it for me to see it with my own eyes.
In Kirkwall, we did the Neolithic tour, with Skara Brae (beautiful site , right near a rugged beach), the Skaill House and the ring of Brodgar (I am also an Outlander fan :)). It was a great excursion and I would highly recommend it. Walking around in the town of Kirkwall was also very enjoyable. It is small but the church merits a visit, and the Judith Glue shop and café is absolutely adorable.
 
I am on a same cruise itinerary. I have debating between Golden Circle vs. Ring of Fire tour. I was leaning to the Ring of Fire just since it is shorter. Has anyone done both to have an opinion or suggestion?
 
In Kristiansand, we did a cooking class. I don't know if it's still offered (and if it is, it could be with a different provider), but we loved it. It was fun and delicious, but I think it may have been adults only.
 
For Kristiansand, we went walking in the town and did the open air museum, which was nice, especially for the kids. The town is really nice, we had a bite to eat in the harbour at a nice restaurant called Bølgen & Moi.

We have a long day in Kristiansand and are planning to take a short DCL (usually I just do this stuff on my own but this looked easier) excursion to the open air museum. Do you think it's interesting without kids?
 
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We have a long day in Kristiansand and are planning to take a short DCL (usually I just do this stuff on my own but this looked easier) excursion to the open air museum. Do you think it's interesting without kids?
Hmmm... I looked at our pictures and I think I was mistaken, the open air museum we visited was in Oslo, not Kristiansand, very sorry for this! We just walked around on our own in Kristiansand and went to that restaurant. Here are a few pictures we took that day, the weather was great!
 

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