Iceland is one of the few places on earth where the pages of an earth science textbook are the ground your students walk on. A live geothermal field. A glacier retreating in real time. A thousand years of Norse history running alongside it. Ten days in the field, built around what you teach.
Great Falls Travel was founded by a former classroom teacher with more than fifteen years in K-12 education. When you plan with us, you are working with someone who has stood at the front of a classroom and knows students, parents, and school systems from the inside. We plan around the realities you deal with every day. None of the big tour operators can say that.
Built by educators, for educators.
Every day maps to what your students are already learning, whether that is earth science, renewable energy, or climate. The landscape does the teaching with you.
Certified local guides for glacier and field work, sensible chaperone ratios, and a real person on call 24/7 for the whole trip. Parents can relax, and so can you.
Families enroll and pay online through the trip's own enrollment page, on monthly payment plans that spread the cost over time. Teachers never collect money, chase payments, or write receipts.
Flights, lodging, meals, transport, and admissions, handled end to end, so you can be present with your students instead of coordinating.
Available year-round, with April through October the most popular travel period. The day order and dates flex around your curriculum goals, group size, and travel window. Eight nights on the ground in Iceland.
Depart the United States on an overnight flight to Iceland. Students arrive at Keflavík the following morning and begin the program.
Travel dayBegin at Viking World, where the Íslendingur, a full-scale replica of a Viking longship, hangs above the museum floor. Students walk beneath its hull and climb aboard the ship that crossed the North Atlantic to New York in 2000. In Reykjavík, a guided walk leads from Hallgrímskirkja through the old city to the harbor, connecting Iceland's Viking past with its modern capital. The day ends with a welcome dinner.
Norse settlement and a capital run on geothermal heatExplore Iceland's settlement history at the National Museum or the Settlement Exhibition, built around the remains of a Viking-age longhouse beneath downtown Reykjavík. At the Geothermal Exhibition inside Hellisheiði Power Plant, students see how underground heat becomes electricity and hot water. A guide connects the plant's turbines, wells, and carbon-capture work to Iceland's geology and daily life.
Settlement, engineering, and renewable energyTrace the forces that continue to shape Iceland's South Coast. At the Lava Centre, students explore interactive displays about volcanoes and earthquakes. They walk behind Seljalandsfoss before seeing the powerful drop at Skógafoss. On Sólheimajökull, students put on crampons for a certified-guide walk among crevasses, meltwater, and blue ice. Reynisfjara brings the day's geology together with black sand, basalt columns, Atlantic surf, and seasonal seabird nesting.
Waterfalls, a changing glacier, basalt, and black sandExplore Skaftafell, a region of Vatnajökull National Park shaped by glaciers, rivers, volcanic eruptions, and glacial floods. A guide-approved walk reveals how ice and water continue to change the landscape. At Jökulsárlón, students watch icebergs break from Breiðamerkurjökull and drift through the glacier lagoon. Nearby, pieces of ice wash onto Diamond Beach's black sand and slowly melt back into the Atlantic.
An ice cap, an outlet glacier, and icebergs on black sandFollow Iceland's Golden Circle through three very different natural and historic sites. At Gullfoss, the Hvítá River drops into a deep canyon. At Haukadalur, students watch Strokkur erupt among hot springs and steam vents. At Þingvellir National Park, they walk through Almannagjá, part of the active rift between two tectonic plates, and learn why Iceland's parliament first gathered here in 930.
A powerful waterfall, an erupting geyser, and a continental riftCross the Snæfellsnes Peninsula through volcanic peaks, lava fields, beaches, and fishing villages. Búðakirkja connects this landscape to the people who settled here: a church was first established at Búðir in 1703, and the protected black timber building standing today dates to the mid-1800s. In Stykkishólmur, students explore the waterfront and see how daily life in this coastal town is tied to Breiðafjörður, a broad, island-dotted bay shaped by glaciers.
Volcanic landscapes, Icelandic architecture, and coastal lifeBegin at Kirkjufell, the distinctive mountain rising above Iceland's north coast. Beneath Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-capped volcano featured in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, students descend with a guide into Vatnshellir, an 8,000-year-old lava tube. At Arnarstapi, they walk above basalt sea cliffs, ravines, and rock arches carved by the Atlantic.
Volcanism, lava-tube formation, and coastal landformsExplore the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge reaches Iceland's surface. Students see young lava fields and discuss how recent eruptions have reshaped the land and affected nearby communities. At the Blue Lagoon, mineral-rich geothermal water and the neighboring Svartsengi power plant bring together the day's lessons about volcanoes, energy, and Icelandic life. End the journey with a farewell dinner.
Young lava, geothermal energy, and reflectionAfter breakfast, travel to Keflavík International Airport for the flight home.
DepartureStandards, worked out with you. During planning, we can map the learning on each day to your state and district science standards, so the trip supports what you already teach.
Every trip is quoted per student and built to your group. Here is what a family's payment covers, so there are no surprises.
Complimentary chaperone spots are built into your quote, scaled to your group size and itinerary. Sensible chaperone numbers are tailored to your group and school policies.
Students don't just read about earth science, they work in it. With a guide, they observe and record what's happening in the field and bring their findings back to the classroom.
Observe seals and seabird colonies, and discuss how field observations can support conservation work.
See how reforestation, trail care, and habitat protection support vulnerable Icelandic ecosystems.
Observe and record glacier features and meltwater with a guide, connecting field data to climate science.
A guided wrap-up where students synthesize their observations into findings to share back at school.
It starts with a conversation. Tell us your subject, your grade level, your dates, and what you want students to come home understanding. We build the itinerary around that, not the other way around.
Then you get a written plan and a real number. The quote lays out the chaperone and payment details up front, and we set up your enrollment page and the materials you need for parent night. When the trip comes, certified local guides and around-the-clock support are with your group from the first morning to the ride home. Your job is your students. Ours is everything else.
A support team reachable around the clock, the whole trip.
Glacier and field work led by experienced Icelandic guides.
Adult-to-student ratios planned to your school's policies.
Itineraries and safety materials packaged for board and parent review.
When you lead a group, your chaperones travel at no cost, with the number of complimentary spots scaled to your group size and itinerary.
Contact us to learn the terms. Complimentary chaperone details are confirmed for your specific group during your planning consult.
You are doing something extraordinary for your students. The benefits should reflect that.
We will walk you through exactly how many chaperone spots your group earns and how the numbers work for your itinerary. No confusing point systems, just a clear conversation tailored to your trip, with every detail confirmed up front before a single student enrolls.
"Sean handled every detail so our teachers could focus on the students. We have rebooked every single year since."
Tell us about your group, your subject, and your dates. We will map a custom itinerary and quote, with no cost and no commitment.
Plan a student tripSean Grant · Great Falls Travel · 202-790-4315 · sean@greatfallstravel.com