Knitting in Iceland

Presented by Lake Shore Travel and Melissa Leapman

Join us on an inspiring knitting trip to enchanted Iceland.

	Dates September 19—27, 2013	Cost $2714 per person (double occupancy) plus airfare and insurance
	Tour Highlights Visits to: The Blue Lagoon National Museum Arbaer Open Air Folk Museum Bjarteyjarsandur Farm Settlement Center and Show Istex Factory/Lopi Yarns Visits with 2 Icelandic Knitting Designers	Tour Highlights Includes: 5 nights Reykjavik Natura Hotel 2 nights Glymur Hotel Private Guided Touring Throughout All taxes, porterage and transfers Breakfast daily including arrival morning 5 Lunches and 6 Dinners Knit and design classes with Melissa Leapman at additional cost
	Reserve now! Download registration form. Space is limited. Rates based on minimum of 20 passengers. Single occupancy rate, please inquire. A deposit of $500 is required to hold your space of which $100 is nonrefundable should cancellation occur. View this tour’s cancellation policy. Contact Michelle at Lake Shore Travel (847) 242-4032 or e-mail michelle@lakeshoretravel.com

 

 Detailed Itinerary

Day 0

Departure from US gateways

Day 1 

Early arrival from US (most US flights get in between 6:15-6:45am).

Drive to Reykjavik, breakfast at Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura where the group will overnight.

Normal check in time at hotels in Reykjavík is 2pm but we can guarantee check in at 10:00am at Natura in September.

2:30pm City tour around Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the world’s most northerly capital, with more than one third of Iceland’s population. Today Reykjavík is a modern city with a variety of restaurants, museums, galleries and theaters. On our tour we cover the city from one end to the other. We will see the old town centre, the Parliament, the Cathedral, the harbour, the National Museum, the Pearl and Höfði house, the summit site of 1986.

We drive past the city’s salmon river  which is an outstanding proof that Reykjavík is a pollution free capital and the Árbæjarsafn outdoor folk museum, which offers an interesting contrast to the modern buildings of the most recent part of Reykjavík. Stop in Arbæjarsafn. Drive to the city center where our guide will walk with us and show us the Parliament, City Hall and other interesting sites. Visit the Handknitting Association of Iceland for those interested, a small shop located in the downtown shopping street.

Visit the Farmers Market flagship store.

Tour ends with an early welcome dinner at a local restaurant

Overnight: Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

Reykjavik Natura is a 220-room four-star accommodation in Reykjavik, it’s located next to one of Reykjavik’s only wooded areas, the beautiful and tranquil Oskjuhlid Hill, where the striking landscapes were fashioned during an ice age.  Iceland capital only public beach, the geothermal-heated Nautholsvik, lies in a secluded bay just a short walk away, while Reykjavik’s main centre, including many shops, restaurants and museums, are only -15 minutes by foot. It also offers a complementary shuttle bus into town and to Kringlan shopping mall several times a day.The hotel features 220 rooms and a Presidential suite. You will find all the comforts and facilities you expect. Standard amenities include a hairdryer, trouser press, refrigerator and satellite TV in every room. Great Wi-Fi Internet connectivity is also available in all room and areas of the hotel. Parquet flooring and impressive new interiors were recently fitted in all rooms. All cosmetics and toiletries in rooms are organic from the company Sóley Organics, an Icelandic company known on the international cosmetics market.

http://icelandairhotels.com/hotels/reykjaviknatura

 

Day 2

Sightseeing around the Borgarnes area. During this excursion we retrace Viking footsteps along the ancient Saga trails of the Borgarfjordur district. It is in this area that many of the famous Viking acts from the 13th Century Icelandic saga “Egils Saga” took place.

We will Stop at Ullarsel, a wool working workshop founded by the craftspeople in West Iceland.

Stop at the award winning Settlement Centre in Borgarnes – here we learn about the settlement of Iceland by way of a multimedia show case as well as having lunch (lunchbuffet)

Continue to the countryside hotel Glymur

Afternoon knitting workshop in hotel

Dinner at hotel.

Overnight in Hotel Glymur 

 

Day 3

Today we will take you to a farm called Bjarteyjarsandu, located in the bottom of the Whale Fjord (Hvalfjordur). We will be met by a local person who tells the group more about what’s happening and then they can watch or take part in the sheep round up themselves!

Afternoon knitting workshop in hotel.

Dinner at hotel.

Overnight in Hotel Glymur

 

Day 4 

Morning drive to the Istex factory located in the small town of Mosfellsbær. Here the group will have a tour around the factory to see first hand the process of how the wool enters the factory and ends up packaged and ready to be shipped off around the world!

Wool processing has been a trade in Mosfellsbaer since 1896, previously with the the company Álafoss of Iceland. In 1991, the company Ístex was formed and took over the wool processing. Ístex stands for Íslenskur Textiliðnaður which translates into Icelandic Textile Industry.

Istex is the company producing and selling the famous Alafosslopi and other Lopi yarns for hand knitting such as Plötulopi, Bulkylopi and Léttlopi.  They are manufacturers of industrial yarns for knitting, weaving and carpet manufacturing. All products are made out of high quality Icelandic wool.

Istex buys the wool directly from the farmers in Iceland and then process it to yarn. The wool scouring is located in the town Blönduós in north of the country and the spinning mill in the town Mosfellsbaer nearby Reykjavik. Istex products are sold all over the world through local distributors.

After the Istex visit we go over to the Alafoss outlet shop, located nearby in Mosfellsbær.

We will end the day in Reykjavik, at Natura Hotel.

Afternoon knitting workshop in hotel

Dinner at hotel

Overnight: Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

 

Day 5

Today we will start our day with a visit to the famous Blue Lagoon. Here guests can enjoy a relaxing bathe in the surreal milky waters of Iceland’s most famous of geothermal Spas – The Blue Lagoon. So what exactly IS the Blue Lagoon? Well, it is Iceland’s most unique and popular attraction. Guests will enjoy bathing and relaxing in Blue Lagoon geothermal seawater, known for its positive effects on the skin. A visit to the spa promotes harmony between body, mind and spirit, and enables one to soak away the stresses of modern life. The spa’s guests rekindle their relationship with nature, soak up the scenic beauty and enjoy breathing the clean, fresh air. In addition to bathing in the lagoon guests have access to a sauna with a view of the lagoon, a sauna with white walls that resemble silica mud and a cozy steam bath carved into a lava cave. Of course, guests bathing in the milky waters of the lagoon have easy access to the famous white silica mud, an essential part of this ultimate in spa experiences

Afternoon knitting workshop in hotel

Overnight: Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

 

Day 6

Golden Circle tour with interesting stops en route in the countryside (eg. a local knitting shop ÞINGBORG). See the Thingvellir UNESCO heritage site, Geysir geothermal area and Gullfoss waterfall during this tour.

No one can leave Iceland without having seen the so called Golden Circle. From Reykjavík you will drive over the Mosfellsheidi heath to beautiful Thingvellir National Park, a place of tremendous interest as a primary site of both Iceland’s geological and historical heritage. Walk through the geological fault known as Almannagja – the place where Europe’s oldest national legislative assembly, the Icelandic Althing, was established in the year 930AD, and where it convened in grandiose surroundings every summer for nearly eight centuries. After your walk in Thingvellir, the tour continues over the Lyngdalsheidi heath into the fertile farmlands of the south, to visit the most beautiful waterfall of the country, Gullfoss. Nearby, you’ll also stop at the Geysir geothermal area with its multitude of hot springs, where the most active one, Strokkur, spouts every few minutes. En route we will stop at an interesting shop called Þingborg Wool Center.

The Þingborg building used to be a school and the local gathering place. The oldest part of the house is from 1927. In 1990 a new building took over and in 1991 a group of women in the area started to meet in Þingborg and work with wool. Soon they took over the house and opened a shop to sell the crafts. A carding machine was put up and they developed methods to work the wool and many articles took shape as can be seen in a wide collection of products.

Return to Reykjavik in the afternoon

Overnight: Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

 

Day 7 

Morning workshop at hotel

Lunch at hotel

Afternoon at leisure

Farewell dinner at a local restaurant in the city center

 

Day 8 

Morning at leisure

Afternoon departure (most flights to US depart between 4-5pm). Check in is 2 hrs before flight’s departure

 

 

Cancellation Policy

If payment is done by credit card Visa, Mastercard and American Express charges a 3% handling fee and we regretfully have to pass this fee on to our clients, this fee applies to the total amount charged.

 

CANCELLATION CHARGES

Time of cancellation (Individuals) or cancellation within a group:

More than 3 weeks prior to departure     no penalty

21 to 14 days prior to departure                 25% penalty

14 to 7 days prior to departure                   50% penalty

Less than 7 days prior to departure         100% penalty

*A minimum of 20 participants is required for the trip to depart.