Visit the Hidden People of Iceland

The Nordic land of the huldufolk welcomes you for your adventures in travel!  Transfer to your hotel, settle in, relax, and begin your exploration of the beautiful town of Reykjavik. Perhaps, stroll the main streets passing famous landmarks and sampling some delicious Icelandic street food favorites!

Your knowledgeable local guide will meet you at your hotel for dinner and share stories of the mysterious huldufolk as you prepare to immerse yourself in the legends that are so much a part of Iceland’s culture and heritage.

Come to Elf School today and learn everything about the magical huldufolk! They are sometimes also known as elves, trolls, gnomes, dwarfs, nature spirits, fairies, or hidden people, but their legends go back to the beginning of time ─ back to the time of Adam and Eve. Hear the stories from those early times, of the personal encounters that people in Iceland have experienced with the elves, about their friendships and disagreements, how they’ve saved lives. Understand how over half the people of Iceland believe in them and how that belief affects the towns, homes, construction, and everyday life.

Enjoy a delicious snack and, just like at a traditional school, receive a graduation certificate from your knowledgeable professors with backgrounds in folklore, history, anthropology, and research into hidden people around the world and the paranormal.

Afterward, take a private walk to one of Reykjavik’s main elf places and learn of the events that took place there between humans and elves.

Now that you’ve graduated from Elf School and are beginning to understand the importance of huldufolk in Iceland’s folk traditions, visit the nearby town of Hafnarfjordur. You will find that it’s famous for having one of Iceland’s largest communities of hidden people and spiritual beings living in the rocks in the center of town. Along the drive, keep watch for elf houses ─ you may see stones with doors painted on them or colorful, sometimes, elaborate, little houses, and they may be on public or private land.

Your guide will share stories of hidden magical worlds and take you past homes where even the Royal Family of the Hidden People live. See how the town has developed in harmony with the hidden people, how roads were made to curve around their homes rather than upset the elves, and how building proposals were altered. Note that planning councils in towns with large elf populations like this one, try to always consider elf interests.

You’re on a fascinating exploration into the power of belief and how traditional mythology from the past becomes integrated into modern life.

Today it’s time for a road trip along the coast to experience some of Iceland’s breathtaking scenery as you continue your journey into the stories of the hidden people. You never know where they will be! Explore Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You may recognize that some scenes from “Game of Thrones” were filmed here! When you see the dramatic split where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates come together, you might wonder if the huldufolk are at work.

Next, walk behind the incredible Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and take an extraordinary walk on the Solheimajokoll Glacier. Your travels through some of these spectacular landscapes eventually lead you places believed to be the home of elves and huldufolk. Notice elf houses and rock formations lawns; check large rocks on lava fields, cliffs, and beaches, places such as Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach and Reynishverfi Beach near Vik. Have the elves here really been turned into rock stacks of basalt?

There is a detailed map that shows where people in Iceland have had encounters with elves, and a new national park has been proposed which covers 40 percent of Iceland. Those hidden creatures can be almost anywhere! Continue your journey in another direction today to both explore Iceland’s incredible beauty and keep watch for huldufolk! Look deeper into legends and stories and find the environmental messages going back centuries: messages of protection and respect for the environment and the need to balance human needs with those of the earth.

Today as you head to Snaefellsjokull National Park, you’ll find you notice more and more quickly the kinds of areas that are home to huldufolk. Travel down an underwater tunnel and along the coast to a golden sand beach. Admire cute-faced seals, jagged rock formations, and massive basalt columns of Gerduberg. The Snaefellsjokull Peninsula is filled with breathtaking landscapes of volcanoes and lava fields, glaciers and waterfalls that make visiting Iceland such an enriching experience.

On this last day in Iceland, in this land filled with volcanoes, have an incredible and unique other-worldly experience exploring the inside of a dormant volcano! Hike about two miles up to the top of the crater, and then descend 120 m (400ft) into the inside of the volcano through an opening in the crater. You’ll be in an open cable car so you can see the view all around you as you go down ─ all safety gear, helmets, and harnesses are provided! Spend some time at the bottom soaking in where you are ─ inside a once-active volcano, inside the earth. Are the huldufolk here also?

Tonight, have a fantastic dinner with your fellow travelers as you reflect on your journey into the folklore of Iceland and your search for the hidden people.

Say farewell to the incredible land and people of Iceland and your amazing journey of discovery. You will always carry with you the legends and lessons of the huldufolk and hidden people and their ancient wisdom.