Booked this for our kids who are obsessed with volcanoes and geysers after watching too many documentaries, and this itinerary delivered on every promise. Seljalandsfoss and the walk behind the falling water was a genuinely immersive family moment none of us expected to enjoy as much as we did. Dimmuborgir's lava fields looked like something from another planet, the kids kept saying it looked like the moon. Eleven nights covering south coast to the north felt long on paper but never dragged.

Vik black sand beach in the rain was still one of the most dramatic places we have ever taken our kids.

The view over Reykjavik's coloured rooftops from the top of Hallgrimskirkja's tower even had the kids going quiet.

Whale watching in Akureyri was the trip highlight for our whole family, a humpback breaching close to the boat had both kids and adults screaming with excitement.

No faulting Strokkur or the black sand at Vik, the kids adored both. But the eye-watering food prices and one long, restless drive day between the coast and Akureyri knocked the shine off for us. Do it once, but go in with a much bigger food budget than we did.

Grandparents enjoyed the slower pace of the Akureyri leg after the more packed south coast days, and Dimmuborgir's strange lava formations kept everyone, young and old, entertained for a good hour.