An Exclusive Small-Group Departure by Musical Getaways in Partnership with Reykjavík Jazz Festival
Limited to just 8 participants
August 25–31, 2026 | Reykjavík, Iceland
* Optional Add-On August 31-September 3, 2026 | South Coast, Vík & Glacier Lagoon
Every late summer, Reykjavík becomes the center of Iceland’s jazz scene during Reykjavík Jazz Festival, the country’s second-oldest music festival and one of its most important annual platforms for Icelandic and international jazz.
This small-group journey places the festival inside a broader Icelandic context. We experience concerts in Reykjavík’s leading cultural spaces, including Harpa, while also exploring the food, geothermal bathing culture, creative neighborhoods, and volcanic landscapes that shape how people live and listen here.
The contrast is powerful.
By day, Iceland feels raw and ancient: lava fields, steam, glacial water, black sand, moss, mountains, and ocean air. By night, the jazz scene feels warm, precise, close, and human. Musicians gather in rooms where every detail matters: tone, silence, texture, risk, and conversation.
This is a music-first Iceland tour for travelers who want more than sightseeing. The group is capped at 8 guests so we can move easily through festival venues, restaurants, local cultural spaces, and possibly behind-the-scenes experiences with musicians and festival collaborators.
We handle the logistics that make this kind of trip hard to plan alone: premium Reykjavík accommodations during peak late-summer season, curated festival access, daytime cultural programming, restaurant timing around concerts, local guiding, and optional extensions before or after the tour.
Reykjavík Jazz Festival Art by Arnar Fells
Simon Spiess (Musician) – Reykjavík Jazz Festival Performance Photo by Hans Vera
Sample Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival in Reykjavík
Arrive independently at Keflavík International Airport and transfer to Reykjavík.
After time to settle into the hotel, the group gathers for a welcome orientation and dinner. We review the week’s festival rhythm, introduce the city, and discuss how the tour balances concerts, food, geothermal culture, and time outside Reykjavík.
In the evening, we attend our first curated Reykjavík Jazz Festival performance.
Meals: Welcome Dinner
Day 2 – Reykjavík Creative City Exploration & Festival Concerts
After breakfast, we explore Reykjavík through its creative life.
The day may include a guided music-focused walk, Harpa, the waterfront, record shops, galleries, cafés, and cultural spaces connected to the city’s music scene. Reykjavík is compact, but its artistic output is unusually strong for a city of its size. This day helps guests understand why.
Lunch is casual and local, with options such as Icelandic seafood soup, rye bread, Arctic char, skyr, or one of Reykjavík’s excellent food halls.
The afternoon allows time to rest before the evening festival program. Tonight we attend selected Reykjavík Jazz Festival concerts, often centered around Harpa or another major festival venue.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3 – Þingvellir National Park, Icelandic Food & Evening Jazz
Today we leave the city for Þingvellir National Park, one of Iceland’s most meaningful landscapes.
Þingvellir is where tectonic plates pull apart and where Iceland’s early parliamentary history is rooted. The place carries a different kind of silence. It gives context to Icelandic music: space, patience, weather, restraint, and scale.
During some festival years, excursions to natural sites may coincide with special daytime performances set against the landscape. When this happens, we shape the day around that rare combination of music and place.
Lunch may feature greenhouse-grown produce, Icelandic tomato soup, fresh bread, local fish, or seasonal ingredients from nearby farms.
Later, we return toward Reykjavík, with time to rest before the evening festival concerts.
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Day 4 – Musicians, Studios & the Creative Process
This day focuses on how the music is made.
Depending on the festival schedule and artist availability, we may attend an artist workshop, visit a rehearsal, join a soundcheck, meet a local musician, or arrange a studio-style listening experience.
These moments cannot be forced, and we do not overpromise them. But this is where the small group matters. Eight travelers can step into a room, listen carefully, and have a real exchange without turning the experience into a staged production.
The evening continues with selected Reykjavík Jazz Festival concerts.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 5 – Geothermal Culture, Icelandic Food & Festival Night
After several nights of concerts, we slow the morning down.
We may visit a local Reykjavík swimming pool, Sky Lagoon, Hvammsvík, Blue Lagoon, or another geothermal setting, depending on the final route and availability. Warm water is part of daily life in Iceland. It is where people talk, reset, and move through the weather together.
The food focus may include Icelandic seafood, lamb, rye bread, skyr, strong coffee, greenhouse vegetables, local beer, or a refined Nordic dinner timed around the festival schedule.
In the evening, we return to the festival for one of the main concert nights.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 6 – Final Festival Day & Farewell Dinner
Our final full day is built around the strongest closing-day festival experiences.
The schedule may include a daytime concert, cultural visit or free time for independent exploring. You may want to visit a museum, shop for Icelandic wool, walk the waterfront, sit in a café, or revisit a favorite part of the city at your own pace.
We gather for a farewell dinner before the final evening of music.
By this point, Reykjavík feels more familiar. The venues have names and memories attached to them. You have heard Icelandic musicians in their own context, not as background music, but as part of a living scene.
Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner
Day 7 – Departure or Optional South Coast Extension
After breakfast, depart Reykjavík or continue with an optional post-tour extension to Iceland’s South Coast, Vík, Glacier Lagoon, and Diamond Beach.
Meals: Breakfast
A Note About the Northern Lights
Late summer in Iceland brings the first real chances of the season to see the Northern Lights as the nights begin to return. While this tour is centered on Reykjavík Jazz Festival, music, culture, food, geothermal bathing, and Icelandic landscapes, we will also keep an eye on the aurora forecast during the week.
One hosted Northern Lights outing is included and will be scheduled on the evening with the strongest forecast, depending on solar activity, cloud cover, darkness, timing, and the festival schedule. Aurora sightings can never be guaranteed, but we will choose the best possible opportunity if conditions look promising.
If the forecast is especially strong on another night, guests may choose to make an additional independent attempt or arrange an optional local Northern Lights tour. For guests continuing on the South Coast extension, there may also be additional chances to look for the aurora away from Reykjavík’s city lights.
Why Should You Experience Reykjavík Jazz Festival?
Reykjavík Jazz Festival offers a rare way into Icelandic culture.
The festival is not only about concerts. It is about how a small northern capital listens, gathers, collaborates, and creates. Icelandic jazz often carries the atmosphere of the country itself: space, contrast, sharp edges, long tones, quiet humor, and sudden warmth.
This tour gives travelers a curated way to experience that world.
Instead of trying to decode the festival alone, guests travel with Musical Getaways and local collaborators who help frame the music, the venues, the food, and the city. We attend selected concerts, explore Reykjavík’s creative districts, and connect the festival to the landscapes surrounding the capital.
The result is a richer experience: Iceland through music, and music through Iceland.
Live music, cultural context, geothermal bathing, Icelandic food, light adventure, and possible behind-the-scenes access with musicians and festival collaborators.
Through this collaboration, we aim to give travelers a more meaningful way to experience Iceland’s jazz scene, while supporting the musicians, venues, and cultural ecosystem that make the festival possible. Festival access, artist encounters, workshops, soundchecks, and studio-style experiences may vary by year based on the final program and artist availability.
Your Host
Chaz Chambers
Chaz Chambers is the founder of Musical Getaways, a professional drummer, composer, and educator who designs small-group journeys centered on music, culture, and meaningful local connections.
Having led music-focused tours across Latin America and Europe, Chaz brings both musical perspective and a deep appreciation for Iceland’s creative spirit. For this Reykjavík Jazz Festival tour, he helps guests connect the music to the place, offering a richer understanding of Iceland beyond the festival stage.
Daily breakfast plus select curated meals, including a welcome dinner and farewell dinner.
Food experiences may include Icelandic seafood, lamb, rye bread, skyr, greenhouse-grown produce, tomato soup, strong Reykjavík coffee, food halls, and seasonal Nordic cooking.
Hosted Northern Lights Outing
One hosted Northern Lights outing is included and scheduled on the best forecast night during the tour. Sightings are never guaranteed, but we monitor aurora activity and cloud cover during the week to choose the strongest possible opportunity. Additional aurora attempts may be arranged independently or as optional add-ons if conditions are favorable.
Musical Workshops & Cultural Insight
Depending on the annual program and artist availability, the tour may include a workshop, musician conversation, studio visit, rehearsal, soundcheck, or listening session.
These experiences are arranged carefully and confirmed as schedules allow.
Cultural & Heritage Experiences
Explore Reykjavík’s creative side through guided walks, cafés, galleries, record shops, waterfront areas, design spaces, and cultural venues connected to the city’s music scene.
The itinerary includes a day excursion outside Reykjavík, such as Þingvellir National Park, along with a geothermal bathing experience at a local pool, lagoon, or spa-style setting.
Premium Reykjavík Accommodations
Six nights of accommodation in a carefully selected Reykjavík hotel. We prioritize comfort, location, and easy access to festival venues, restaurants, cafés, and the city’s cultural core.
Late summer is a high-demand season in Iceland, and hotel logistics matter. This is one of the major pieces we handle for the group.
Curated Festival Access
Attend selected Reykjavík Jazz Festival concerts throughout the week. The exact ticket structure may vary by year depending on the festival program, pass options, venue schedules, and group needs.
Our goal is to help guests experience the strongest musical arc of the festival without having to sort through the schedule alone.
Musician-Led Guidance
The journey is hosted by Musical Getaways’ founder and tour leader, Chaz Chambers, with local guides and cultural collaborators. We provide context for the music, venues, artists, and cultural life surrounding the festival.
Private transportation
Ground transportation is included for scheduled group activities outside the city and for planned experiences where walking or public transit is not appropriate.
Small Group Experience
This journey is limited to 8 participants, allowing for smoother logistics, better access, more personal conversations, and a stronger connection with the music and place.
What’s Not Included
Round-trip flights between your hometown and Iceland.
Comprehensive travel insurance is highly recommended.
Any recommended or required vaccinations or travel-related medications are the responsibility of the traveler.
Lunches and dinners not specifically listed.
Activities not included in the official itinerary, as well as personal expenses.
Tips for guides, drivers, hotel staff, and musicians.
Alcohol is only included where mentioned.
Extra stays before or after the tour are not included but can be arranged at an additional cost.
We also design custom music and cultural tours tailored to Reykjavík Jazz Festival for private groups, couples, families, and arts organizations. These itineraries can include additional festival nights, private guides, geothermal experiences, food-focused programming, South Coast extensions, and custom music encounters when available. For personalized assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our travel specialists at info@musicalgetaways.com
Duration: 4 days / 3 nights Style: South Coast landscapes, light walking, reflection, photography, food, geothermal, or glacier options Availability: Limited to 8 participants and priced separately
After several days of jazz, city energy, late-night concerts, and cultural exchange, the South Coast offers a different kind of listening.
This optional post-tour extension shifts the rhythm from Reykjavík to black sand, waterfalls, moss fields, glaciers, ocean wind, and wide silence. It is inspired by our Iceland Creativity Retreat and designed for travelers who want time to absorb the festival experience instead of rushing home immediately.
The route may include Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, Vík, Dyrhólaey, Skaftafell, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, and Diamond Beach. Late-season puffins may be possible near Dyrhólaey in some years, but wildlife sightings are never guaranteed.
This extension is ideal for guests who want a more meditative, inspirational finish to the trip.
South Coast Add-On Sample Itinerary
Extension Day 1 – Reykjavík to Vík
Depart Reykjavík after breakfast and begin the drive along Iceland’s South Coast.
Stops may include Seljalandsfoss, where water drops from a high cliff into open air, and Skógafoss, one of Iceland’s most powerful and photogenic waterfalls. The day continues toward Vík, a small coastal town surrounded by cliffs, black sand, sea stacks, and open Atlantic weather.
Depending on conditions, we may visit Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach or Dyrhólaey. Late in the season, puffins may still be possible in some years, but this is treated as a bonus rather than a central promise.
Overnight near Vík.
Meals: Breakfast
Extension Day 2 – Vík, Black Sand Beaches & Glacier Lagoon Region
The morning allows time for slow observation along the South Coast.
We continue east through lava fields, moss, sand plains, and glacial river landscapes toward the Glacier Lagoon region. The drive itself becomes part of the experience, with space for photography, quiet listening, and conversation about how the festival week settles differently once the city falls away.
In the afternoon, we arrive near Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach, where ice from the glacier moves through the lagoon and out toward the ocean.
This day is built around Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach, and the slower pace of Iceland’s southeastern landscape.
Optional activities may include a glacier walk, boat experience, photography session, writing time, field recording, or a guided deep-listening exercise. The goal is not to fill every hour. The goal is to give the group space to process the music, movement, and sensory intensity of the week.
Evening time may include group reflection, a quiet dinner, or Northern Lights watching if conditions and season allow.
Overnight near the Glacier Lagoon region.
Meals: Breakfast
Extension Day 4 – Return Toward Reykjavík or Departure Planning
After breakfast, begin the return drive west.
The route may include additional South Coast stops based on weather, timing, and guest interest. The day can end in Reykjavík, near Keflavík Airport, or with an added final night, depending on flight schedules.
Because South Coast distances are significant, we recommend building this extension with enough time to avoid rushing.
Find answers to the most common questions about the Reykjavík Jazz Festival journey. If you need additional information, please contact our team.
Itinerary Structure & Flexibility
The itinerary shown above is a sample outline designed to illustrate the overall flow of the Reykjavík Jazz Festival Tour, including Reykjavík cultural exploration, curated festival attendance, geothermal bathing, Þingvellir National Park, and possible music encounters.
Specific days and the order of activities may vary depending on festival programming, artist availability, weather, hotel logistics, restaurant reservations, and local conditions.
Closer to departure, guests receive a finalized daily schedule with confirmed meeting times, concert selections, and activity details.
Festival Programming
Reykjavík Jazz Festival determines the annual lineup, performance times, venues, and ticketing structure.
Musical Getaways works with festival collaborators and local partners to shape the tour around strong concert experiences while allowing guests to experience the festival environment naturally.
The goal is not to attend every possible performance. The goal is to experience the festival with context, comfort, and a strong musical arc.
Travel Pace & Activity Level
This tour is moderately paced and designed for travelers interested in live music, culture, food, and light outdoor exploration.
Guests should expect city walking, standing or sitting for evening concerts, late nights during the festival, changing weather, and some uneven surfaces during natural excursions.
Daily walking distances may vary, but are generally manageable for active travelers. Comfortable shoes and rain gear are essential.
Festival Environment
Reykjavík Jazz Festival takes place across concert halls, cultural spaces, churches, and other Reykjavík venues, depending on the annual program.
Evenings may run late. Some concerts may be seated, while others may have a more flexible festival environment. Guests may attend performances with the group or, when appropriate, choose additional concerts independently.
Weather & Climate
Late summer in Iceland can bring mild temperatures, wind, rain, sun, and fast-changing conditions on the same day.
Layers are essential. We recommend waterproof outerwear, comfortable walking shoes, warm mid-layers, and clothing suitable for both concerts and outdoor excursions.
The weather is part of the experience, but preparation makes it much more enjoyable.
Getting to the Tour
The tour begins in Reykjavík, Iceland. Most international travelers arrive through Keflavík International Airport.
Airport transfers may be arranged independently or added to the package depending on the final tour structure. Reykjavík is approximately 45–60 minutes from Keflavík by road.
Arrival & Departure Details
The tour officially begins with a welcome orientation and dinner on the first evening of the program. Guests should plan to arrive earlier that day to allow time for transfer, hotel check-in, and rest.
The main tour concludes after breakfast on the final morning in Reykjavík.
Guests joining the optional South Coast extension will continue with the group after the Reykjavík portion of the tour.
Tour Gallery
Jonas Ruther (musician) – Reykjavík Jazz Festival Performance
Reykjavík, Iceland – Performance Photo by Hans Vera
Rainbow Street
Reykjavík, Iceland
Icelandic Cuisine, Lamb
Reykjavík, Iceland
Los Bomboneros – Reykjavík Jazz Festival Performance
Reykjavík, Iceland – Performance Photo by Hans Vera
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