YEAR-ROUND TOUR: Take in the highlights of Iceland's famed Golden Circle and much more with this 3-day group tour, which starts and ends in Reykjavik. See the plunging waterfalls of Gullfoss, Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, admire the erupting Strokkur geyser and explore Thingvellir National Park. In winter, hike on Vatnajokull Glacier and search for the Northern Lights. In summer, explore a fascinating natural ice cave.
Trip Highlights
Included
Not Included
Itinerary
The Golden Circle
Reykjavik - Kirkjubajarklaustur. Our Icelandic adventure begins as we depart Reykjavik. You will be picked up at a central pick up point at 09:00. Our adventure begins with sightseeing of all the main natural wonders of the Golden Circle. Take in sights including Thingvellir National Park and the Geysir Geothermal Area, where you'll see the mighty Strokkur geyser erupt every 10 minutes or so.
We also visit the famous waterfalls of Gullfoss and Seljalandsfoss, with the opportunity to walk behind the falls for a different view! Then it's on to Vik and our hotel in Kirkjubajarklaustur, a great base for spotting the Northern Lights in the winter months from September to April.
Please note: We strongly recommend arriving in Reykjavik the day before your tour starts. Please also note that this tour includes a moderate amount of hiking to see attractions such as waterfalls. You should be comfortable hiking a distance of around 5km. Get in touch with our team should you have any concerns.
Overnight: Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon & Vatnajokull Glacier
Today's touring starts with a visit to the black sand Diamond beach and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. Admire the giant icebergs here, which have broken off from the Vatnajokull Glacier. During the winter months, we will enjoy a hike on the glacier itself before visiting a natural ice cave. In summer, we will instead head to the natural Katla ice cave near Vik. This is the only ice cave in the country that can be visited all year round. Summer departures will also take a hike of around 5km to see Svartifoss Waterfall.
We then return to the hotel. There will be another chance to see the Northern Lights tonight if travelling in winter.
Overnight: Kirkjubæjarklaustur | Breakfast
Return to Reykajvik
Kirkjubajarklaustur - Reykjavik. Departing our hotel, we begin to make our way back to Reykjavik, with plenty of stops along the way.
Weather permitting, we visit Fjadrargljufur Canyon. We also see the dramatic lava field at Eldhraun and stroll along the black sands of Reynisfjara beach. Keep an eye out for the towering basalt columns located just offshore.
Our final stop is Skogafoss, another of Iceland's incredible waterfalls. If you wish, you can climb the 527 steps to the top of the 60m cascade. Enjoy panoramic views of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which caused so much travel misery in Europe when it erupted in 2010.
We'll arrive in Reykjavik between 16:00 - 19:00 when your tour will come to an end.
Breakfast
Prices & Dates
Departure dates are guaranteed with a minimum of 2 persons. 'Twin/Double' prices are per person when there are 2 people on the same booking sharing a room. 'Single' prices are applicable to solo travellers and anyone wanting the privacy of their own room.
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Hotels
The hotels listed below are ones which we frequently use on this tour. We reserve the right to substitute these hotels to ones of a similar standard.
Adventure Hotel Geirland, Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Adventure Hotel Geirland is set just outside the quiet village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. All rooms offer tea/coffee facilities and views of the surrounding mountain ridge. Some of Geirland’s cosy rooms are set in individual cottages in the garden. Free Wi-Fi and a TV are available in the main building. Guests can enjoy an onsite restaurant and bar. Lunch packs can be made on request. Skaftafell National Park is 60 minutes’ drive from Adventure Hotel Geirland.
Reviews
Travellers have rated this tour as 4.5 out of 5 based on 8 recent reviews
Excellent tour - felt I really got to see the highlights of Iceland. Tour guide was good but at times difficult to understand because of his accent. However he was very helpful and knowledgeable.”
Overall the tour was very good however the glacier walk/ice cave experience was not.
We were requested to provide notification of any limitations eg mobility, claustrophobia, fear of heights.There was nowhere on the form to give that information and it had to be provided verbally.This information was told to the guide on multiple occasions but he did not appear to register and did not act on the advice.The glacier walk/ice cave is unsuitable for people with fear of heights. They should have been advised accordingly when they disclosed their situations. Insufficient detail was provided about the nature of that tour so that better decisions could have been made. The Southcoast glacier walk guide tried to suggest that all would be fine if they continued and they would get better- that is not realistic in people with phobias.
Had the On the Go guide acted on the advice given / and had sufficient detail about the glacier walk been provided a much more appropriate option would have been for those clients to have remained in Vik to do other activities on their own (eg shopping, visit maritime museum and nearby black beach) rather than having been put in an extremely unpleasant situation. ”
Joey was an excellent guide and we enjoyed the tour very much.
Our only criticism would be the bus. With a full load of people it was very cramped, especially when there were some oversized passengers.
Secondly, the sound system was poor. It was hard to hear the commentary at any time and impossible to hear anything at all in the back half of the bus.
Overall it was a great tour and we would happily recommend it. ”
The sights visited were really good, but felt a bit rushed with a lot of them. Time given at a lot of sights was 30-45 mins. The thing that really upset me was zero communication regarding “hikes” at some of the sights. In the “on the go”brochures, the only mention of the word hike was relating to tours done in winter. I am a 63 year old woman who considers herself healthy but when I was told there were two 5 kilometre hikes, I literally nearly died. Had we have known before hand, perhaps we would have chosen another itinerary. So the first one I tried but was unsuccessful, so missed out on seeing some beautiful waterfalls. The second was to the ice cave. I forced myself to do this, so I didn’t miss out again, but was fearful the whole way. The other thing was, we were not at all prepared with the correct clothing for the ice cave. We had no boots or waterproof gear.
We feel very let down and it took away a lot of the enjoyment and created stress.
I believe On the Go Tours have not supplied the correct information regarding their tours. If another supplier is to be used, then that information should be passed on to customers. For this reason we will not travel with them again. ”
We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 day Geysers, Glaciers and Golden Circle tour. Our tour guide, Alday was excellent. He was very professional, displayed an extensive knowledge of the various tour destinations and provided valuable commentary. The tour exceeded our expectations. We would strongly recommend this tour to others. Very happy!”
excellent tour. It was only a short tour but certainly covered all the highlights. Guide was great.
Iceland is an expensive place to travel, but thought that this tour was good value for money.”
The van was much too small for the group. It felt suffocating. The tour guide was knowledgeable but he NEVER stopped talking. We heard way too much about mundane subjects - like Justin Bieber's trip to Iceland. He wasn't helpful AT ALL when someone in our group was not feeling well. He just ignored it. And it really wasn't necessary to stop at the same waterfall twice. He also complained a lot about having to drop people off at their hotels. Wasn't that part of the deal? The hotel was stark but had all the necessities and the restaurant and the food were a great escape from sitting in the van all day. We did see a lot of great things in Iceland and the guide was informative. Overall, the trip would have been much better with a warmer tour guide who didn't think he needed to talk every minute in the overcrowded van. ”
Great itinerary, flawless organization. I was very happy with entire process and experience ”
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Excellent tour - felt I really got to see the highlights of Iceland. Tour guide was good but at times difficult to understand because of his accent. However he was very helpful and knowledgeable.”
