Reykjavik, Iceland - Private Tour Advice Needed!

[Under_Bored Duo]

My husband and I are on the 21 day Spitsbergen and Icelandic Fjords Explorer voyage departing Rotterdam on June 11, 2023 on the Zuiderdam. We always book our shore excursions through HAL because we will not be “dock runners” and miss the ship due to an unforeseen circumstance. However, since we are in Reykjavik, Iceland for 2 days, we are leaning towards a non-cruise line tour operator on day 1. With that said which tours or sites would you recommend and why? We are active and would prefer a small group tour! Thank you!

Edited January 21, 2023 by Under_Bored Duo
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[CruiserBruce]

Just looking a short distance down the board:

 

 

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, Under_Bored Duo said:

However, since we are in Reykjavik, Iceland for 2 days, we are leaning towards a non-cruise line tour operator on day 1.

 

We had two days in Reykjavik on HAL a few years ago. We decided to spend the first day on a private tour of the South Coast (mini-vans of about 16-18 people), since the South Coast tour is longer than the Golden Circle tour, and took a HAL tour of the Golden Circle the next day.   

 

My thoughts: although the Golden Circle is perhaps more famous, and while I enjoyed what we saw (but not the guide, see below), I thought the South Coast was really spectacular, from start to finish.  Beauty all around; waterfalls, a glacier, the black sand beach, etc.  We toured with GeoIceland, a partner of Saga Travel. They were fabulous to deal with, and the guide was one of the best ever.  It was a fantastic day.  The companies went bankrupt during the pandemic, and the owner I believe was bought out by the employees, who have restarted the business.   I think folks have used them recently; do a search. 

 

 https://geoiceland.is/

 

https://sagatravel.is/

 

As I mentioned, our Golden Circle tour the next day was through HAL.  We did that (rather than a private tour) because our time in port was limited, and our next port was in Greenland.  Just did not want to risk missing the ship. Unfortunately, the guide on the HAL tour was one of the worst guides we've ever had.  Those are the breaks of ship-sponsored tours.  Some folks on our Roll Call who had more risk-tolerance and who'd also done the South Coast tour the prior day with GeoIceland, used them as well on day 2 for the Golden Circle and had a much better day and did get back to the ship in time. 🙂 

 

Good luck with whatever you choose, and have a great time!

 

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

We are doing two days before our August cruise and booked a Golden Circle excursion with the blue lagoon. The price was great and checks off all the boxes.