Grayline Golden Circle Tour Reykjavic

[jpilsner]

We are considering the Grayline Golden Circle Tour in Reykjavic. They will include a pickup from a number of hotels or numbered bus stops. Has anyone done this from the cruise terminal and know what bus stop or hotel is closest? We will be arriving on the Nieuw Statendam on 8/31/2023. Or is there an easy way to get from the cruise terminal to the bus terminal? We don’t mind walking a mile or so. It seems to have good reviews and is reasonably priced, $72 for 7.5 hours. Any warning or suggestions are appreciated.

[nansi]

We did this tour with them (from our hotel) and it was really wonderful. Call the main office directly to find out the closest stop to the terminal. I believe their main office is located very close to the terminal and maybe you can pick up the bus from there.

[jpilsner]

Thanks it is good to hear it was a good tour.
I had tried a phone call and the person answering sounded very unsure, maybe I will try another day. I also received no response to their online chat at several different times. 

[nansi]

I just did a mock booking on their website and there is a pull-down where it says "Where should we pick you up." Harbour-Cruiseship-Skarfabakki is one of the available choices. When you book, I believe they will tell you exactly where to meet the bus (at least they did when we booked). Hope this helps.

[jpilsner]

Thanks it does help, I wasn’t sure if that was the correct location for our ship.

[Meander Ingwa]

The Flybus and all the tour providers of Iceland are amazing and moving people about and getting you to where you need to be.  This is a huge industry there.  The Golden Circle tour is wonderful.  I believe the bus to the central depot from Harbor Ska is the Purple Line

[Nitemare]

We love the Golden Circle but did it on a minibus for not much higher cost than a Big Bus like most of Greyline's offerings.

 

Take a look and see if you can do the smaller tour instead.  You see the same things, but you aren't waiting for 40 people at each stop to finish with pictures/bathroom/shopping, and you get more time with the guide to ask questions.

[jpilsner]

9 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

We love the Golden Circle but did it on a minibus for not much higher cost than a Big Bus like most of Greyline's offerings.

 

Take a look and see if you can do the smaller tour instead.  You see the same things, but you aren't waiting for 40 people at each stop to finish with pictures/bathroom/shopping, and you get more time with the guide to ask questions.

We generally much prefer smaller tours too. However my husband is quite tall and most often has trouble getting his knees out of the aisle in a mid size bus or van. Believe it or not it seems most full size buses have a bit more legroom. Since this is a long tour we thought we’d take our chances with Grayline since their ratings look pretty good. But totally with you otherwise. 

[Nitemare]

Just now, jpilsner said:

We generally much prefer smaller tours too. However my husband is quite tall and most often has trouble getting his knees out of the aisle in a mid size bus or van. Believe it or not it seems most full size buses have a bit more legroom. Since this is a long tour we thought we’d take our chances with Grayline since their ratings look pretty good. But totally with you otherwise. 

That legroom thing is important and I understand why you would chose this option then

[nansi]

1 hour ago, jpilsner said:

Thanks it does help, I wasn’t sure if that was the correct location for our ship.

You might want to check with the cruise line to be sure, but I believe most of them dock at Skarfabakki.

[Meander Ingwa]

On some of the tour company sites, it is called Harbor Skarfabaki, so alphabetizes up in the H along with a slew of Hotel XYZ listings

[fstuff1]

On 6/23/2023 at 11:24 AM, Nitemare said:

We love the Golden Circle but did it on a minibus for not much higher cost than a Big Bus like most of Greyline's offerings.

 

Take a look and see if you can do the smaller tour instead.  You see the same things, but you aren't waiting for 40 people at each stop to finish with pictures/bathroom/shopping, and you get more time with the guide to ask questions.

link to minibus tour?

[Nitemare]

3 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

link to minibus tour?

Lots of options out there. My experience is four years old and operator quality may have changed.  Or ask on TripAdvisor where there are lots of local experts.

[PhillyTravelBug]

We are doing this excursion next month and were just discussing food options. Does the tour provide opportunities to grab lunch or snacks?

[nansi]

4 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

We are doing this excursion next month and were just discussing food options. Does the tour provide opportunities to grab lunch or snacks?

We did it last July and we had a stop that included plenty of time for lunch. Great tour!