We booked the Gems of South Iceland & Reykjavik directly through GJ Travel after much online research, reading numerous reviews, and determining the dates and length of the tour that best suited our needs. We liked the fact that GJ was a well-established tour company. We didn’t want to book our own hotels and attractions to see, so felt a travel company was our best option. Our initial contact at GJ Travel was Inga, who was very helpful in answering our pre-trip questions and concerns, sending us the secure payment link, and setting up an extra night’s stay for us at the end of the tour. She informed us that we would receive an updated travel itinerary and vouchers approximately 4 weeks prior to our scheduled departure. We did indeed receive all the information as described, with Kolbrun now as our contact. Two days later we received an updated voucher with a new pick up time for the first day of the tour. The pick up time had changed from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. We noticed the time on the travel itinerary was 9:00 a.m. each day, so we reached out to Kolbrun who apologized for the confusion, but informed us that 8:00 a.m. was the correct pick up time.
Our flight arrived at the Keflavik airport at 6:30 a.m. the day before our tour was to begin. The day was cold and it was raining heavily when we arrived. We did have a little trouble finding the Reykjavik Excursions booth at the airport, but once we found it our vouchers were exchanged at we were on the Flybus to the Reykjavik city bus terminal and on to the Fosshotel Baron, the hotel named on our vouchers. At the hotel desk, we presented our hotel voucher to the desk clerk. She said, with a smile, “Oh, I see you are actually staying at our sister hotel Fosshotel Raudura.” This was a surprise to us as we had no email from GJ Travel informing us of a hotel change. She gave us a city map and pointed out the Fosshotel Raudura, telling us it would be a 10-15 minute walk. Out we went, into the wind and the rain, in an unfamiliar city, trying to read a map that was getting increasingly wet and illegible. We finally came upon the Fosshotel Lund, which we knew wasn’t our destination, but we dragged our luggage inside and asked for directions at the front desk. The desk clerk walked back outside with us and pointed us in the right direction. The Fosshotel Raudura did have our reservation, but we were far too early to check in. The desk clerk locked our luggage securely in their luggage room and after a brief rest, we went out to find some food. Check in later in the day went smoothly and we were relieved to finally have a place to rest.
The next morning, ready for our 8:00 a.m. tour departure, we waited outside the hotel. 8:00 came and went. Other tour buses went by, but not ours. We finally went back into the hotel lobby and asked the desk clerk if he would be able to contact the tour company. He graciously did so and told us the tour guide’s schedule mistakenly showed a 9:00 pick up time, but we were scheduled to be picked up. And so the tour began.
Helga was our tour guide. Helga is in her mid-60’s; we got the impression she might have been new to the GJ Tour group. She seemed just a little hesitant and ill-at-ease. Helga was an excellent driver and since she was a life-long resident of the Reykjavik area, she had some additional information to share with us each day. She seemed a little hesitant to really engage with us, which was disappointing. We would expect a tour guide to be upbeat and constantly singing the praises of her homeland. Helga was a little morose at times.
Our first morning began with a bus tour of the city of Reykjavik. We arrived too early to go into the church of Hallgrimskirkja. It would have been wonderful to go inside. The tour days did encompass all the sites described in our itinerary. Our whale watching tour was a success as we did see many dolphins and there were some hump back whale sightings. The Sky Lagoon was a great experience. The Westman Islands were so picturesque; we really enjoyed the day there. All the waterfalls were amazing to behold. Our time at the Skogar folk museum was limited, so we were a little rushed through the exhibits there. The Iceland lava show at Vik was very interesting. The black sand beaches with the basalt rock formations were beautiful. There was an optional Solheimajokull glacier hike presented in our itinerary, which the 2 of us booked. Our guide, Helga, acted as though she didn’t realize this was an option for the day and she wasn’t terribly happy that she had to keep the other tour members occupied for the 3 1/2 hours we were on the hike. The glacier hike was an incredible experience. We enjoyed the day at Landmannalaugar. The Olvisholt microbrewery wasn’t a tour since there were machine issues and no brewing was taking place. But we were able to experience some different Icelandic beers.
And then, the tour was over! Our transport back to the airport in Keflavik was arranged by our hotel, so we just had to be at the right place at the right time. The hotel accommodations arranged for us were clean and comfortable and we very much enjoyed our hearty breakfasts at the hotels. There was a good variety of activities each day, although sometimes we got off schedule and were a little rushed. We were told that the Gems of South Iceland & Reykjavik tour was a new one for GJ Travel, so that might explain some of the glitches we encountered. We do feel like we had a good overall Icelandic experience and would recommend booking a tour with GJ Travel.