Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach Guided Day Trip from Reykjavik

The tour information states that we can bring child under 5. I brought my 4yrs old daughter and they seemed surprised that I brought her. Then, they asked my daughter to be seated in the infant seat, which I have no problem at first until the passenger in front leaned the chair which squeezed my daughter leg. When I removed my daughter and sits in ordinary chair, the guide then asked me to put her back in to the infant seat and deliberately shows his annoyance face when I explained that the legroom doesn't fit.

I have mixed feelings about this trip. There were no diamonds on Diamond beach, nor icebergs in the lagoon, which was almost completely frozen over. However our “compensation” of additional stops to allow us walk on a frozen lagoon out to touch an iceberg and then another stop which allowed us to walk to the front of a glacier far exceeded what I’d hoped to experience at Jökulsárlón. The waterfalls were lovely, too icy to walk behind, that’s a consequence of the weather. I should have brought the cheap crampons to attach to the soles of your shoes as the ice from the spray in front of both waterfalls made the pebbles of the riverbed like sheet ice which was incredibly slippery. Plus, for your information, this bus only has one driver who drove for 15+hours, in everything from sunshine to whiteout snow conditions. BUT I REALLY think this particular bus tour should have a toilet, if only for emergencies. It was good to get out and stretch our legs, especially as the seating was extremely cramped. (Went on a golden circle tour with the same company and had a lovely spacious coach) The toilet stops were absolutely necessary and it gave you a chance to buy food and look at stationary scenery. At Vik on the outbound leg, it was snowing and windy, with no opportunity to walk to the black sand beach as time didn’t allow it. My HUGE grumble was after we had had our “2 compensation” stops and as the toilets were shut at these, our guide asked us to “hold on” until we got back to Vik. Thats a journey plus visit time of almost 3 and a half hours after our toilet stop at Jökulsárlón. (Even though the nearest set of toilets were only 5 mins away from that junction) Despite calls forward from several of us seated at the back, the bus turned away from the loos and off on the road. Our guide was not pleased that we asked for the bus to turn round and go back. (About half the coach got off!) Even more important was that due to weather conditions, we didn’t even stop at Vik for food or toilets! By the time we did stop all the places to eat were closed and the only place that was open was a garage. Not quite the advertised food break!! It was a long, long day, our in town pickup was from 7am and we didn’t get back until 11pm and I’m not sure how I feel about the trip’s value. If I did it again, I’d stay locally/ do a two day trip to the south coast, so that I could appreciate the area and save the hassle of worrying about toilets and food.

We had a great time in a very full day of stops. Our guide was Gunnar - he did a good job of keeping us all on time to make sure we hit all our stops. We even got lucky and caught the Northern Lights on the way back to Reykjavík! (tip: it is VERY windy near the glaciers, so be prepared!!)