The Golden Circle and City Sightseeing

Great tour with a wonderful tour guide- really friendly and caring lady (so sorry I didn’t listen properly to your name!) and great driver- a good double act! Interesting to see the tomatoes growing- a nice warm pit stop, the geysers were amazing although the cold meant we retreated inside quickly. Great food and toilets at all the stops. The waterfall was spectacular- definitely worth having a good wander round, and the rifts at the national park were amazing.

Our family purchased the Icelandair Holiday package and had numerous excursions planned through Reykjavík Excursions. Our package also included transportation to and from the airport, Northern Lights tour, Lava Show, and Golden Circle & Secret Lagoon. THE GOOD: Trip of a lifetime, after a nightmare shuttle experience. Knowledgeable and pleasant tour guides. Incredible excursions. On day one, we visited Thingvellir National Park and saw the Northern Lights. It was amazing! Make sure to thaw your photo in between your pictures. Bundle up, and be ready to be amazed! Pro tip: get some gloves that will allow you to utilize the touch surface on your iPhone. Your frosty fingers will thank you. The next day, we visited the Lava Show near the harbor in Reykjavík. It was educational and captivating. We learned so much about volcanos! We experienced real lava flowing down a steel slide right before our eyes. It heated the entire room. At the end, the tour guide gave my daughter a little piece of dragon glass in a small container as a souvenir. What an experience! The last day, we took a tour of the Golden Circle. Our tour included a visit to Thingvellir National Park at sunrise, a stop at the geothermic Geysir area, on to the icy Gullfoss waterfall, and finally a trip to the steamy Secret Lagoon. All stops were incredible and packed full of excitement. I highly recommend this excursion. THE BAD: The shuttle situation was a disaster. On day two, we were supposed to go on the Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon excursion. The fine print encouraged us to arrive 30 minutes before the shuttle was scheduled to pick us up. The shuttle would pick us up at bus stop #1 and transport us to the main bus terminal. It was not made clear that arriving 30 minutes early was mandatory, and not just a recommendation. After arriving to the bus stop only 20 minutes before the scheduled stop, we waited for an hour, and realized that the shuttle was not coming. We walked back to our hotel room and the hotel staff was kind enough to reach out to Reykjavík Excursions. They explained that the shuttle came 30 minutes prior to the pick up time, and they would not be coming again today. Reykjavík Excursions was not very accommodating, however, the Lava Show allowed us to switch around our schedule without a problem. We switched around excursions to accommodate this scheduling hiccup. We made a note to be at the shuttle the next day at least 30 minutes early. THE UGLY: On the very last day of our vacation, we arrived at the bus stop to catch a shuttle over 45 minutes before the scheduled stop. We waited in the frigid temperatures for over an hour for the shuttle. The delayed shuttle driver initially told us that we were not at the stop on time, but we were there. We nearly missed our connection at the main bus terminal to catch our bus to the airport. We caught the bus with only seconds to spare. Brace yourself with transportation issues using Reykjavík Excursions.

Excellent and knowledgeable tour guide combined with well planned itinerary involving beautiful and serene scenery