Get to know Icelandic nature and Reykavík city. This combo deal begins with an 8-hour Golden Circle, where you will visit three of Iceland’s most famous sights and learn about growing pesticide-free tomatoes with geothermal water and then you can go and explore Reykjavík at your own leisure on the Reykjavík Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus.
Posted By : 832marijag
My family and me went to a trip to Reykjavik in June 2024 and were really excited about it, only to find that our experience of the country was ruined by complete lack of professionalism by the tourist agencies Icelandia tours and Reykjavik excursions. First, I tried to buy the tickets for the tour online on their webpages - I got all payment authorizations from my bank (reporting the payment as processed) but received no tickets or confirmation from Icelandia. I wrote to them on the issue and was instructed to "try to use different cards with different banks and different currencies". I followed these instructions but the same error (on their webpage) appeared. I wrote to them again and in accordance with their instruction purchased tickets for different tours (not the tours I originally wanted) through a different website (for the total price of Euro 435,73). Few days after this I discovered that all my attempts to purchase the tickets via Icelandia website were actually charged (and funds transferred) against credit cards that I used, so that I ended up paying the total of about Euro 3,207 for tickets that I did not purchase and I did not get! After a lot of back-and-forth email exchange with Icelandia they returned the overpaid amount (it took them "only" about 14 days to return our money back) but they did not cover any bank charges I had for payments being processed. They never apologized, or even said they were sorry for their mistake, let alone offered any type of discount or compensation.
In addition to this, they indicated the completely wrong (non-existing) address as a meeting point for the bus pick for the City Sightseeing tour, and when I called the operator, she again gave me the wrong (non-existing) address (basically she quoted the meeting point as they internally refer it to but this address cannot be found on any city maps or google maps). Without help of the hotel concierge (we stayed at Canopy By Hilton Reykjavik - which I wholeheartedly recommend) we would have missed the meeting point for the tour.
Finally, at the sightseeing tour on the bus, we found out that headphone system (thorough which the tour visitors are to receive information and commentaries on the city landmarks) did not work (?!) and the driver was driving so fast that we were unable to experience (let along enjoy) any city landmarks in an effort to make it through to the next stop.
All in all, an extremely disappointing experience. These agencies provide to be very unprofessional, very unorganized and unable to successful manage even the basic tour-operator activities (such as providing support to visitors on their basis queries). The experience almost completely ruined our impressions of the country. It will be definitively a long time before we embark on our next visit to Iceland.
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Posted On : 2024-07-01 12:11:38 
Posted By : Rich
They stated our reservation was not on the bus list. It took over 15 minutes for the staff to find our reservation by that time the bus departed. The service stated Viator sent our reservation to the wrong tour. They also stated the hop on hop off would be closing by the time we return
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Posted On : 2023-09-03 20:35:41 
Posted By : william_j
Paid to get pick up. Called and they came l hour late so they put us on a shorter version of the golden circle
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Posted On : 2023-07-13 05:28:00
Posted By : lizdrbys
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.
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Posted On : 2023-03-13 07:25:32
Posted By : ShannonAtk
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.
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Posted On : 2023-01-29 12:44:02
Posted By : Rudram_B
Excellent and knowledgeable tour guide combined with well planned itinerary involving beautiful and serene scenery
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Posted On : 2022-08-22 04:13:07
Posted By : Road613018
Our tour guide, Martha, was a great guide filling us in with local history and details that make you remember why you didn’t do a self-guided tour. The weather was wet but we’d still do it again.
Our driver, Reynir, was impressive and the number of stops was just right for the length of the tour.
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Posted On : 2022-08-10 06:52:58
Posted By : disneylover61
We were heading off during a blizzard. Every other company cancelled their trip, but went. Some sights were dangerous because of the heavy storm and ice. They knew the warning in advance and skipped the excursion
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Posted On : 2022-02-24 04:59:28
Posted By : Rob D
Really glad I booked this as it was a lot better to experience with a guide who knew the tips and background information. Runar (Ruinar?) was really informative and had plenty of witty anecdotes and facts. The tomato farm was a bit of a strange section of the tour but if that's your thing... The geysers were amazing but it was the Gulfoss which really took my breath away! The tectonic plates were also very interested and the guided walk was full of really interesting information about the geology, history and significance of the place
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Posted On : 2022-02-23 12:14:07
Posted By : vagabond808gal
Circle bus uncomfortable, seats narrow & cramped. Unmasked people, no one telling them to put one on. Too rushed at waterfall & Thingvellir, was like running a marathon uphill. Get there, rush & leave. BTW who wants to waste time looking at at tomatoes ? Terrible slippery ice on the ground - at every stop throughout whole parking lot & on the sidewalks & no attempt made to make it safe. I would not recommend this tour to anyone who cares about avoiding COVID, or avoiding a fall on ice. The guide droned on in a monotone that literally put me to sleep. Hop on Hop off was very misleading - did not give enough info about quit time, so we ended up paying for a cab back. I would take a different tour, or just go on my own next time. This was a waste of a vacation day.
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Posted On : 2021-11-24 11:26:49
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