We kick off at Kleifarvatn, the largest and deepest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula, just a short drive from Reykjavík. At 97 meters deep, it has no inlets or outlets, relying on groundwater. Local legends say a serpent-like creature lurks beneath its dark waters. As you take in the stunning views, your guide will share thrilling stories of the lake monster, setting the stage for an exciting adventure!
We’ll then explore the surreal Seltún geothermal area in Krýsuvík, where the landscape looks straight out of another planet. Vibrant reds, yellows, and greys paint the terrain, shaped by powerful geothermal activity. As we walk along the winding wooden paths, we'll pass bubbling mud pools, steaming vents, and the unmistakable smell of sulfur, all showcasing the raw power of Iceland’s Earth.
A short drive brings us to Grænavatn, or the "Green Lake," a stunning volcanic crater lake renowned for its vivid emerald hue. Its striking color comes from a high concentration of sulfur and minerals, creating a mesmerizing contrast against the surrounding rugged landscape. This hidden gem is a dream for photographers, offering a perfect opportunity to capture Iceland’s unique geological beauty. Have your camera ready to snap breathtaking shots of this otherworldly oasis!
Next, we’ll stop at Nátthagi, a stunning valley near the Fagradalsfjall volcano. Famous for its 2021 eruption after 6,000 years of dormancy, the volcano unleashed fiery lava for six months, shaping one of Iceland’s most remarkable eruptions. Today, you’ll explore the vast lava field, with dramatic rock formations and frozen lava ridges. A short 20 minute hike takes us to the Nátthagi viewpoint, offering a breathtaking view of this volcanic wonder! (NOTE: the hike to the lava field is approximately 20 minutes but passengers must be comfortable on uneven paths and rugged terrain)
Arriving in Grindavík, we step into a town forever altered by nature’s forces. Once a busy fishing hub, it was reshaped by powerful volcanic eruptions in late 2023, forcing an evacuation and leaving it eerily empty. Though now safe and reopened, the scars remain—abandoned homes frozen in time and cracked roads from seismic activity. This rare glimpse into Iceland’s dynamic geology shows the raw power of nature at work.
Our next stop takes us to the newly formed Sundhnúkagígar / Svartsengi lava field, a stunning testament to Iceland’s ever-changing landscape. Just outside Grindavík, this raw and rugged terrain was born from some of the country’s most recent volcanic eruptions. These events, just as recent as 2024, captivated the world. Here, you’ll step onto a brand-new section of Earth, where steam still rises from the cooling lava, offering an up-close look at nature’s fiery creativity in action. After immersing ourselves in this extraordinary volcanic wonder, we’ll journey back to Reykjavík, winding through the breathtaking Icelandic countryside. As we reflect on the day’s unforgettable experiences, we’ll arrive in the capital by early evening—just in time for you to unwind or dive into the city’s lively atmosphere.
Your tour will begin with a convenient pick up from your chosen pick up location in Reykjavík city. From there, we'll make a quick 40 minute drive to our first stop!
We end the tour with a convenient drop off at your chosen location in the city of Reykjavík.
Very beautiful tour. Nice guide, she knew a lot about the places we visited. We were lucky to have nice, sunny weather but even with bad weather, it would be awesome to do.
Greta was such an amazing guide! She was very knowledgeable and was keen to share more not only about the geology, but also about the history of Iceland as well! She kept us entertained on such a long drive
The sights were beautiful, our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information about the area. We enjoyed the hiking and getting to know some of the other travelers in our small group tour.
Arthur is probably the best tour guide i had in my 8 days tour in Iceland. He is the nicesr guy, kind and funny too.
We were meant to have a guided tour. We definitely saw all the sites - our bus driver PETER was wonderful - super careful driver, got to all the sites with maybe more emphasis on the hiking trail in proportion to the other sites, but for some reason, we got no additional guide! My impression was that Peter just gamely filled in with a good spirit, but concentrated on safety (as was right) and not on the Guide duties - not his job! It was a good-spirited group on the comfortable minibus, but we had to read aloud from Wikipedia to fill in the information.
Magnus was an excellent and knowledgeable guide who was able to explain about the natural features of the area. He had a good sense of humour and chose a local cafe for a stop for lunch.
Fantastic tour, even with changing weather. Amazing to see Grindavík, lava fields, thermal mud pools ( if stinky). A reasonable bit of walking, so do recommend proper hiking shoes/boots. Our tour guide was Bruno, who went over and above
Worth doing when in Reykjavik, Iceland. Nice & comfortable mini-bus, driver & guide combined into one person, but ok. Sites are nice & spectacular, but we had a lot of fog, so the view was (very) limited. Pity.
This tour was different of other tours we took. It was impressive to see the power of nature, and starting to realize how vulnerable humans are in front of it's mighty force. When you see the frozen black lava wave in the middle of the road, the shaken, empty houses from Grindavik and the huge lava river of Reykjanes you feel small and insignificant. Our guide, Lara from Spain, was great. Not only she kept us very well informed but she was also funny, sincere, and created a great atmosphere in the bus. We felt very well taken care of. I'd recommend this tour to everyone visiting Iceland. Maybe it's not the most glamorous or the most spectacular but it is food for thought. Thank you, Lara!
Excellent, informative, and FUN trip with our tour guide Greta! Outstanding day! Greta was a superb, informative and prepared guide.
This was by far the best tour I took in Iceland!!! And I took 3 other tours, 2 with EastWest(via Wake up Reykjavík ) and one with Icelandia ! None of those came even close to this one with Arctic Adventures! And I booked it by pure chance, super happy! Firstly the guide Edgar is absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! You guys are really lucky to have him. His communication style is brilliant, he is very accommodating and flexible, managed the group really well and made it both interesting and entertaining for us! Also really good group of younger crowd unlike EastWest which was full of grumpy senior citizens who could barely bother to leave the bus ! Guys chose Arctic Adventures with Edgar, you will love it!
Edgar our guide was wonderful. All the stops were incredible. Beautiful and raw landscapes seeing how lava shaped the area.
Great trip! Half day trip to see volcano lava fields and geo thermal springs.
Egill our tour guide was amazing, punctual, knowledgeable, patient, and kind. Got to see so may sites! 10/10 recommend. Minibuses are used, so the experience felt personalized.
My wife and I had an amazing experience on a minibus tour with the wonderful Hjalti. We saw lavafields, both new and old, boiling hot sulphuric springs, two beautiful lakes, and the town of Grindavik which had been recently affected by a lava flow. It was a very interesting tour with lots of incredible places to see. The highlight was absolutely standing on and beside a solidified lava field that had been flowing only a few years before. Hjalti was friendly and knowledgeable; he was a brilliant tour guide and really made the trip memorable. Highly recommended.
I picked this tour because it required minimal walking and I was coming with my 7 year old son. The experience was more than I expected, especially thanks to our amazing guide Hjalti, whose personal enthusiasm for Iceland's ever-changing landscape was contagious. We learned so much about the local history with eruptions, both historic and very recent. My kid loved it. I highly recommend it!
Wow! This tour was my husbands idea but I'm so glad we booked it. Hjalti was incredibly knowledgeable and answered all of our (many) questions. But most importantly he pitched his responses just right. Thank you, Hjalti you have definitely infected me with the 'Icelandic disease'!
Great afternoon tour. Our guide even managed to find a lost cat, and rescued it. Very sunny and windy day, but the history of the volcanoes and being able to get up close and personal, was amazing.
This was a great tour. It was very cold but we found it very surreal going to the lava fields and to Grindavik. We went to where the lava flow. It was a bit of a climb to get up to the top but it was an amazing sight to see. Our guide had lots of information. He was very helpful and was happy to give assistance at Grindavik when I climbed up to the top of the hill to see the lava flow. He said he had lived in Iceland for over 30;years but he was originally from Vietnam. I wish I could remember his name. He was very kind. This was interesting to see what the volcano eruption did to a village and how they have rebuilt. I found it very humbling. It must have been a frightening event for them to experience. I would recommend Arctic adventures if travellers are interested in this kind of tour. Stephanie,Brisbane Australia
Knowledgeable tour guide and safe driver. Guide warned us about impending weather and adjusted our tour accordingly. Visit to Grindavik was eerie!
Great half day trip to the P2 lava field, first stop at Grindavik and then to the pools afterwards. Well organized, informative and easygoing. Totally enjoyed it!
Amazing tour of volcanic and geothermal areas, along with some gorgeous lakes and lava fields. Tour guide was excellent
Convenient hotel pick-up with a small group experience (10 people). Good knowledgeable guide, enough time per stop, and great value.
Although the actual sites visited and our tour guide were wonderful I simply cannot give the tour 5 stars. The bus is Tiny! I have went on full tours with other companies in Iceland and was not crammed tightly in as is the case with this company. The back row was truly sitting with thighs ON TOP of one another- in all honesty if we had been overweight we would not have even fit, as it was we had to hand each other seatbelts because we could not reach them for ourselves due to the tight space. I’m usually not picky but the bus ride was like being smashed in a subway car. This tour is offered by other companies- book a tour that visits these sites as they are worth visiting; just book with another company.
We went on a volcano tour with Frederick who kept us entertained with stories about past eruptions, local folklore and history. Unfortunately the volcano stopped erupting during our tour, but each site was spectacular. Bring water, sturdy shoes, and rain gear as Icelandic weather is unpredictable.
The tour description promised a crater hike, but we didn’t go near any craters—not even within sight. Due to heavy rain, visibility through the bus windows was almost zero. The bus didn’t stop at key locations but simply drove past while the guide told us to “look outside,” even though we couldn’t see anything. We didn’t walk in Grindavík as described. Instead, we stopped briefly at a restaurant and drove through the town without visiting the area affected by lava. We weren’t shown the lava-covered houses at all, and we couldn’t see the lava-covered roads due to fogged-up windows. The guide also said we’d visit the 2021 eruption crater, but when I asked, she laughed and said it wasn’t possible. On top of that, everyone was cold and wet, and multiple requests to turn on the heat were ignored. Cold air kept blowing through the vents, making the tour both disappointing and uncomfortable.
This trip was mediocre at best. Might have been because the weather was quite rainy and the sites we visited didn’t visit well in the rain. The driver was very quiet and didn’t interact much with us.
I was in Iceland with my aunt in May and we booked this tour. The various stops are impressive and our guide Siggi is simply amazing. He explained everything to us in a very friendly and knowledgeable way. Highly recommended!
A recommended experience The Tomas guide was the best of the experience It snowed a lot and yet you can visit and see everything An experience to repeat
Very impressive to see the volcanic area and all those lava fields. And to be able to see how imposing nature is. It's a unique experience.
Well what can you say ... we had a very sympathetic guide and that with winds of about 90 km/h on the hike (pt. 4 of the described route) was dispensed with (one could just about hold and walk on flat ground) I sign in full. But that e.g. no stops were made at the two lakes for a few minutes and a few photos I don't like to understand anymore. P were available but we just drove by. So the tour ended in Reykjavik after less than 4 hours. If it is not raining, the windows of the minibus could also be cleaned from the outside to see better ..if you already drive past the intended stops. Today max. only 3 stars.
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