We’ll take you first to Thingvellir National Park, where you will see the astonishing spectacle of continental plates tearing apart. Here you can stand with one foot in America and the other in Europe, on either side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Thingvellir is a place of great historical and cultural significance for Icelanders. It’s where its first parliament met for a thousand years, as chieftains would gather to make laws, dispense justice and settle disputes. Some were even executed in the “drowning pool”!
The next stop on your Golden Circle tour is Geysir, the highlight of the Haukadalur geothermal area. Bubbling with “hot spring” activity, this is the place that gave geysers all over the world their name. The “Great Geysir” has fallen silent now, but another spouting spring called Strokkur is just a few meters away. Strokkur is an “old faithful”, erupting every few minutes, sending fountains of superheated water high into the air. You’ll smell the sulfur in the air, and you’ll sense the phenomenal power of nature boiling under the surface of the Earth!
After Geysir, there is a short drive to another fantastic sight, Gullfoss. The “Gold Falls” are a two-step waterfall fed by the nearby glacier at Langjokull with freezing meltwater, thundering down 30 meters into a deep ravine. The power of these cascades creates a lot of mist and spray, so you might get a little wet if you get too close! On sunlit days, that means there will be constant displays of brilliant rainbows too.
Next, we take you to the South Coast to visit Kerid, a brightly colored volcanic crater. Kerid is only a few thousand years old, and the crater’s colorful appearance comes from iron deposits in the rocks. The caldera is also covered with lush banks of velvet-green moss. Inside the crater lies a shallow turquoise-colored lake, making Kerid one of the most striking sights seen anywhere in Iceland.
Then you will return to the city, but not before the last stop on your Golden Circle tour, which might be the highlight of your whole day! The Sky Lagoon is Iceland’s newest spa experience. We’ll bring you here for two luxurious hours, and you’ll enjoy yourself wallowing in an enormous infinity pool with unobstructed ocean views. You’ll have the chance to immerse yourself in a unique seven-step hotpot ritual based on Icelandic traditions, combining warm and cold waters and fresh air. As well as that, there’s a swim-up bar hidden in a cave, a café and saunas to enjoy! There’s no better way to end your Golden Circle adventure than two hours here at the Sky Lagoon!
Bear was a fab guide we learned a lot about geology and local tips of Iceland . We even had a bit of Led Zeppelin to listen to !!! The sky lagoon is mind blowing- take your phone in initially but then put it away and enjoy the 7 stage ritual - definite bucket list stuff ❤️❤️
An absolutely amazing tour of the Iceland Golden Circle + Volcanic Crater. Every stop was breathtaking and unique in its own way! Christina, the tour guide and driver was amazing! Her knowledge, humour, and experience of the island made it absolutely perfect for what we wanted from the trip! Thank you Christina :) Ending the day with the Sky Lagoon wrapped the day up perfectly and allowed everyone to relax after a day of witnessing Iceland’s beauty! Would highly recommend to anyone coming to Iceland!
A fantastic day trip that explored many of the amazing sights on the Golden Circle - geothermal park, awesome waterfalls, geysers and Thingvellir National Park. The trip culminated with a visit to the Sky Lagoon for a wonderful end to an amazing day. Philip is a very fun and entertaining tour guide and his music selection added ambience to the journey - some great music choices!
What a fantastic tour, I can not recommend it enough, my daughter and myself had the most amazing day, Our guide was great, very knowledgeable & friendly. Thankyou so much for such a wonderful day!
Fantastic day, we only visited for weekend and saw so much in this one day trip. Guide was really friendly and knowledgeable. Would highly recommend Nice Travel and thanks to our guide Bartosz for all the insight into history, geology and culture of Iceland. Plus ending day at Sky Lagoon at sunset was amazing
Great day out seeing the golden circle. Bartosh was a great and knowledgeable and interesting guide who joked throughout the day. We ended the day with sunset at the sky lagoon. Unreal. Not felt this relaxed in a long time
Absolutely amazing well worth every penny and every minute being there. Excellent trip from start to finish Bart our guide was fabulous a credit to your company. Very friendly and very knowledgeable lovely to listen to the stories on our way. Definitely do this again.
Great day out with Bartosh. Engaging guide, very knowledgeable, looked after us well. Took great care of us and fab driver. Thoroughly recommend the Tour.
The beginning is a bit chaotic, as everyone at the bus stop (and there were a lot of people at the bus stop) is rushing each bus in hope of it being theirs. It wasn't. Neither were the next five, but this led to humorous encounters with others as we all placed bets with each new bus. Once onboard though, the tour was amazing! Our tour guide was extremely informative and entertaining across a vast array of topics regarding the tour and, more specifically, Iceland. He even showed us some greenhouses along the way and stopped so we could see some horses. We had plenty of time at each stop to explore, and there were several opportunities for food, restroom breaks, and merch acquisition. We thoroughly enjoyed wrapping it up with Sky Lagoon. What a treat! We slept like a rock that night (the martinis at the swim up bar helped). I would definitely do this tour again once we persuade some friends to join us on another trip to Iceland!
We had a fabulous day out and the guide was entertaining and informative, Colin, We stopped ant lots of different venues all were beautiful locations and plenty to see. Would thoroughly recommended this trip
Beyond expectations! Lorri was an exceptional guide giving interesting insights into Iceland and played a great playlists too. We managed to fit in a couple of extra sights which was an added bonus. Thank you so much. Fabulous tour.
An excellent trip. From pick up to guide/driver JK, the trip combined the must sees of the golden circle with well timed stops for refreshments. Finishing at the excellent sky lagoon was the icing on the cake.
Monica was an amazing tour guide. She took extra care to give us a fantastic day!
Our tour guide for the day was Monica, and she was incredibly friendly, informative, and patient. She made the entire trip feel comfortable, organized, and fun. It’s definitely a full-day tour, starting around 8:30 in the morning and ending around 7:30 or 8:00 at night. We spent about 45 minutes at each location, which felt like the perfect amount of time to explore the site, take some pictures, and then get back on the bus. We happened to go on a very rainy day, so the timing actually worked out perfectly. After about 45 minutes outside, we were more than ready to get back on the bus, warm up, and dry off a little before heading to the next stop. The final stop was Sky Lagoon, where we were given about two hours. That was the perfect way to end the day. After spending the entire day walking around in the rain, relaxing in the warm water felt amazing. Overall, it was a long but very enjoyable day, and Monica did a great job making the experience comfortable and memorable.
Monica was amazing, she was very informative and a great attitude. You can tell that she enjoys what she does and I will most definitely recommend to everyone
The tour was very nice, Jonas was very informed, and eager to share his love of his country and all of the sites. It helped that we were prompt in returning to the bus because we saw a few extra things. He was very interesting and did a great job and it was a pleasure to spend the day on our small group tour.
I took the small group golden circle plus sky Lagoon tour with nice travel company. Pick up was excellent. Our guide and driver was courteous, informative, and helpful and it was an amazing trip. I would recommend it highly
This tour formed part of peoples multiple single or multi day itinerary and worked splendidly, naturally because of the outstanding weather (we got extra lucky) and Bartosz’ expert driving and commentary, but also because it was well paced, rich enough but not overpacked. I loved concluding the day at Sky Lagoon (in my opinion much better than Blue Lagoon) and I still had time for lovely dinner.
Sunny day with an excellent guide, he was also a geologist.
Vjeran was the perfect guide. He provided excellent information about Icelandic history, geography, and culture in a humorous way. He was a delight and we enjoyed every moment.
Great driver and story teller. Wonderful stories and history of Iceland with a great sense of humor. We had a great experience and everyone was on time when boarding the bus which allowed us a couple of bonus stops to see the Icelandic Horses and the Tomato Farm. The Sky Lagoon was a perfect way to end the day! Would recommend to anyone coming to Iceland as there were many stops along the way and great history.
What a great day, from all the interesting stops, with an extra one added for all being on time, to the wicked Sky Lagoon at the end. Our guide Bear was great, as a geologist had a wealth of information on every stop
(Monday, August 10) I don't mean to make this a review of Monika instead of the tour itself, but since she was such an integral part of the tour it's hard not to! The tour itself was great. Yeah, everyone does the Golden Circle. But this was the first time my wife and kids have been to Iceland, so we had to do it. I was in Iceland 24 years ago and did the tour on one of the big buses. So what a thrill it was to have the small bus experience - and have Monika as our guide! Monika is funny, engaging, plays great music, and truly looks out for what is best for her passengers. Monika paid attention to the crowds and the time of day and kind of tailored things based on where we were with the itinerary. She even added in some surprises. For example, we got to stop and pet some horses that belonged to a friend of hers. Monika went out of her way at one point to help a passenger who got separated from the group and went to the wrong pickup location. She accommodated another passenger who wanted to grab a t-shirt. And she did it all without affecting the rest of our day. We had adequate time at each stop and she told us what to expect and how best to navigate things. At our final stop at the Sky Lagoon, Monika escorted us all inside to make sure we were taken care of. My youngest son had some concerns about the changing room and shower situation. I wasn’t fully understanding what the attendant was saying about the showers (her English was perfect, I’m just slow understanding *laugh*) and Monika stepped in like a hero to help “translate” and explain things and put us at ease. She absolutely wanted to make sure we were okay. Whatever Monika is being paid - it's not enough!
Our guide, Gulli, was outstanding. He combined deep historical knowledge and local insights with a great sense of humor and highly professional, safe driving. Notably, he came to the rescue during an emergency at Gullfoss and helped secure medical assistance for an injured tourist from another group. The itinerary is fast-paced and involves a significant amount of walking and climbing stairs. There are several lookouts and most can find their comfort level. The time management at Gullfoss was excellent, allowing us to fully experience both the upper and lower viewpoints (the lower viewpoint is highly recommended if time is short). However, the 35 minute allocation at Kerið Crater only allowed enough time to walk either the top or bottom perimeter, not both. While the 20-passenger minibus offered a desirable small-group atmosphere, the final row was filled and uncomfortably cramped. Tour operators should reconsider maximum capacity bookings for back-row seating. Overall, this was an excellent experience that our multi-generational family group thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you Gulli!
Excellent tour under the expert guidance of our driver Gulli. Took us everywhere and explained a lot about the history, geology and even an extra to a historic church
Our guide was Gulli and we had a wonderful time. He made sure we were at the correct bus before getting on, and he shared history with us over a microphone as he drove. The sights were beautiful. A great way to see some of Iceland if you don’t want to drive yourself.
Gulli was our guide and was amazing. Saw the big ticket items with a fun stop at a church / crypt when another stop was unavailable. Pickup is super easy (you just be at the bus stop when they tell you). Bring a rain jacket / poncho
Gulli shared so much extra information
Gulli was great! Cool history facts and great advice for what to do and when at each location of the tour
Covers the most interesting sites outside Rekyavik with plenty of time to explore. Bathroom breaks and opportunities to purchase food were perfect.
(Monday, August 10) We booked the "Small-Group Golden Circle, Sky Lagoon with Ticket & Kerid Crater" tour with NiceTravel through Wake Up Reykjavik. I already left a review for that specific tour but I wanted to a leave a review for NiceTravel itself. Clearly NiceTravel is a great company if they can hire people like Monika and run tours as good as their Gold Circle tour. I will be sure to look into their other tours when I am back in Iceland.
Our guide, David, from Nice Travel is wonderful and we have a good time throughout the day.
super experience well worth it
Really enjoyable trip Our guide, Maria was excellent. She was so friendly and gave us so much interesting information about the locations we were visiting and about Iceland and its traditions . The day went too quickly!
NICE Travel was fantastic! Great communication to assist foreign travelers with unfamiliar places to ensure no one missed out on the adventure! Our Guide (Marie) was very knowledgeable and made "in the moment" itinerary adjustments to maximize our time at each location because of the volume of other very large tour groups with the same itinerary.
The excursion was absolutely fantastic and Maria did an excellent job. We were lucky to have a beautiful 60 degree sunny day. A must is too finish with the Sky Lagoon
Nicola was a friendly singing driver/guide. She has a great playlist and good balance of information to quiet.
This tour was phenomenal. The group size of 20ish people felt significantly less chaotic than previous tours we have taken. Monika was so fantastic! She was funny, informative and educational about Iceland's history, friendly, and fun to spend the day with. She was able to accommodate a couple special requests from other guests on our tour without compromising time. We had plenty of time to enjoy each stop, plenty of bathrooms available, and Monika told us exactly how to navigate and what to expect at each stop. The sights included on this tour were top notch. Though each site was crowded in general (it's summer and about a million extra people are here for the eclipse), we were able to spread out and get great photos and enjoy the experience at each site. This was my favorite tour of the whole trip!
My English teacher would have hated that title. It’s maybe some kind of triple negative? Or a gerund, whatever those were? But if Mrs. Dunigan is reading this, congratulations on being like 150, and I became an engineer, albeit one with a minor in English Lit. First off, let’s just get this part out of the way - Monika, our guide, made the already awesome trip 10x better. She was funny, played great and varied music by Icelandic artists, and knew so much about the things we passed on the way. We stopped at a few extra places - Monika wasn’t going to let us miss some opportunities for pictures because the weather and light were amazing. All the main stops were fun, and we even got to feed some horses! They are NOT ponies. The tour company was on point with communication, bus was clean and modern, and the price is Iceland tourist reasonable. Would love to do a different circuit with her next time!
First half is a bit slow, but picks up. Ending with Sky Lagoon during golden hour, is a perfect end
Vlad was a fabulous guide and driver. He is very knowledgeable about all of the stops and Iceland in general. He was accommodating for everyone and gave us exactly the right amount of time in each place. The geyser, falls and crater were amazing. But the sky lagoon was the highlight of this trip. Pay the small amount for the upgrade. It’s worth it. I would highly recommend anyone visiting Reykjavík for the 1st time to take this tour. Bring a raincoat!
Another great tour! and big tip: GO TO SKY LAGOON!! We are so happy that we didn't go to Blue Lagoon (the other option), which is overrun with tourists and families, SKY LAGOON was way better. It was designed like a grotto with an infinity pool over the ocean. It also had a 7-step spa that included a hot sauna, stream sauna, salt room and more. As for the trip, you would never be able to rent a car or do this on your own without a bunch of hassle. Note, this trip is more expensive because these lagoons cost about $125 for entry. You get two hours there and next time I go, I will stay for several more hours and take a taxi back. It's only 15 minutes for the city center.
We had a great day on this Golden Circle tour! Gulli was our guide, and he was hilarious. He kept everyone laughing while sharing lots of interesting information about Iceland, so the drive never felt long. The small bus made the tour feel much more personal, and we even got a few extra stops that weren't on the itinerary, which was a nice surprise. My partner and I accidentally got turned around at one of the stops and didn't make it back to the bus on time. Gulli even tried calling us, waited for us, and made sure we got back safely before continuing the tour. We really appreciated his patience and kindness. The perfect ending to the day was Sky Lagoon. After a full day of sightseeing, it was so relaxing and a great way to unwind. It was a long day, but it honestly never felt long because there was always something interesting to see or hear. Overall, this was one of the highlights of our trip. We'd definitely recommend this tour, especially if you get Gulli as your guide!
Gulli is a fantastic guide who added lots of interesting (já!) facts and stories. He kept us safe and on track. I would tour with Gulli again! He took us to his favorite place and explained about the natural History and the sagas of Iceland founding!
Incredible!! Gully was so passionate and clearly loves his job. It was wonderful to hear his account of the history and he was kind enough to ensure that I was still able to enjoy the trip to the max despite an injured ankle! Thank you to Gulli!
Gully was amazing!!!! Super funny friendly and informative. Would come again with him as my tour guide
If one is on a cruise shop, the pickup point is just outside the exit of cruise terminal in the parking lot, DO NOT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS SENT TO YOU AS THIS IS A MILE AWAY!
Great sightseeing tour with a knowledgeable and friendly guide. Pick up and drop off were clear and easy. Waterfall, Sky Lagoon, crater etc. were beautiful. Highly recommend!
Great itinerary, especially ending with Sky Lagoon! Pretour communication was excellent period. answered all my questions. on time pick up. Kiki are tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly.
Our guide was amazing, very knowledgeable and even added a stop for us. Very passionate about his country and it shows!
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