Reykjavik Tours: The Real Guide to Iceland's Capital

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Every tour, checked

Find the tour that fits your trip

Every tour that leaves Reykjavik, in one place.

Filters

What kind of trip?

Golden Circle204South coast124Northern lights116Lagoons50Blue Lagoon44Volcanoes40Whales36Glaciers23Ice caves19Hiking44Highlands28Horses12Food21City walks25Ring road19

What kind of trip?AnyGolden Circle (204)South coast (124)Northern lights (116)Lagoons (50)Blue Lagoon (44)Volcanoes (40)Whales (36)Glaciers (23)Ice caves (19)Hiking (44)Highlands (28)Horses (12)Food (21)City walks (25)Ring road (19)

How long?

Under 4 h2644–7 h837–12 h28812 h+312 days+254

How long?AnyUnder 4 h (264)4–7 h (83)7–12 h (288)12 h+ (31)2 days+ (254)

Budget?

Under $7552$75 to $150147$150 to $300217Over $300510

Budget?AnyUnder $75 (52)$75 to $150 (147)$150 to $300 (217)Over $300 (510)

926offers

Most booked

Reykjavik: Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater

★ 4.826,671·7–8.5 hfrom $91Proven, thousands booked

From Reykjavik: Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa

★ 4.314,847·4 hfrom $83Sells out fast

Official Blue Lagoon Iceland: Comfort admission

★ 4.66,056·1 dfrom $145Full day out

Reykjavík: South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier Tour

★ 4.812,274·10 hfrom $132Quick trip

Reykjavík: Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise

★ 4.511,217·3 hfrom $97Exceptional

Reykjavik: Sky Lagoon Entrance Pass With 7-Step Spa Ritual

★ 4.87,388·1 dfrom $116Good value

Reykjavik: Perlan - Wonders of Iceland Experience

★ 4.74,085·2 hfrom $57Best price

Reykjavik: LAVA SHOW - Immersive Experience Entry Ticket

★ 4.84,030·1.2 hfrom $53Quick trip

Reykjavik: Red Lava Horse Riding Tour

★ 4.82,646·2.5 hfrom $143Quick trip

Reykjavík: Silfra Fissure Snorkeling between Two Continents

★ 4.72,142·3–5.5 hfrom $137

See all 926 checked tours

Or take a ready-made selection all 52 have a page of their own

Tours over $300

510 offers · from $304

Half-day tours

314 offers · from $24

Private and small-group tours

302 offers · from $50

A full day

270 offers · from $33

Up to four hours

265 offers · from $24

Tours from $150 to $300

217 offers · from $150

Golden Circle tours

161 offers · from $79

Tours from $75 to $150

147 offers · from $79

Winter tours

93 offers · from $32

Four to seven hours

83 offers · from $79

South coast day trips

81 offers · from $116

One week in Iceland

71 offers · from $1,050

Browse all 52 selections

Wildlife and water

• Whale watching from Reykjavik36
• Boat tours from the Old Harbour31
• Puffin tours18
• Caving and lava tunnel tours15
• Icelandic horse riding12
• Silfra snorkelling and diving11

Landscapes and lights

• Golden Circle tours161
• South coast day trips81
• Northern lights tours from Reykjavik68
• Volcano and lava tours40
• Snaefellsnes peninsula tours28
• Highland tours28
• Glacier hikes and glacier tours23
• Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon tours20
• Ice cave tours19

What it costs

• Tours over $300510
• Tours from $150 to $300217
• Tours from $75 to $150147
• Tours under $7552

In and around the city

• Sky Lagoon and hot spring tours50
• Blue Lagoon tickets and transfers44
• Attraction and museum tickets24
• Food, beer and tasting tours21
• Bus and sightseeing tours15
• Cruise shore excursions13

How the trip is shaped

• Private and small-group tours302
• Winter tours93
• One week in Iceland71
• Winter packages63
• Five and six day trips62
• Small group packages48
• Short breaks, three and four days43
• Private guided packages35
• Two weeks and longer28
• Super jeep tours20

How long it takes

• Half-day tours314
• A full day270
• Up to four hours265
• Four to seven hours83
• More than one day50
• Twelve hours and more48

On foot and on wheels

• Hiking tours29
• ATV and buggy tours27
• Walking tours of Reykjavik25
• Helicopter and scenic flights6
• Photography tours6
• Snowmobile tours6

Package trips

• Northern lights packages48
• Golden Circle and south coast packages43
• Ring road packages19
• Hiking and trekking packages15

format

• Self-drive packages4

Start with your month, not the tour. Book a northern lights tour for June and nobody can show you anything: the sun is up for 21 hours and the sky never gets dark enough. Come in December and you get four hours of daylight, and the long nights the aurora needs. Puffins nest on the islands off the coast from about May to August, and the natural ice caves open around November.

Pick your dates first. What is possible, what it costs and which Reykjavik tours are worth your money all follow from them, and this page takes them in that order.

When are you going?

Every season here sells something the other cannot. Summer brings long daylight, whale sailings at their strongest, puffins on the islands and the highland roads. Vegagerdin opens the mountain F-roads on its own schedule each spring, around 2 June for the F208 on average, and the bus to Landmannalaugar runs from about 20 June to 15 September. Winter brings the aurora season, late August to mid-April, set by the return of real darkness rather than by the lights themselves, and the natural ice caves, roughly November to March.

Neither half is as mild as people expect. The average high runs from 3.2°C (38°F) in January to only 14.9°C (59°F) in July, so a waterproof shell earns its place in every month of the year.

A Reykjavik travel guide that lists sights without dates is describing a version of Iceland that may not be open in your week. The calendar is the first filter, before any operator or any price.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

Reykjavik: Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise

★ 4.5 · 11,217 reviews

A boat trip from the harbour with a strong chance of sightings in summer

from $97

Check availabilityFree cancellation

One day out, or two

Most people who visit Reykjavik take at least one day trip, and the honest measure of each is the driving, not the distance on a map. The Golden Circle is the shortest real day out: Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss make a loop of about 3 hours 45 minutes behind the wheel, which is why every operator sells it and why half-day versions exist. The south coast is longer. Skógafoss alone is 2 hours 22 minutes each way before anyone steps off the bus.

Jökulsárlón, the glacier lagoon, is the trip that gets oversold. It lies 377.7 km (235 mi) and 5 hours 40 minutes by road from the city, so a day tour spends 11 hours 20 minutes driving before the first stop. Sold as a 14 to 16 hour day, that is honest. The two-day tours are not a luxury; they are the version with time to look, and the lagoon deserves it: the retreat of Breiðamerkurjökull created it within living memory.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

Reykjavik: Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater

★ 4.8 · 26,671 reviews

Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and the Kerið crater in a single full day

from $91

Check availabilityFree cancellation

Look at the clouds before the Kp number

The forecast most people check is the Kp number, and it is the one most likely to disappoint. The Icelandic Met Office publishes two things side by side: geomagnetic activity on a Kp scale of 0 to 9, and a cloud-cover map. The cloud map decides the night. Kp 2 under a clear sky beats Kp 5 under cloud, which is why your guide drives inland one night and toward the coast the next: they are chasing the gap in the cloud.

Seeing the lights from the city itself is possible on a strong, clear night, but it is not the normal case. Tours drive an hour or more out of town to escape the streetlights, not to get closer to anything.

Before you book, check one thing: will the operator take you out again free if the sky stays shut? Many do, but it is each company's own policy rather than an industry rule, so read the terms of the tour you choose.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

From Reykjavik: Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa

★ 4.3 · 14,847 reviews

An evening coach tour out of the city chasing clear sky for the aurora

from $83

Check availabilityFree cancellation

A lagoon costs ten times a pool

Sky Lagoon's basic Saman pass costs from 14,990 ISK, and its Sér pass from 17,990 ISK. Reykjavik's city pools charge 1,500 ISK for an adult, and the pool is where Icelanders actually go. Both make a good afternoon; only the lagoon has to be booked ahead, and it admits nobody under 12.

Reykjavik Iceland trips carry a second layer of costs that the headline price leaves out. Sights that used to be free now charge for parking: Þingvellir and Geysir about 1,000 ISK each, Skógafoss 1,000 ISK from a car park roughly 500 m (550 yd) from the falls, Seljalandsfoss 900 ISK and Sólheimajökull 750 ISK. Gullfoss is still free, so a self-drive Golden Circle day costs about 2,000 ISK in parking. Kerið charges a flat 700 ISK to walk in, with no child or senior rate.

A tour price rarely covers everything either. What it most often leaves out, in order: admission to a lagoon or a museum at the end of the day, then lunch, then the parking a self-drive would have paid.

The Blue Lagoon footbridge, Grindavik

Blue Lagoon entryfrom $145 · ★ 4.6 · 6,056 reviewsCheck availability ›

Getting in from Keflavík

Most travel to Reykjavik Iceland starts at Keflavík Airport (KEF), the country's main gateway. It is not a suburb of the city but a separate town on its own peninsula, 47.2 km (29 mi) and about 47 minutes away by road. That drive is the first cost of the trip, and it is better settled before you land.

The Flybus coach runs one-way from 3,999 ISK a seat. A taxi from the airport runs from about 22,500 ISK a car, which sounds like a group saving and rarely is, as the chart below shows for a group of any size. Inside the city, a single Strætó bus fare is from 690 ISK.

★★★★★

GetYourGuide

Keflavik Airport (KEF): Bus Transfer to/from Reykjavik

★ 4.7 · 20,988 reviews

Transfer between Keflavík Airport and central Reykjavik accommodation

from $37

Check availabilityFree cancellation

Stay near a pickup point

Most Golden Circle, south coast and Snæfellsnes tours collect passengers from a set list of central stops. A hotel outside that radius can add an early alarm and a paid transfer to every tour day, which on a short trip costs more hours than it saves dollars. Staying central also shortens the walk home in December, when darkness falls by mid-afternoon; in June there is barely any darkness to walk through.

Check a tour's own pickup schedule rather than its start time. The first collection can come well before the hour on the listing.

Every place to stay, checked

Compare 458 places to stay in Reykjavik

Every property in the Reykjavik catalogue, in one place.

Filters

Where in the city?

City centre264Hlidar81Laugardalur16Vesturbaer14Fossvogur23Kopavogur28Outer suburbs24

Where in the city?AnyCity centre (264)Hlidar (81)Laugardalur (16)Vesturbaer (14)Fossvogur (23)Kopavogur (28)Outer suburbs (24)

What kind of place?

Hotel79Apartment331Guesthouse37Hostel11

What kind of place?AnyHotel (79)Apartment (331)Guesthouse (37)Hostel (11)

Guest rating

9+ Exceptional1578–9 Very good1937–8 Good64

Guest ratingAny9+ Exceptional (157)8–9 Very good (193)7–8 Good (64)

458places

Most booked

201 Hotel

8.3/10 · 6,596Very Good

KEX Reykjavík

8.1/10 · 4,104Very Good

Guesthouse Pavi

8.0/10 · 3,812Very Good

Midtown Reykjavik by Heimaleiga

8.1/10 · 3,672Very Good

Center Hotels Plaza

8.3/10 · 5,268Good

Bus Hostel Reykjavik

7.9/10 · 3,849Very Good

ODDSSON Midtown Hotel

8.5/10 · 3,733Good

Hostel B47

7.9/10 · 3,732Excellent

Hotel Muli

8.6/10 · 3,507Exceptional

Hotel Local 101

9.0/10 · 3,235

See all 458 checked places

Or take a ready-made selection all 12 have a page of their own

Every place to stay in the Reykjavik catalogue

458 places · from $408

Apartments in Reykjavik

319 places · from $408

Where to stay in downtown Reykjavik

266 places · from $408

Family rooms and apartments

215 places · from $408

Luxury hotels in Reykjavik

51 places · from $2,632

Cheap places to stay

48 places

Guesthouses and B&Bs

37 places

Hotels for the northern lights

31 places

Holiday homes and villas

27 places · from $1,400

Boutique hotels

21 places

Hostels in Reykjavik

11 places

Hotels with a spa or hot tub

5 places

Browse all 12 selections

Places to stay

• Every place to stay in the Reykjavik catalogue458
• Apartments in Reykjavik319
• Where to stay in downtown Reykjavik266
• Family rooms and apartments215
• Luxury hotels in Reykjavik51
• Cheap places to stay48
• Guesthouses and B&Bs37
• Hotels for the northern lights31
• Holiday homes and villas27
• Boutique hotels21
• Hostels in Reykjavik11
• Hotels with a spa or hot tub5

More than a day?

A day tour reaches most of what people come for and returns the same evening, and for a short trip that is the right shape. What it cannot do is put the south coast, the glacier lagoon and a few clear nights for the aurora into one visit, because each wants its own day and the driving between them is real. The ring road, about 1,300 km (800 mi) around the whole island, needs about eight days to be a holiday rather than a coach schedule.

That is what the multi-day trips below are for: the route, the beds and the transport as one booking, with the price stated before you click. Filter by what the trip is about, how many days you have and what you want to spend.

Every package, checked

Compare 204 multi-day trips from Reykjavik

Guided trips that run for days rather than hours, with the nights and the driving arranged.

Filters

What kind of trip?

Golden Circle & south43Northern lights48Ring road19Hiking15Winter trips63

What kind of trip?AnyGolden Circle & south (43)Northern lights (48)Ring road (19)Hiking (15)Winter trips (63)

How many days?

3 to 4 days435 to 6 days627 to 9 days7110 days+28

How many days?Any3 to 4 days (43)5 to 6 days (62)7 to 9 days (71)10 days+ (28)

Budget?

Under $1,50042$1,500 to $3,00063$3,000 to $5,00059Over $5,00040

Budget?AnyUnder $1,500 (42)$1,500 to $3,000 (63)$3,000 to $5,000 (59)Over $5,000 (40)

204trips

Most booked

Iceland Adventure

★ 5.0436·8 dfrom $4,999Guided, start to finish

7 Day - Complete Iceland - Standard Package

★ 4.6216·7 dfrom $2,557Guided, start to finish

Land of the Northern Lights - 5 days

★ 4.4183·5 dfrom $1,645Guided, start to finish

3 Day - Golden Circle, South Coast, Jökulsárlón & Ice Cave

★ 4.4172·3 dfrom $1,072Newly listed

6 Day Laugavegur & Fimmvörðuháls Trek - Huts

★ 4.423·6 dfrom $2,887Traveller favourite

Icelandic Explorer - 10 days/9 nights

★ 4.919·10 dfrom $5,745Best price

3 Day Best of Iceland Package

★ 4.416·3 dfrom $527Newly listed

Taste of Iceland Coach Tour - 6 Days/5 Nights (16 destinations)

★ 4.813·6 dfrom $2,786Guided, start to finish

5 Day - Snæfellsnes & South Coast

★ 4.5163·5 dfrom $1,617Guided, start to finish

8 Day - Iceland Ring Road Tour - Adventure Package

★ 4.4128·8 dfrom $2,887

See all 204 checked trips

Or take a ready-made selection all 11 have a page of their own

One week in Iceland

71 trips · from $1,050

Winter packages

63 trips · from $252

Five and six day trips

62 trips · from $644

Northern lights packages

48 trips · from $252

Small group packages

48 trips · from $486

Short breaks, three and four days

43 trips · from $252

Golden Circle and south coast packages

43 trips · from $252

Private guided packages

35 trips · from $644

Two weeks and longer

28 trips · from $1,394

Ring road packages

19 trips · from $1,506

Hiking and trekking packages

15 trips · from $1,320

Browse all 12 selections

Package trips

• Northern lights packages48
• Golden Circle and south coast packages43
• Ring road packages19
• Hiking and trekking packages15

How the trip is shaped

• One week in Iceland71
• Winter packages63
• Five and six day trips62
• Small group packages48
• Short breaks, three and four days43
• Private guided packages35
• Two weeks and longer28

Before you go

Check the date on anything you read about Reykjanes. The Met Office's hazard assessment is dated and expires, so a Reykjavik guide written months ago may describe an eruption that has ended, or miss one that has begun. This is where things stood at the last check:

Americans and Britons need no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180; Iceland is in the Schengen area but not in the EU. Passports should be valid for three months beyond your departure. The current rules are published by the US State Department and the UK FCDO; check both close to the trip.

Two small things come up every day. Tap water is safe and free everywhere, and the hot tap smells faintly of sulphur because it is geothermal. Tipping is not expected, since service is included in the price; the free walking tours, whose guides work for tips, are the exception.

Book in this order

Fix your dates first, against the seasons above. Book the airport transfer next, because it is the first thing you need after landing. Then choose a bed within walking distance of a tour pickup point.

Only then choose the tours. By now your days and your budget are fixed, so you are comparing like with like, and the parking, lagoon and transfer costs are already in the total rather than a surprise at the end.

Last checked on 2026-09-07·Reading time 7 minutes