South Iceland: Icelandic Horse Black Sand Beach Ride

GYG

South Iceland: Icelandic Horse Black Sand Beach Ride

★ 5.0(2 reviews)

• Guide works in English
• Duration per the operator: 3 hours

from $346

See dates, price and what is included at the operator

Three hours from Reykjavik to Reynisfjara on horseback

This tour takes you out of Reykjavik for a three-hour ride that ends at Reynisfjara, the black sand beach on the south coast. Saddle Stories runs it in English, with a guide leading the way the whole time. The ride itself is the point: you are on an Icelandic horse, not in a bus, and the beach is where you finish. At 346 USD per person, it is a shorter and more focused outing than the full-day south coast tours that also stop at Reynisfjara, and it suits anyone who wants the beach without committing ten or more hours to the drive.

Photographs from the operator Saddle Stories. They show the listing, not your day.

What the price covers and what you pay on the day

The 346 USD entry price covers the guided ride from Reykjavik to Reynisfjara and back, with an English-speaking guide leading the group. The operator does not break the price down further, so what is included beyond the guiding and the horses is not specified. At the beach itself, walking onto the sand is free, and so is using the toilets. Parking at Reynisfjara is charged per car: 1,000 ISK at the lower lot nearest the beach, or 750 ISK at the upper lot about a five-minute walk away. On a guided trip, that charge does not arise for you, since the operator handles the transport. At the exchange rate of 121.15 ISK per USD, the lower lot would come to roughly 8 USD if you were driving yourself, but you are not.

A perfect score with almost no weight behind it

The tour shows a 5.0 rating, but that figure comes from only two reviews. Two votes are not enough to tell you whether this ride is reliably excellent or just happened to please the first couple of people who reviewed it. In the south coast category, which holds 81 tours, this listing ranks 39th by number of reviews, squarely in the middle of the pack and far behind the comparable tours that have thousands of ratings each. The 10-hour South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand and Glacier Tour, for instance, carries a 4.8 from 12,274 reviews. Treat the perfect score here as a sign that nobody has complained yet, not as a proven track record.

Riding through the cool months, skipping the warm ones

Reykjavik's temperatures peak in July at 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) and stay above 10 degrees from June through September. This is a three-hour outing, so you are outside for a short stretch, but you are on a horse and exposed to the wind the whole time. The ride runs year-round, which means winter riders face daytime highs around 3 degrees (37 degrees Fahrenheit) and lows near minus 2 (28 degrees Fahrenheit). The daylight is the bigger constraint: a three-hour ride needs a solid block of light, so in December and January you are limited to the middle of the day. From May through August, the long daylight gives you far more flexibility on start times. The beach itself is windswept in any season, so the warmest months, July and August, are the most comfortable for the ride, though even then a layer against the wind is sensible.

Arriving at a beach with no gate and no staff

Reynisfjara is an open beach. There is no entrance booth and nobody checking tickets, because there is no ticket to check. You walk from the car park onto the sand freely. The lower lot sits closest to the beach, and the upper lot is about five minutes away on foot. The toilets are free. What the operator does not say is whether the ride includes any time off the horse at the beach, so plan on the stop being whatever the guide decides. Weather can change the plan: if conditions turn, the guide may cut the beach time short or adjust the route. The beach is known for strong waves, so stay clear of the water's edge and follow the guide's instructions on where to stand.

For riders who want the beach without the long day

This tour is for someone who wants to see Reynisfjara but does not want to spend ten or more hours on a coach. The three-hour format is compact, and the horse adds an element the bus tours cannot offer. It is not for anyone who needs wheelchair access, since the operator states the tour is not wheelchair accessible. It is also not the choice if your priority is seeing the wider south coast: the comparable full-day tours, such as the 10-hour South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand and Glacier Tour at 132 USD or the 14.5-hour South Coast, Diamond Beach and Jokulsarlon Tour at 230 USD, cover far more ground for less money per hour. If you have a full day and want waterfalls, glaciers and the beach in one go, those longer tours are better value. If you want the beach, a short ride and a return to Reykjavik, this one fits.

GYG

South Iceland: Icelandic Horse Black Sand Beach Ride

Dates, remaining places and the current version of what is included are at the operator. This page reflects the state of the catalogue, not the state of this morning.

from $346

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