Golden Circle & South Coast. Private Day Tour

Name: Golden Circle & South Coast. Private Day Tour
Brand: Top Iceland Tours
SKU: 19155P8
Price: 785.00 USD
Rating: 4.5 (19 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceReykjavik, Iceland

Golden Circle and South Coast of Iceland Private Day Tour from Reykjavik by Jeep

12 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Explore the Golden Circle and scenic splendors of Iceland’s south coast on a private full-day 4x4 trip from Reykjavik, with an expert guide. Traveling by comfortable Jeep, tour the famous Golden Circle sights of Gullfoss, Geysir, and Thingvellir National Park; and explore the stunning landscapes and coastline of southern Iceland. View the nearby glaciers, visit the Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls, and trace the craggy shoreline to witness awesome volcanic plains, black-sand beaches, and epic rock formations.

Private Golden Circle and South Coast day trip from Reykjavik in a 4x4 Jeep
See the continental rift and Althingi site at UNESCO-protected Thingvellir National Park
Admire the Gullfoss Waterfall and view the Strokkur Geyser
Visit Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls
See the black-sand beach of Reynisfjara and Dyrholaey Rock Bridge
Enjoy undivided attention and personalized commentary from a private guide

What's Included

Private tour for your party
Driver/guide services
Pickup and drop-off at your hotel in Reykjavik

Food and drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

What To Expect

Depart your Reykjavik hotel by 4x4 Jeep, and set out on your full-day trip to Iceland’s Golden Circle and south coast. As you travel, hear about the country’s history and geology from your knowledgeable guide, and gaze out at the lunar-like lava fields and volcanic peaks.

Enter the UNESCO-listed Thingvellir National Park, and skirt the shores of Lake Thingvallavatn, one of Iceland’s largest natural lakes. Stop at Althing, where the country’s first parliament gathered in 930 AD, and visit the continental rift, where the tectonic plates of Eurasia and North America meet above ground.

Walk between the two tectonic ridges, and for luck, toss a coin into the waters at Silfra, a crystal-clear, fissure pool between the plates. Visit the Geysir geothermal field, home to the Strokkur geyser, and behold the bubbling pools and wait five to 10 minutes to watch one of Strokkur’s regular eruptions, sending a high plume of hot water into the air.

Continue to see the double-tier waterfall at Gullfoss, whose name translates as Golden Waterfall.

Then, enjoy a tour of Iceland’s epic south coast and marvel at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss—two of Iceland’s most breathtaking waterfalls.

Finally, journey along the south coast’s cliffs and beaches, pausing for photos of its natural wonders. View the black sand bay at Reynisfjara to marvel at its basalt cliffs and the stunning natural rock bridge at Dyrholaey.

Your tour ends with a hotel drop-off in Reykjavik.

Thingvellir National Park

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Gullfoss Waterfall

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Haukadalur

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Fridheimar

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Seljalandsfoss

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Black Sand Beach

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Skogafoss

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 2 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Infant seats available

Most travelers can participate
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Operated by Top Iceland Tours

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Reviews

4.5

19 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-4 of 19 reviews

Probably great for families, but not for us

Leah_D, Jun 2021

We would recommend this tour specifically for families with kids trying to make the most of a short trip in Iceland, who require a lot of "hand holding". We felt our guide, while informative and kind, was ultimately not the right choice for us as independent, travel-savvy millennials. We assumed our guide would drive us around and explain Icelandic culture etc. in the car and then allow us to explore the individual sights on our own for a set period of time before returning to the car to move to the next destination. Instead, he'd stay with us at the sights, virtually on our hip and did not seem to like when we wanted to separate and explore in different directions at the sights. We felt like we were rushed and babied due to this helicopter hovering, and sometimes it even impeded our ability to take photos and chat privately as friends. The only time we really got to hang out as friends without feeling babysat was when we would go to the bathroom. However, there was an unexpected pleasant surprise stop on the tour - and that was when we visited the very interesting tomato greenhouse where we ate lunch. However, that lunch was not included in the cost of the tour, which surprised us, and we felt it was rude that he made a point of telling us that his specific lunch was free as a tour operator, but ours was not, when we hadn't even known we'd be stopping for a sit-down lunch there in the first place. The other thing that left us scratching our heads was the choice in guide. I believe this was one of the tours that required me to give a birth date at booking, so it made no sense that our selected guide be an older family man driving around two millennial women, while his son, who was about our age, was touring around a bigger family with older kids. The only reason we knew this is because we met up with them at one of the sights, and my friend and I were very surprised. Our guide specifically told us that he took his son's car for us, and his son swapped with him to drive the small touring bus for the family. It just seemed bizarre to not let your son drive his own car with two guests that were his own age. That choice probably would have made for a better experience for everyone. Again, we still think this might be an appropriate choice for families, just not for a millennial friend trip. We had younger, fun tour guides who allowed us to be independent and resonated with us much more for our other Icelandic activities, but this tour was a bit of a downer for us in comparison.

Response from Host, Jun 2021

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed review of your trip and thank you for recommending this tour for families. I am very sorry that your experience with me was worse than expected, which might also be hampered by rain during most of the day. I assume you would prefer a small group trip, where a driver-guide does not follow the group at stops but leaves travelers to explore unfamiliar places on their own. But this is not in line with the concept of our private tours, when a driver-guide shows to travelers the best of the trip, rather than staying in the car as a taxi driver. We shall take your comments into account and continue to confirm if our clients want escort during their stops or want more freedom, as it turned out in your case. Thanks again for this review, although you could let me know your wishes during the trip. When it comes to a guide engagement, we try to appoint a guide based on availability and client interests, but we have not received any information about your age. During the correspondence before the excursion, you also did not indicate any special requirements for this matter, so the choice of a guide by age was not relevant to your trip. My son, whom we met on the way, was with another group, which he rode the day before, and they asked him to be a guide on the next trip. We made the tour in a company-owned vehicle that was as specified in the tour description and had all permits for commercial travel with tourists. Therefore, one cannot agree that the choice of the guide or vehicle was wrong. As for lunch in Fridheimar, I'm glad you liked this place, but payment for lunch is not included in the tour price, it is indicated in the tour description. Before visiting the greenhouse, I asked if you would like to dine at this place at the right time, and the answer was positive. It's strange that you thought it rude to ask you to pay for a meal that costs no more than anywhere else in Iceland. We will take into account your wishes for our future trips in accordance with the best practices for private tours. Best regards, Sergei S.

Generally good

Leslie_Z, Jun 2019

We saw many areas that large tours miss, and we felt we were given a lot of time for pictures, etc. While some areas of information were sketchy (e.g. bird life), overall the information was thorough. Food and rest stops were very good.

Sergei Shramko is the Best!

Max_S, Jul 2018

Best tour I've ever taken, thanks to Sergei. He absolutely made the trip for us. Thanks, new friend!

LOVED THIS TOUR. Expensive and...

Vickie r, Jul 2017

LOVED THIS TOUR. Expensive and worth every penny. Sergei is knowledgeable and accommodating. With him, we saw things we knew we wanted to see as well as some fabulous sights we didn't even know existed. This tour maximized the limited time we had in Iceland. Have already recommended to friends.