Top Reykjavik Walking Tours - page 6

This was a very cool and educational experience. I love mythology and folklore and try to book a tour like this wherever I go. Even though I was already familiar with Norse mythology, I still learned quite a bit from this tour. There was some general Norse mythology stuff just as background and reference point, but the "meat" of the tour was very much Iceland specific. You would get no complaints from me if the guide just stood there and told us stories about Odin and Thor, but the very specific Icelandic flavor of the things that were discussed and the relevant locations was very much appreciated. I had no idea that Iceland had such a rich and unique folklore tradition that is very distinct from what comes to mind when you think Scandinavian folklore. The value of this tour was two fold. On the one hand, there were the cool stories and getting to know more about a fascinating culture. But that part stands on its own. We could have done this bit in the pub over a few beers (future tour idea maybe?) and I would have been happy. But the locations! The locations add a whole new aspect to this fantastic tour. I got to see more of the city proper. My lodgings were located in the touristy part of town where all the bars are, close to the big church and the rainbow street (no complaints on that front,) but I had no idea that there was a whole other part of Reykjavík that had some of the most amazing modern architecture I've seen on four continents. That should honestly just be a tour in and of itself. Love cool buildings? Let us show them to you and tell you cool facts about them! I'd book that. But I digress! We saw some really cool sites around Reykjavík. I need to come back just to see all the museums. Every stop we made had an interesting story related to it and even if it wasn't really relevant to whatever bit of cool Icelandic folklore our guide happened to be imparting to us at that moment, it still made the story better. Our guide told us about several Icelandic poems and lullabies. And then he sang them! He freaking sang them to us! How awesome is that? I'll tell you how awesome. Very bloody awesome! The tour included a visit to the local cemetery, and he showed us the graves of some of his relatives, which added a personal touch to the whole thing. At the end, we visited a secret garden. If you didn't know it was there, you'd walk right by it, none the wiser. I'm not gonna tell where it is. Book the tour and find out. Just know it's really cool. The weather wasn't exactly THE BEST for a walking tour. It was chilly, windy, and rainy. But the rain was just a light on and off sprinkle, the wind was pretty mild, and the cold was no worse than normal. It's was all in all a normal Icelandic day. I would have just preferred it if it wasn't 😀. Apparently these reviews have a character limit and I blew right past it so I had to revise my review. Long story short: if you're into mythology and folklore, book this tour. You'll learn a lot and want to learn more. Also, if you're building a road and there's a large, weird looking stone in the way, go around it. There's probably elves there, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Absolutely wonderful walk with Kristin, her connection to the city and Iceland in general is unique and I would guess unparalleled! We had just one day to experience Reykjavik and this was it's highlight; we roamed the history, folklore, artistry, and literature seamlessly from the ancient to the modern. Her own background/career and connection to Iceland is so impressive and leaves you wanting to come back again and explore more of this rich history!

Luca was an excellent guide. He was educational, informative, friendly and had a good sense of humor. He was thoughtful by sharing a traditional snack and drink with us. He offered to take photos for us and was patient. His background as a lawyer made our conversation interesting. We would recommend him to our family and friends.