3-Day Golden Circle, Ice Cave and Glacier Lagoon Small-Group Tour
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Reykjavik, Iceland
- 3 days (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Go beyond the crowded, too-quick day tours and fully immerse yourself in Iceland's rugged scenery on this 3-day tour, taking in all the highlights of the Golden Circle and the South Coast. Completely un-rushed, explore wild landscapes like Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, the spouting Geysir, Reynisfjara black-sand beach, and Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon—where you'll go on an ice cave and glacier-hiking adventure.
- Three-day tour: Take your time and fully explore the region
- Includes two nights' accommodation and breakfast: No need to arrange your own
- Discover glaciers, waterfalls, volcanic beaches, and much more
- Travel in a comfortable minibus equipped with free Wi-Fi
- This small-group tour offers a more personal way to travel
What's Included
- Guided 3-day tour of the Golden Circle and South Coast
- Visit to Seljalandsfoss & Skógafoss waterfalls
- Visit to Fjadrargljufur Canyon
- Visit to Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and a natural ice cave
- Accommodation for 2 nights
- Pick-up and drop off from select locations in Reykjavik
- Small-group experience
- WiFi on board
- Transportation by comfortable mini bus
- Breakfast (2)Breakfast
- Lunch & Dinner
- Please note that if you are a solo traveler and do not choose the single supplement you will be paired in a twin room with another participant of the same gender
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
Please note that we only serve the pick-up locations specified in our pick-up list below. Due to traffic restrictions, we are not allowed to pick up from hotels in the city center nor from private Air BnBs. If your pick-up location is not on our pick-up list then we kindly ask you to find the closest pick-up point to your accommodation from our list: 22 Hill Hótel – Brautarholt 22-24. Arctic Comfort Hótel – Síðumúli 19. BSÍ Bus Terminal – Vatnsmýrarvegi 10. Bus Hostel Reykjavík – Skógarhlíð 10. Bus pick up/drop off nr.1 – City Hall, Vonarstræti Bus pick up/drop off nr.4 – Miðbakki Bus pick up/drop off nr.6 – Safnahúsið (The Culture House) Bus pick up/drop off nr.8 – Hallgrímskirkja Church Bus pick up/drop off nr.9 – Snorrabraut Bus pick up/drop off nr.12 – Höfðatorg Bus pick up/drop off nr.15 – Vesturbugt Cabin Hótel – Borgartún 32. Eyja Guldsmen Hotel – Brautarholt 10. Grand Hótel Reykjavík – Sigtún 38. Grayline – Main bus terminal - Klettagarðar 4. Hilton Reykjavík Nordica – Suðurlandsbraut 2. Hótel Ísland – Ármúla 9. Hotel Ørkin – Brautarholti 29. Icelandair Hotel Reykjavík Natura – við Hlíðarfót, Nauthólsvegur 52. Klettur Hótel – Mjölnisholt 12-14. N1 Gas Station – Ártúnshöfði Radisson Blu Hótel Saga – við Hagatorg. Reykjavík City Hostel – Sundlaugavegur 34. Reykjavík Lights Hotel – Suðurlandsbraut 12. Skarfabakki – Cruise Ship, Reykjavik Harbor, 105 Reykjavik
Operating hours.9:00 am
Itinerary
Day 1
The Famous Golden Circle Route
4 Stops
1
Thingvellir
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Geysir
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Gullfoss Falls
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Kirkjubaejarklaustur
50 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Accommodation: One night at a hotel near Vík.
Meals: Not included
Day 2
Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and Ice Caving
3 Stops
1
Glacier Lagoon
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Fellsfjara
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Skaftafell National Park
5 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Accommodation: Your accommodation for the night will be at the same hotel – Adventure Hotel Geirland.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3
South Coast Sightseeing
7 Stops
1
Fjadrargljufur Canyon
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Eldhraun Lava Field
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Reynisfjara Beach
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
4
Skogafoss
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Volcano Hekla (Pass By)
5
Seljalandsfoss waterfall
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Reykjavik (Pass By)
Accommodation: Not included
Meals: Breakfast
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- What to bring: Warm outdoor clothing, a waterproof jacket and pants, head wear, and gloves. Good hiking shoes are recommended.
- The order of the itinerary might change due to weather conditions. Your guide will have full power to make amendments to the itinerary when necessary.
- Minimum age is 8 years old
- This tour has the flexibility to make the most of the seasonal changes such as changes in weather and conditions. During the summer Iceland is characterized by energizing bright nights and midnight sun. Between August and May, if the forecast is suitable, you might even be able to spot the magical show put on by the Northern Lights. It is important to note that a guided Northern Lights hunt is however not included in the tour. Other wonderful and interesting possibilities can also come up during your south coast tour with us as Iceland is full of surprises.
- We use a couple of different ice caves for our 3 Day Golden Circle & South Coast tour. Ice caves are ever-changing and unpredictable natural phenomena. We usually visit the Crystal Cave at Breiðmerkurjökull during this tour but when the Crystal Cave is inaccessible we will most likely visit Katla Ice Cave. Which ice cave is chosen will however always depend upon the conditions and safety considerations on the day, sometimes a different ice cave will be visited. If conditions do not allow us to visit an ice cave a glacier hike will be offered as an alternative.
- Solo travelers who do not select the single supplement will be accommodated in a shared twin room with another participant of the same gender.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 6 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 316 reviews
Vivian_U, Feb 2026
This was an amazing tour. We saw the fabulous Northern Lights and our guide Matt was so informative, made the whole group feel like a family and truly made our tour a awesome experience.
Everett_S, Jul 2025
Incredible trip with Arctic Adventures - well planned out, organized, and jam packed with amazing activities. The weather was spectacular for our 3-day tour, permitting amazing views of the landscape and surrounding glaciers.
Be prepared to do a moderate hike with some incline during the summer months. The glacier hike was mostly a quick walk to the ice cave, but the cave made this stop worth it - otherworldly and magical!
Anthony_P, Jul 2025
We did the three day tour with Bjarkisv as our guide and highly recommend this experience for those visiting Iceland or considering visiting Iceland. The things we saw in those three days (glaciers, ice caves, geysers, waterfalls, beaches) left lasting, happy memories of one of the best travel experiences of our life. Our guide was great, as he was interesting and accommodating, in addition to playing the best music on the minibus. I highly suggest the three day tour rather than taking day trips from Reykjavik as a lot of the sites are pretty far from the city, and it works much better to stay outside the city and closer to the attractions so you dont spend so much time commuting each day.
Kelly_M, Feb 2025
This 3-day tour was the perfect way to start our Iceland trip! Our guide, Hilmar, was fantastic! The hotel accommodation was cozy and clean. The glacier hike and glacier lagoon were incredible. I would definitely recommend this tour!
Salwa_A, Feb 2025
An almost 900 USD trip of three days. Quite expensive I would say. The driver/guide was super informative and tried to accommodate and adjust the itinerary due to weather changes. We did not go to glacier lagoon, we did not do the canyon tour and visited the diamond beach so late that nothing was visible or safe. I have asked for a refund because we missed two major sights listed. I would recommend to take short tours and check weather yourself. Also was picked 30 mins late on day1. Had to make many international calls
Jim_C, Oct 2024
Our guide was wonderful!
Saw so many places and things we would never have seen ourselves .
Small group of 16 people in mini bus.
Fanny_K, Jul 2024
Everything were great. We had a good use of 3 days to visit the key scenery spots of Iceland. Everything and everywhere were so natural and beautiful. Weather for the 2nd day was so awful with flooding so we were off track for Glacier/Diamond beach visit and Ice Cave; but guide Gunnar had been working so hard to get us back on track on the 3rd day and everyone had been highly satisfactory. Glacier/Diamond beach; ice cave and secret waterfall are all extremely fun and shouldn’t be missed!!! I recommend this trip to anyone going to Iceland and wanna make full use of their relatively short visits.
Susan_O, Apr 2024
This trip was a great way to see all of the highlights of the Golden Circle and the southern part of Iceland. We covered all the included stops plus had time to go to a few extra sites as well. There are plenty of stops to use the toilet and have a snack, but be prepared to stay busy the whole three days. The hotel was simple, but the rooms were clean, comfortable and the restaurant at the hotel had something for everyone. I would definitely recommend this trip.
Stephany_K, Oct 2023
I was lucky to have Olavur as my travel guide during my 3-day tour. He knew so much history and geographical information about Iceland as well as provided very interesting stories and folklore. I am a solo traveler and the group I was with was also very lovely. Overall, an amazing tour for first time travelers to Iceland!
Ann_O, Sep 2023
I felt like we really all the highlights of Iceland without worrying about getting there and where to stay. Francois was excellent!
Tiago_L, Aug 2023
Everything was perfect! Thanks to Thomas, our guide, we were able to get to know with a lot of detail everything we were were seeing! We had a wonderful time and everything went perfectly.
The hotel we stayed for 2 nights in Dyrholaey had very comfy rooms, breakfast had variety and meals were not expensive.
Would definitely do it again…but next time in the winter :)
Tamara_G, Apr 2018
This is a wonderfully executed three day trip. It was well guided by Hawk, who did a fantastic job! We felt very well taken care of and learned a great deal along the way. We lucked out and had three days of sunshine and our adventures were all that much better due to great weather. My only negative comment is that you really don't have any choice for dinner, and you have to eat at the hotels while on the road. Both of the meals were very expensive. One of the hotels did not have any non-vegetarian choices under 35 a meal. The food was simple and fine but not worth the money. SInce there are no options and you must eat at the hotel if you want to eat dinner, I think dinner, like breakfast should be included in the price. All in all though...it was a great experience!!
Tiffany_C, Mar 2018
TL;DR: STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY! THEY WILL LIE WHEN THEY CANCEL TOURS AND REFUSE TO REFUND.
Tourism to Iceland has exploded with tourists out numbering Icelanders 6:1 each year. In response, prices have risen and Arctic Adventures went on a spending spree in 2017 gobbling up many of the smaller operators to form one big corporate conglomerate. An investment company also purchased a large stake (15%) in December 2017 hoping to take the company public in a few years. The result is not better service for lower prices. It is now a company so big and so slow it cannot (or chooses not to) properly train its staff, keep its equipment running properly, or react suitably to expected changes in Iceland weather. You may read this and think (as I did) that all these positive reviews can't be wrong, I must be a rare case. Reviews before 2017 do NOT apply to this new mega corporation. Keep reading.
My experience.
I chose to come to Iceland in winter to see an ice cave. I spent dozens of hours researching tours and operators. I read the TripAdvisor forums and they all said the itineraries are the same: Choose the cheapest. Do NOT make my same mistake by heeding this take this terrible advice. They might all mostly be the same or maybe they were all the same before corporate greed sprouted. But there's no doubt that now Arctic Adventures is far, far worse.
On the second day on my three day south coast tour we were scheduled to visit an ice cave. It had been raining for 16+ hours and the temperatures had risen to above freezing. I am from California, but even I know this means lots of extra water from the sky and melted ice.
Our 18 person group was split into two smaller groups to fit into the vans delivered to the shopping plaza parking lot. My van was lifted above the ground on big tires attached to tubes connected to an air tank. The second group was loaded into a normal van on snow tires. They sat maybe a foot below us. The guide was surprised, but thought "they do this every day, they must know."
Fifteen minutes later, our van pulled off the road. No explanation. We later found out neither driver spoke Icelandic and very little English. We watched as he fiddled with the air in the tires and the compressor tank. 10-15 minutes later he got back in and we turned off road. Another 15 minutes and the van behind us with our group was stuck in a river slowly sinking into the mud after it unsuccessfully attempted a crossing. The drivers stood outside talking and were on the phone for 20 minutes without communicating to us. Our driver then said we would attempt a rescue. It didn't work, drove them deeper into the mud, and we spent another hour waiting for professional help. We were later told by our driver that the driver of the now sinking van had made the mistake that got him stuck deeper.
After two hours, we turned back being told the tour was canceled. It was a lie. While stranded in the river, we were passed by other tour companies headed to the glacier driving vehicles equipped for the weather. In the total 2.5 hours we were on the road, we were not passed by others who failed and had to turn back as we were.
Once freed, our van again had to pull to the side of the road as our tires kept losing air. Fifteen minutes and he got back in and we set off. I was not meant to hear, but he told our guide that Arctic Adventures had lost 2-3 vehicles over the past few days and the van we were not in was not OK to drive. When we parked back at the shopping center, it was obvious that the van had four nearly flat tires. We would not have made it to the glacier and certainly not back with those tires.
As a group, we headed on to the glacial lagoon (passing successful tours who were returning from their visit to the ice cave including the earlier Arctic Adventures group). At the end of the day, we were told to make up for the ice cave, we would get to do an ice cave the next morning in addition to the glacial walk via Into the Glacier. We checked into our hotel signed up for the phone alerts for the Northern Lights.
The next morning, none of us had received a call yet many in the hotel and in the group had spent 30+ minutes marveling at the lights visible just outside our rooms. Another missed opportunity.
We piled into the van and were taken to a rest stop to meet our glacier guides. We park and our guide tells us it is all canceled, but we will wait for 30 minutes for Operations in Reykjavik to advise on what to do next. 90 minutes pass and we sit watching other tour companies equipping their guests with crampons and loading into vans. They are going; why are we not? Our guide said those companies visit another glacier where the wind is not so bad, but the glacier Arctic Adventures visits it is too windy. We ask to see another glacier. We are told to wait. Guides will go test conditions. They do not. We wait more.
I see the large snow vehicle with Arctic Adventures pull around and park in front of a shop. With our guide nowhere in sight, I go to find out what us happening. I ask the driver who is wearing an Arctic Adventures parka. He tells me the same. Their glacier is too windy so they are renting the equipment to a private group who will visit another glacier. Our time, our trip has been sold to a higher bidder. I go find our guide and he says he is still waiting to hear from Ops. I insist he take us somewhere while we wait.
We load into the van and he drives us with no special equipment to the head of a glacier where we see 100+ tourists in groups setting off on tours. We entertain ourselves for 20 minutes while we wait for the call from the big office. It comes, there will be no tour. It's now been over two hours since we left the hotel, since the guide was first told the weather was too bad. More time we will never get back.
Arctic Adventures never had a plan B or C for bad weather which is outrageous in a country like Iceland. Tours should be agile and itineraries shuffled in response to weather reports. Instead, Arctic put us into unsafe equipment with untrained guides and drivers, then pointed fingers at the weather when after hours they failed to meet what was promised to us in the brochures and again each day by the guides. Our guide took no autonomy to save the experience making us wait for hours in gas stations and rest stops for phone calls that delivered no news. When we asked about refunds, we were told to each contact the office.
I am now on a five hour drive back to Reykjavik having driven the the south coast to see nothing. A member of our group shows us pictures from the glacier we didn't get to visit being posted in real time as we drive in the opposite direction. Arctic's idea of saving the experience? They will take us to the lava museum on the way back and pay our 3,200 ISK admission. The tours we missed, Arctic charges 40,000 ISK on their website. These three wasted days cost me $1,000 US.
Our guide says he is upset too; he will have a meeting when he get back. But this won't help us, and I don't think it'll help you. It is clear this huge company is disorganized, poorly communicates if at all (An email to them proves this - - each response takes an average of three days if you get one at all. Try it.), and prioritizes profits over guests experiences. Don't leave Iceland with the regrets I have; choose a different, smaller operator. You cannot get your time back. I lost my time in Iceland and I will like lose many more hours fighting this company for a refund. Wish me luck.
Edit: After hours, they have disputed the value of the two tours that we missed and that they sell on their website for 40,000 ISK saying they are only worth 2,691ISK.
Artic Adventures also operates under the names Extreme Iceland, Trek Iceland, Glacier Guides, Dive Silfra, Arctic Rafting, Viking Rafting, Scuba Iceland, Glacier Lagoon Iceland, Snowmobile.is and Arctic Sea Tours. They are partially owned by GAMMA Investments, a capital management investment firm.
Rebecca_S, Mar 2018
Tour was amazing, guide was a local giving lots of information and very friendly - he often came out to talk to us each evening while sitting in the common room of the hotels.
hotels were nice and clean and would go back to each one, food was also good at each hotel breakfast and dinner
slight mix up with the tour company when we were picked up at the start of the tour - we wrote our hotel to be picked up, they assumed a bus stop near by - after an hour wait outside we called and were picked up 20 mins later - not a big deal but that is why this is review is missing a star but really that only deserves a half star deduction
glacier walk was a fav part - very easy but very enjoyable
we were not able to see the northern lights during the tour but the guide set up another tour for us to go out the last night to see them
am we saw them!
Patrick S, Feb 2018
This was a great option for two Southerners from the United States exploring Iceland in January. In a matter of a few hours, the weather would go from snowy to sleet to rain to beautiful blue skies, and it was helpful to have a guide who knew the weather conditions and exactly where to go on the roads even with occasional poor visibility.
The tour itself was fantastic! We hit all the highlights of Iceland's southern coast in an extremely timely manner. Our guide was savvy enough to read when certain areas would be crowded or not particularly at the few and far between restaurants, so this helped us spend more time on the natural beauties of Iceland.
With Adventure in the title, I thought there might be more adventure/strenuous activity, but all activities are essentially walking or an occasional light hike. People of all ages can easily keep up with this tour.
Irene N, Jan 2018
This trip is great. Our guide was Ragnar and he was very enthusiastic, funny, informative and really cared about our group having a good time. We had a group of 12. The bus pick up was on time. Since we went in mid January, daylight was only from approx 10:30-4:30pm. He made sure that we saw as much as possible in the short amount of time. We spend about 20-35 minutes in each place before driving to the next location. It was plenty of time to explore a bit and snap a bunch of pictures. It may have been a tiny bit rushed for some people but I would rather see as much as possible during the day than get to the last couple of locations in the dark and not see anything. In the summertime, they spend more time in each location. The last day of our tour had to be cancelled due to bad weather. Ragnar did his best to make sure we had a good time on Day 2 since we were missing out on the glacier hike on Day 3. After the trip, Viator processed the refund within 24 hours.
Dellie, Jan 2018
Vik was a flexible and kind guide. Every sight we visited was stunning and we were driven right up close to everything.
Connie C, Jan 2018
This tour was great. We did a lot with the time we had. My only complaint was that the bus did not pick up at the hotel as promised. I was in an area where all buses are allowed but was called 10 minutes prior to the start of the tour that the pick up location was down the street instead. I waited out in the cold for a further 45 minutes which was not necessary.
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