Enjoy Iceland on your own guided tour!

Wunderbare Tagestour Wir waren zwei Ehepaare und hatten einen wunderbaren Tag mit Kjartan bei der Umrundung des Myrdajökulls mit dem exzellenten Ziel Mælifell !! Das Auto war in bestem Zustand, Kjartan gut informiert und freundlich und ging wo immer möglich auf unsere Wünsche und Marotten ein. Bei gutem Wetter ist das eine ideale Tagestour in eine Gegend, wo man als Selbstfahrer doch an Grenzen kommen könnte. Gerade da wir Island schon viermal kennen lernen konnten (und über das Preisniveau stöhnen mussten) würden wir gerne auch mal eine Mehrtagestour mit Glacial Experience ausprobieren.

Iceland - Magical vacation My husband and I, along with another couple decided on short notice to go on a trip to Iceland. We all have traveled before and knew that private tour is the way to go. Our travel agent wasn’t familiar with any of the private tour groups in Iceland so we did some research on our own and found Glacial Experience. Kjartan was always quick to respond to emails. He helped us plan a perfect itinerary for us. Our driver was Haflidi who couldn’t be more nicer, smart, funny, and helpful. He is a man who knows so much and was fun to be around. He took excellent care of us. This trip is definitely one for the books and Glacial Experience made that happen for us.

💕 Land of Fire and Ice Where should I begin! From the beginning Kjartan and Tobba at Glacial Experience did an amazing job with reaching out and coordinating our trip. I had contacted 2 other companies but felt Glacial Experience would give us a more authentic curated experience based on the wide age ranges we had in our group ( 5 y/o to 50+). We were able to see many of the waterfall highlights and national parks in the southern region; crossed multiple rivers and visited the highlands in a super jeep, hiked and snowmobiled on a glacier, rode in a zodiac boat in the Glacier Lagoon and saw icebergs up close all in 7 days! In addition we had time to see all the wonderful sights in Reykjavik. Our awesome guide, Haflidi, was integral in this process. It seems like he knows everyone in Iceland and was so abundantly knowledgeable with Iceland’s history, culture, geology and its current vibe, we couldn’t help but learn something new each day. The folks at Glacial Experience turned a family vacation to Iceland into an incredible memory!

Iceland over NYE My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Iceland with Glacial Experience through Zicasso over New Year's Eve to celebrate our 25th anniversary. The trip completely exceeded our highest expectations! The itinerary they created was fascinating and packed just enough in every day that we were able to do so many things without feeling like we were rushed from place to place. The accommodations were very good with a special shout out to Hotel Ranga for their amazingly friendly staff! Our private guide, Thor Tulinius, was simply incredible and brought such depth and color to the trip. His personality is outgoing and engaging and we felt as if we'd made a new friend by the end of the week. His knowledge of history, geology, and folklore brought each experience to life. He was also able to adjust on the fly a few times when we decided to change the itinerary a little bit. We absolutely plan to return in summertime and would most definitely request Thor again. The trip was great on it's own, but Thor made it spectacular! We had an unexpected surprise at the end of the trip and tested positive for Covid on our pre-departure testing so had to stay an extra week in a government provided hotel for quarantine. Thor and Tobba (Glacial Experience staff) went above and beyond helping us navigate the health care system for official testing (the rest of the world could learn a lot from the ease and efficiency of the Icelandic system!) and checked in on us multiple times during our quarantine. We highly recommend Glacial Experience!!! Thank you for a magical trip!

The Kona Tour Our time in Iceland can be described as nothing less than Phenomenal!! Together we spent an incredible 5 days on the Kona Tour with Kjartan, the best guide I've ever had the pleasure to tour with. We (my friend, and another Kona tour participant) asked Kjartan question after question, and were always provided with a comprehensive history. Kjartan is extremely knowledgeable, providing facts and tidbits throughout the entire experience, while also wanting to engage in dialogue, and learn about us as visitors and people. The Kona tour is a Gender Equality tour, which included meetings and discussions with noteable feminist women in Reykjavik, along with getting to see the endless natural beauty of Iceland. Getting to meet prominent Icelandic feminists gave us a comprehensive overview of the current issues Icelandic society is facing in the struggle for equality. Touring with Kjartan was such a personal experience- we became fast friends, and felt like we were in Iceland just visiting with someone we had known for years. It seemed like everywhere we went he would know someone there, and had friends and contacts throughout the country. Our tour was extremely customizable, with Kjartan taking our feedback and requests and adapting our itinerary accordingly. We drank so much coffee, some of the best while traveling along admiring the stunning views in the cozy van. Our hotel/accommodation was great- sleek Nordic design, central location, superb breakfast (Skyyr and smoked salmon are not to be missed!). Iceland is breathtaking, even more so when you have a knowledgable guide there to explain whatever it is you're seeing, and give you a comprehensive overview to increase your understanding. I could not recommend the Kona tour more! It's an absolute must-do, and when I find myself in Iceland next, I will definitley be touring with the Glacial Experience again.

An Amazingly Góður Icelandic Glacial Experience Tour Our family of 4 recently completed ten-day trip of Iceland - Golden Circle, South Coast, Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Reykjavik, and more with Kjartan and his most comfortable van (which could accommodate 10) - and what an amazing experience we had that brought lots of smiles to our family including our 2 daughters. It was a perfect family get-together and everything was just PERFECT !!! It all began with a reference from Jurga of Full Suitcase.com - we wanted to do a private family tour. She recommended Kjartan of Glacial Experience. With the first email and a lot more emails thereafter, Kjartan (patiently) and our family planned our detailed day-by-day itinery including our hotel stay including our special vegetarian breakfast. We landed at KEF on November 26 and our tour began on Nov 27. It started a bit ominously - with a visit to the car dealership to fix the gas tank opening issue. After that, there was no looking back: 1. As we travelled through the Golden Circle, South Coast - we had 4 days of sunshine and clear skies - and Northern Lights display for several hours on two nights. Kjartan commented that he has not seen a family "so lucky" to have this kind of weather and Northern Lights during this time. I corrected him slightly not "so lucky" but "so blessed" !!! 2. All our hotel stay was wonderful including the stay in Reykjavik - which turned out to be the residence of a former Iceland Prime Minister. How cool is that !!! 3. Kjartan took extra care in making sure we had the best time in Iceland. He took us on hiking trips including the one to the "Steinn" or the Stone on Mount Esja trail - what a wonderful hiking experience - we managed to break his stereotype of us Indians not wanting to do physical activities. He planned the smowmobiling, glacier hike, and blue ice caves, blue lagoon (with a stay at Silica Hotel) activities for us. he went an extra mile in doing so many things for us - way beyond what a normal tour company would do. We felt completely safe in his driving - and the driving time always seem short with him sharing so many stories of Iceland and its culture , politics, etc. Kjartan became our family member - he and his wife came to our place for a vegetarian dinner. 4. The temperatures were in the range of 26 to 32 F while we were there - very little wind - again "so Blessed". Kjartan suggeested fullsuitcase.com for tips on what to bring and wear. We followed that and never felt cold. Kjartan: Takk fyrir for this special Icelandic experience for our family !!! I highly recommend Glacial Experience Tours very much for a wonderful Iceland Experience and lots of memories and pictures.

4 Days Highland Tour in Iceland 8 of us from China had a wonderful time in our trip to Iceland from 16th Sept to 30th Sept. We took a 4 days Highland Tour with our excellent private guide Ingolfur before we had our self drive around the ring round of Iceland. Iceland is such an amazing country we all love! Our stunning photos and happy memories in Iceland have already attracted many of our friends who would make Iceland as their next destinations! We were very lucky to see the magnificent northern lights five times. The northern lights lasted almost 3 hours just in front of the cottage where we stayed over night on 24th September near Lake Myvatn. We also saw the fantastic northern lights again in a consecutive two nights (28th & 29th Sept) before our departure in the morning of 30th September. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank to Glacial Experience again from all of us. Much appreciate for all their help to organize the highland tour for us. Thank you very much for Ingolfur to let us get off the car and took a lot of beautiful photos! Our great appreciation for all his kindness and patience were beyond descriptions. We would definitely spread our good words for him and Glacial Experience. Especially the highland tour was so amazing once in a lifetime adventure! If you would like to see the unique wonders in the world, Icelandic Highlands Road Trip with private guide is the One For Your Bucket List!

Incredible Highlands Adventure We were a group of 9 retired individuals (4 couples and 1 solo traveler). Our adventure was a road trip around the entire island and then embarking for 4 days/3 nights on Glacier Experience’s Highland Adventure. It was absolutely incredible. Our super Jeep took us over rivers, up mountains, through the Highlands and places that most people never see when in Iceland. We sometimes felt we were the only people there - only meeting some folks at our lodgings. Because our group consisted of individuals in their late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s the tour was structured in such a way that everyone could participate - short or long hikes, easy or more difficult walks and frequent stops for photo ops. Our guide, Mimir, kept us all enthralled with all of his stories and explanations about Iceland. This was truly a fabulous and memorable adventure for us!

Glacial Experience Tour Ramesh Patel Bridgewater, NJ, United States Iceland Vacation We travelled to Iceland in August for about 12 days. Our Itinerary was made for us as per our personal interest for group of six friends by Kjartan of Glacial Travel Tours. Knowledge and experience of travel tour owner (Kjatran) was amazing knowing which places to visit starting from southern to northern Iceland. He diligently work with us create entire trip. HE was our guide as well as came with us to entire Iceland trip. We ask for a private van for six people in our group. He provided excellent van which can accommodate about 10 peoples. He provided us much flexibility in starting time, daily travelling time and ample of breaking points as we requested. We saw all sites of interest as we requested n our itinerary and he added many more as he thought which all we enjoyed the most. We stayed in very clean and comfortable hotels which he book for our trip. He took us to the excellent places for lunches and took care of our need of vegetarian food. He went out of his way and picked us up from hotel, drove about 2 hours out of city to see the Northern Lights. He was very personable, reasonable, patient and knowledgeable. I very highly recommend Glacial Travel Tours for anybody who wants to enjoy wonderful Iceland.

A Memorable Trip Time of the travel: August 21 through September 1, 2019 Number of travelers: 3 couples - all seniors Custom made itinerary: Worked with Kjartan to fine tune my itinerary with his knowledge and experience. He patiently worked with me to answer my countless questions to come up with an itinerary. Transportation: The van was big enough to accommodate all 6 of us with adequate luggage space Flexibility: Kjartan was flexible and we left each morning after sufficient rest. Some days we left @ 9, 9:30 or even @ 10 AM. He stopped for a break at any time we requested, never rushing us. Sightseeing: All the sites that we had agreed upon and a few more, the ones he thought we should see. We saw beautiful waterfalls, Glaciers, Lakes, Craters, Rock Formations, hot springs, Landscapes, Museums, a Stone Museum. Did a Glacier hike, had a Glacier Lagoon boat ride, whale watching, visited a tomato farm. Took a dip in the Blue Lagoon..... Hotels: Him and I had come up with the hotels to stay in. All of them were clean, comfortable with decent breakfast. Some of them had small rooms and small bathrooms/showers, which I think is a norm in Europe. Lunches: We stopped for lunch whenever we wished. Some of the restaurants we stopped at were on my selected list, some he picked to cater to the need of vegetarian food of my fellow travelers Dinners: Kjartan was kind enough to join us for dinner in Reykjavik even though he had not seen his family for more than week. Northern Lights: On Aug 31st night, Kjartan picked us up at 10 PM, drove about an hour out of Reykjavik to show us the Northern Lights. We could see waves of very faint very very light grey formations.with naked eye. He adjusted our cameras for appropriate time exposure and took pictures. These pictures were able to capture the different color lights. He dropped us at the hotel around 1 AM and then went home. The bottom line: Kjartan kept his promises - I had asked that he be the guide and the driver - He did that. He showed us everything we had agreed to and more. He was personable, never impatient, always answered our questions, had sense of humor, knew the history and geography of Iceland, never got lost, took the alternate route when required depending on the weather and wind conditions. It truly was a memorable trip.