Iceland sells the whole island as a day trip from Reykjavík.
Most of it genuinely is one: the three-stop circle, the road east to the black sand, a cave cut under a glacier, a boat out past the whales. We price the days, read what travellers said, and say which ones survive the drive.
In Iceland the ice caves melt, the puffins leave and the F-roads shut.
Almost nothing here runs all year. Natural ice caves are a winter product, the Highlands roads open for about three months, and the summer that gives you a midnight sun takes the dark sky away with it. Choose the month, then the tour.
November – MarchIce CavesNatural caves are re-surveyed every winter and close when the meltwater comes. The Katla cave inside Mýrdalsjökull is the year-round exception and is a different cave.
Katla Ice Cave and Super Jeep Tour94 reviewed
Mid-April – early AugustPuffin ToursThe colonies empty during August. A puffin boat booked in September is a boat trip.
June – JulyMidnight SunLight at midnight, kayaks and quad bikes running at 11pm, and no darkness at all for anything that needs it.
Late June – SeptemberHighlands & LandmannalaugarThe F-roads into Landmannalaugar are 4x4-only and shut for the rest of the year. Nothing on wheels gets in before the thaw.
Landmannalaugar Day Hike41 reviewed
September – AprilNorthern LightsDark sky, clear sky, and far enough out of the city glow. Nobody can promise you the sky; the better operators put you on a second night for free instead.
Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa137 reviewed
Húsavík April – October · Reykjavík all yearWhale WatchingThe northern boats work the summer feeding season in Skjálfandi. Faxaflói, out of the old harbour, sails through the winter.
Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise96 reviewed
Out of Reykjavík, three roads are worth the whole day.
All 216 Golden Circle days →
Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss are the three stops everybody drives. What separates one Golden Circle day from the next is the fourth stop, the size of the vehicle and whether you finish in hot water.
Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss
A rift valley you walk through, a geyser that goes off every few minutes and a two-tier waterfall you hear before you see. Coaches run it year-round; the small-group versions add Kerið crater or a greenhouse lunch.
See all 216 →
Waterfalls, black sand and a glacier tongue
Route 1 east as far as Vík: two big waterfalls, a beach with waves that have killed people, and Sólheimajökull close enough to walk on with a guide. It is a genuine twelve-hour day in winter.
See all 117 →
Snæfellsnes, three hours north-west
A glacier-capped volcano, a lava cave with a spiral staircase, seal beaches and Kirkjufell. Fewer coaches than the south and the same variety in a shorter drive.
See all 45 →Waterfalls, ice, hot water, whales: what Iceland actually sells.
Six categories carry most of the island’s bookings. Each one is ranked by the number of travellers who went, not by who paid for the placement.
Half of Iceland’s day tours cost more than $187.
Every published review, sorted by what the day actually costs. The cheap end is real — pool entry, museum tickets, a harbour boat — and it is where a tight week in Iceland is won.
Lagoon and pool entry, museum tickets, the Reykjavík walking tours and the shorter harbour boats.
The standard day out: a coach or a minibus, a guide, one big thing and a long drive either side of it.
Glacier ice, super jeeps, helicopters, snowmobiles and the private cars that run when the coaches cannot.
Iceland’s shortlist, in the order travellers actually book it.
Every review →Ordered by review count, not by our opinion. It moves as people keep booking.
1
Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater
A full-day Golden Circle bus tour from Reykjavik with Geysir, Gullfoss, Þingvellir, plus Kerið crater photos.
From · $82
Read our review →2
Reykjavik Food Walk – Local Foodie Adventure in Iceland
from $146
3
Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa
from $74
4
South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier Tour
from $126
5
Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise
from $87
6
Sky Lagoon Entrance Pass With 7-Step Spa Ritual
from $111
7
Golden Circle, Kerid, & Secret Lagoon Tour
from $132
8
Iceland South Coast Full Day Small-Group Tour from Reykjavik
from $139
Route 1 is a 1,300 km circle and everything below sits on it.
Höfn
East IcelandThe road east from Reykjavík to Vík is one long day, and it earns it.
Two waterfalls you can walk behind or under, a black beach whose sneaker waves have killed visitors, and a glacier tongue you can stand on with a guide. Most operators do it in a single Route 1 run; the two-day versions reach the glacier lagoon without a four in the morning start.
You do not walk onto an Icelandic glacier on your own.
Crampons, a harness and a guide who can read a crevasse field: every glacier product on this site is guided, and that is not a formality. Ice caves are surveyed again each winter, and access closes at short notice when the weather turns. Nobody is annoyed with you for asking about the gear.
All glacier and ice-cave days →
What a Reykjavík northern-lights night actually buys you.
A coach or a jeep leaves the city between eight and nine, drives an hour or two to get clear of the streetlight and the cloud, and waits. Some nights it works and some nights it does not. What you are paying for is the transport, a guide reading the forecast, somewhere warm to sit — and the free second attempt most operators offer when the sky stays shut.
- 1Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoafrom $74
- 2Small-Group Premium Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavikfrom $107
- 3#1 Northern Lights Tour In Iceland from Reykjavik with PRO photos
Iceland’s own three: the truck, the fissure and the tunnel under the lava.
Waterfalls and glaciers exist elsewhere. Crossing a river in a modified truck, snorkelling a rift between two plates and walking inside a lava tube are Icelandic problems with Icelandic answers.
The Super Jeep
A super jeep is a road-legal truck lifted onto 38- to 44-inch tyres, with the axles and arches rebuilt to match. It exists because the interior has almost no bridges: the driver drops the tyre pressure, reads the river and crosses. It is how ice caves, Landmannalaugar and half of the winter south coast stay reachable when the coaches turn back. The term is also used loosely, so ask which vehicle before you pay the premium.
- 1Katla Ice Cave and Super Jeep Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,110 reviews
- 2Crystal Ice Cave Super Jeep Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · 1,681 reviews
- 3Katla Ice Cave & Super Jeep Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,450 reviews
Silfra
Silfra is a flooded fissure on the rift at Þingvellir, filled with glacial meltwater that has spent decades filtering through porous lava. The water sits at two degrees all year, which is why you go in a dry suit over thermals rather than a wetsuit, and why every operator wants a health form and a swimming declaration first. Visibility runs to about a hundred metres.
- 1Silfra: Snorkeling Between Tectonic Plates – Meet on Location★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,001 reviews
- 2Silfra Snorkeling Between Continents Photos Included- Self Drive★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,427 reviews
- 3Silfra: Fissure Snorkeling Tour with Underwater Photos★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,731 reviews
The Lava Tunnel
Raufarhólshellir runs more than a kilometre into a lava flow around 5,200 years old, half an hour from Reykjavík, with a lit walkway for the standard tour and a helmet-and-headtorch route beyond it. Vatnshellir, out on Snæfellsnes, is smaller and colder and reached by a spiral staircase. Both are a hard hat, proper shoes and a steady four degrees.
- 1The Lava Tunnel Tour – Raufarhólshellir★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,373 reviews
- 2Raufarhólshellir Lava Tunnel: Underground Expedition★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,717 reviews
- 3Snæfellsnes Day Trip with Vatnshellir Lava Cave★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,108 reviews
Iceland heats its swimming pools with the ground, then sells the good ones as a day out.
The Blue Lagoon is the famous one and the most expensive, and it is closer to the airport than to the city — a lot of people do it on the way in or out. Sky Lagoon has the sea-edge infinity view and a seven-step ritual; the Secret Lagoon at Flúðir is the oldest pool in the country and costs a fraction of either. Slots go, so book the Blue Lagoon before you fly.
- 1Sky Lagoon Entrance Pass With 7-Step Spa Ritualfrom $111
- 2Golden Circle, Kerid, & Secret Lagoon Tourfrom $132
- 3Sky Lagoon Admission with Transferfrom $212
Akureyri is five hours up Route 1, and worth the flight instead.
See all 134 →The north sells three things the south cannot match: the best whale water in the country, a lake ringed with craters and pseudo-craters, and Goðafoss ten minutes off the ring road.
Whales out of Eyjafjörður
- 13-Hour Classic Whale Watching Tour by Shipfrom $108
- 2Whale Watching from Downtown Akureyrifrom $104
- 3Árskógssandur: Whale-Watching Boat Tripfrom $96
Húsavík
- 1Whale Watching Tour with Guidefrom $115
- 2Traditional Whale Watching Tourfrom $100
- 3Whale Watching – Family Run with Indoor Seatsfrom $96
By region — around the ring road
Reykjavík870 tours
Akureyri134 tours
South Iceland67 tours
Vík67 tours
Skaftafell52 tours
The Westfjords15 tours
Snæfellsnes10 tours
Húsavík8 tours- All 14 regions →
By the kind of day you want
Latest reviews, Reykjanes to the Westfjords.
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Landmannalaugar & SecretGems | Private Tour | PRO Photos included
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Private Airport Transfer between KEF Airport & Reykjavik
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Keflavik Airport Transfer to /or From Reykjavik, Iceland
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Reykjavik Scavenger Hunt and Highlights Self Guided Audio Tour
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Airplane Flight over Vatnajökull Volcanic Eruption Sites
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Lake Myvatn Private Day Tour Mývatn, Godafoss Waterfall for Cruise Ships
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Westman Islands, Volcanoes and Puffins Minibus Tour
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Private tour to waterfalls, neighboring villages, scenic views
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Golden Circle Express. Private Tour from Reykjavik
Read our review →