South Coast Small-Group Tour from Reykjavik
Description
Tour the justly popular south coast of Iceland and discover the country's wild and diverse nature at its very best. Explore glaciers, steep cliffs, roaring waterfalls, and black sand beaches. Get insight into the region from your local driver-guide on a minibus day tour from Reykjavik. Begin the journey east from Reykjavik along the southern coast, and make the first stops at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls. Then, head toward the black sand beach of Reynisfjara, located on Iceland’s southernmost point. Admire the enormous basalt columns, and if the tide conditions are right, explore the sea caves. Next is Vik, the remote seafront village home to basalt sea stacks. Legend has it that the stacks are made of frozen trolls who were turned to stone while playing in the sea. After making the last stop of the day at Solheimajokull glacier, return to Reykjavik and get dropped off at your original departure point.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Admire this wonderful waterfall. The scale of it is incredibly impressive, especially considering the amount of spray rising as the water smashes against the rocks below. You can walk as close to the waterfall as you dare.
At Dyrhólaey, you'll witness breathtaking panoramic views of Iceland's black sand beaches and dramatic coastline framed by an iconic rock arch, while during summer, you can observe adorable nesting puffins.
This stretch of coastline is renowned for its beauty, eeriness, and dramatic geology. Another very photogenic place with many hexagonal basalt columns. In summer, you may spot puffins up on the cliffs.
Stop for a meal in Iceland’s southernmost village, Vík í Mýrdal, where you can enjoy delicious lamb soup or the famous black dough pizza (no included in price)
This fascinating glacier tongue stretches from the greater ice cap Myrdalsjokull, which covers the volcano Katla, the eruptions of which are even bigger than Eyjafjallajokull's. It is about 15 min walk from the parking lot to a good viewpoint to admire the glacier.
This falls, which is over sixty metres tall, tumbles from a cliff that curves inwards; this means when there is no ice on the ground you can walk behind it, allowing for some excellent photographs.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Some of the center hotels are located in the restricted area where we aren't allowed to drive. Please find your hotel below and meet us at it's designated bus stop. Thank you for understanding. PLEASE NOTE: These bus stops for tour buses are not the same as the bus stops for city buses. The tour bus stops have a blue pillar with pink bus sign at the top and the number and name of the bus stop. The city bus stops have a yellow "S" in a red circle (S as Strætó - city bus). Please do not wait at the city bus stops! Once you submit/confirm with us a specific bus stop, please meet us exactly at that bus stop and not any other. ___________________________ Bus stop 1 – Ráðhúsið – City Hall: Center Hotels Plaza Downtown Hostel Hotel Reykjavik Centrum Iceland Parliament Hotel Kvosin Downtown Hotel ___________________________ Bus stop 3 – Lækjargata (near the Hard Rock Café): Alva Apartments Apotek Hotel City Center hotel Hotel Borg Hotel Reykjavik Saga Radisson Blu 1919 Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel ___________________________ Bus Stop 4 - Miðbakki Black Pearl Apartment Hotel Exeter Hotel ___________________________ Bus stop 6 – Safnahúsið – The Culture House (corner of Ingolfsstraeti and Hverfisgata: 101 Hotel Canopy by Hilton Reykjavik City Centre Center Hotels Arnarhvoll Center Hotels Skjaldbreid Hotel Frón Loft Hostel Thingholt by Center Hotels Vintage Hotel Apartments ___________________________ Hallgrímskirkja (Bus Stop 8) B47 Hostel Baron's Hostel Hotel Holt Hotel Odinsve Leifur Eiriksson Reykjavik Downtown Hotel Sunna Guesthouse ___________________________ Bus stop 9 – Snorrabraut: 100 Iceland Hotel 4th Floor Hotel Alfred's Apartments Center Hotels Laugavegur Hotel Vera Hotel Von Laugavegur Apartments Skuggi Hotel ___________________________ Bus stop 12 – Höfðatorg (in front of Fosshotel Reyjavik): - Storm Hotel - Fosshótel Reykjavík - Tower Suites ___________________________ Bus stop 13 – Rauðarástígur (in front of Centerhotel Miðgarður): - Centerhotel Miðgarður ___________________________ Bus stop 14 - Skúlagata (corner of Skúlagata/Klappastígur) 41 - A Townhouse Hotel Alfred's Studios Ion City Hotel Reykjavik Residence Hotel Reykjavik Residence Suites Sandhotel The Swan House ___________________________ Bus Stop 15, Vesturbugt: - Reykjavík Marina - Berjaya Iceland Hotels - Grandi by Center Hotels ___________________________ BSÍ Bus Terminal: Travel Inn Hotels in Kópavogur and Hafnarfjörður: - 201 Hotel, Hlíðarsmári 5 - Iceland Comfort Apartments - Icelandic Apartments - Hotel Ísland Comfort - Hotel Heidmork - Hotel Kriunes - Reykjavik Peace Center - Vellir Hotel - Viking Village Hotel BSI Terminal is approx. 10mins bus ride from Hamraborg stop in Kópavogur and 25 mins ride from Fjörður stop in Hafnarfjörður. In both cases, you need to take line #1. ___________________________ If your accomodation is located more than 10minutes walking from our pick up locations, you can contact us directly though Viator chat or send us an an email. We will try to arrange the best pick up location for you.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Solid, warm waterproof shoes as well as warm rain- and wind-proof outdoor clothing is recommended. For the best comfort we recommend having mittens and hat even in the summer season
- The tour operator reserves the right to delay, alter, or cancel the tour due to weather or any other unsafe conditions for the safety of the clients. If canceled due to unsafe conditions, you will be given the option of an alternative date or a full refund
- A maximum of 17 passengers (no big buses!)
- Please note: due to the driving restrictions in Reykjavík, we cannot guarantee a hotel pickup from all hotels. In case your hotel is located in the restricted area, we will ask you to meet us at a designated bus stop, which is never more than few minutes walking distance.
- Please notify us in case you want us to provide a child seat / in case you are travelling with service animal.
Reviews(96)
This tour was very enjoyable. Small group tours are the way to go! The tour guide, Rakel, was very knowledgeable and friendly. A member of the group thought her purse had been misplaced, and Rakel went out of her way to help her through the situation.
We won the tour guide lottery with Rakel on Gateway to Iceland's South Coast Small-Group Tour! Rakel shares incredible insight into Iceland's culture and history, while makeing sure you have the best trip along Iceland's amazing South Coast. A small group is definitely the way to go, if you're looking for a more intimate experience. We hope you'll book this tour, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that you're lucky enough to get Rakel as your guide!!
My family and I loved traveling with Gome (spelling?) who was delightful, funny, gave a beautiful balance of myth and saga and true stories as well as helpful geological knowledge, was patient and kind. My family (two boisterous boys with us) and I loved it! Small bus was very comfortable, the drive between stops was gorgeous and stops were very well sequenced and timed. Thank you for some new forever memories!!
It is delightful to hear your family loved traveling with Gummi :) Thank you for highlighting his balance of stories, knowledge, patience, and kindness. We're so glad the small bus and well-timed stops created new, forever memories for you all.
The tour was wonderful, and our tour guide, Trond was amazing! He was knowledgeable and helped our kids learn about each place that we stopped. It was a wonderful day!
So pleased Trond made your tour wonderful and helped your kids learn! Thanks for the positive feedback. We hope you'll carry those happy memories with you.
Rakel was awesome! The weather not so much. It put a damper on the trip but we made the most of it. something you can't control. Rakel kept us safe and informed throughout the day.
Thank you for taking the time to write us your review Rakel is a fantastic guide, we are lucky to have her with us The weather this year has been challenging, but it shows you Iceland at it's normal behaviour. Beautiful and powerful.
Two tours - South Coast and Golden Circle. Both Joanna and Gummi are amazing! Highly recommend both tours for their knowledge of the land and sites
Ian was an amazing tour guide, had some fantastic stories and taught us so much about Iceland, would highly recommend. Ian gave us tips on what else to do in the city. The tour itself was spectacular, seeing Diamond beach took my breath away, I didn’t want to leave. The waterfall in the dark was also one not to be missed!
Thank you Natalie, we are happy to read that the tours in the winter have it's own special charm too :)
Was looking forward to this but it started badly and got worse wholly because of the tour guide, and I use that term loosely. His name was Oli and he messed up pick ups, hadn't charged his headset and when he eventually did charge it up only used it once to give us some very brief, useless information. Hi didn't mention seat belt safety, he didn't get out and open and close the door he expected my son to do it for him. We learned absolutely nothing from this 'taxi driver' despite booking a guided tour. The plus side, he got us to our destinations on time. The van was just that a minivan not a tour bus, the seat belts were stiff and the van rattled. The windows were full of condensation so we couldn't see out anyway. The worst part was at the glacier when 2 of the 8 of us decided to stay in the van. He opened his driver's door and took a piss outside the front of the van rather than go and walk to the toilets. He did actually say 'I'm leaving the door open because I have to take a leak'...I was speechless. Disgraceful, lazy driver who knew nothing at all. I will never use this company again. Instead I will use Nice travel who were brilliant on the Golden circle tour. Avoid this company at all costs.
This is the 4th time I've used this company. I wanted to see Lupins growing wild and what a tour this was! 10 days ago they were perfection and Gummi, our guide, let us photo every single flower (to exaggerate a bit!) To see this area in the summer is totally different to winter (which I love too.) Grass, wild flowers....and lupins! Helped by warm sunshine! Small minibus so we went to places that I hadn't seen before. The scenery is fascinating and beautiful. We never felt rushed, indeed we had time to watch the puffins. Don't hesitate, this is a great trip with the greatest local guide and a thank you to Clare for sorting out my booking.
Thank you for this wonderful review and for your kind words about Gummi and the booking process. Delighted you had the chance to photograph the Lupins as you requested and that we could facilitate this for you as well as taking you to some new places. I'm pleased you felt the pace of the tour was appropriate and you also got to see some Puffins. We would be delighted to welcome you back again in the future.
We spent a wonderful day with Gummi on the South Coast tour. I went with my daughter and 3 grandchildren. Gummi was very patient with the grandchildren allowing them plenty of time to explore the many waterfalls. We greatly appreciated his extensive knowledge of the geography and history of Iceland. He made the trip special.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a lovely review. I'm so pleased you had a wonderful day and Gummi was attentive to your needs. He is a very knowledgeable and excellent guide and always enjoys sharing stories about the country he loves. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Iceland.
