yestravel

We will be in Reykjavík for 4 days in December. We would like recommendations for either guides or small tour groups for a couple day trips out of Reykjavík. Not looking for anything particualry adventurous, just want to see the scenery and sites. Also interested in recommendations for tours that will take us outside Reykjavík for (hopefully!) northern lights viewing. Thanks!

MaineGG

We did the Golden Circle tour with Iceland Horizon - http://icelandhorizon.is/

All their tours are on small minibuses. Our 15-passenger bus was very comfortable with large windows for good viewing. The guide was excellent.

They do two other daytours - The South Shore and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

Hope you have good weather to enjoy the spectacular scenery.

Fodorite018

We did the Golden Circle tour with Grayline. It was a big bus, but the day we went (last October) we had maybe 15 people max on it. Our kids went last December with the same company and had the same experience of it being a very small group, FWIW. The tour was very good!

You did not ask, but definitely do the free city walk tour. The guide is a young college graduate and is very engaging. You do need to sign up ahead of time, but you pay the day of, and it is by tip, so whatever you feel it is worth. BTW he accepts any currency, and the tour ends near an ATM if you need. We took money out of an ATM in advance for it, and that was the only cash we used the entire time in Iceland.

yestravel

Thanks for the suggestions.

mms -- do you recall which free city walking tour you did? I googled and a couple came up. Good info on the cash situation. I was thinking about that the other day.

Fodorite018

yestravel--This is the one we took. http://citywalk.is Martin was our guide and he was great! BTW, he had the funniest things for sale at the end, but of course there was no pressure to buy them. They were knit mittens with an area to cradle a can/bottle of something. I am still kicking myself for not buying one for our college son, lol!

Gordon_R

Another vote for Gray Line - we generally don't *do* tours but our day tour of the Golden Circle was terrific, we still talk about this several years later. A large but very modern and comfortable bus, an excellent tour guide and a good selection of must see highlights.

yestravel

Thanks, mms -- sounds like some interesting buys to be had.

Gordon - I'll look into Gray line. What month were you there? How crowded was the bus?

Gordon_R

End of May I think. About 25-30 people on the bus. Didn't feel crowded.

Hobbert

Yep, we did Gray Line as well. Most recently, we rented a car and found it was really easy to get around but Gray Line was very comfortable.

Heimdall

Check out https://www.re.is

yestravel

We don't want to drive in Dec because of the possiblity of bad weather.
Thanks for the suggestions.

laurieco

We're going for 5 nights in January on our way to Munich, and also do not want to rent a car on icy roads when it will be dark most of the time. I was advised to stay outside of Reykjavik for a few nights. Still not sure what we will do. This is mainly to see the northern lights but would like to see other sites as well.