This is our 2nd set of adventures with the tour operator, and we are impressed with the operations of this tour company. We will definitely travel with them again. Iceland is a land apart, being an island, being geothermally active, unusual critters, beautiful glaciers and friendly folks. Pretty fine beer and food too. Our guide, Solvi, was outstanding. His sense of humour, kindness and informational chats were great. Local guides make travel more interesting. And the Icelandic "word of the day" was fun to learn. The hotels were very nice, being centrally located in small towns. We had diverse activities to fill our days, so we all had some interesting challenges. Walking in crampons is a skill for sure!
I had a wonderful time. I loved our guide - he was very knowledgable, caring, kept track of everyone and communicated well. And the clean tap water! I thought the group also looked out for one another.
Great Overview of Iceland As with all Exodus holidays - read the detailed itinerary carefully and you should not be disappointed if you choose to go. We had yet another superb Exodus guide in Kristian (I have probably mis-spelled that!) who was also the bus driver for the 16 in the group which I think is the maximum. Inevitably you spend a good deal of time on the bus but no surprises there, that's why I stress to read the itinerary. The views are constantly excellent and Kristian would stop regular to stretch legs and admire the view. This holiday gives a good overview of the entire island. Although a good deal of the driving is on gravel roads do not expect to be taken deep into the interior where the really rough roads are that need specialised transport. Just one night in each place but all the hotels were fine with the possible exception of the one in Akureyri. Our room was adequate but some had tiny rooms with poor showers. Some of the more remote places offer very limited menus, if you like lamb and fish you'll be okay! We had a vegan in the group who had very limited options at one place. Highlight was undoubtedly the last day when Kristian rejigged the itinerary (with our permission) so that we could trek to the Fagradalsfjall volcano, which Kristian had heard was ramping up activity. Wow! We were treated to specular displays of erupting lava and Kristian told us that in 25 years of guiding we were the first group of his to witness such a thing. Weather was mixed as you would expect in early September. Two very wet days - one with a gale - and 4 days of blue skies and flat calm, the other days being between those extremes.