We like to use and recommend local tour companies for your Iceland trip. It seems more sustainable, with more of the money you spend staying in the local Icelandic economy. But we also think it makes for a better trip. Midgard Adventures made this perfectly clear during our amazing superjeep day tour we did with them. And not just because of Hekla the dog, but she certainly helped!
[Read more…] about A memorable Þórsmörk Superjeep tour with Midgard Adventures (and their dog!)Things to Do
Seeing puffins in Iceland
This is a modified excerpt from the new edition of our book, Iceland With Kids. Here’s the new edition, published in 2020. Buy either the book eBook or print edition) or our Driving in Iceland video course, we’ll send you a free copy of the other one! E-mail us and we’ll make it happen!
There’s an inherent conflict in seeing puffins, in Iceland or anywhere else. On the one hand, tourists want to get as close as possible to these adorable and photogenic birds. It’s one thing to see puffins from a boat, where you may be 50 feet from their burrows. (And this is still wonderful to see!) But it’s entirely another thing to see them standing just in front of you, 10 or 15 feet away. You can count how many fish they have in their mouths, ready to feed to their baby puffling. (That’s what a puffin baby is called.)
Puffin Express boat ride with Special Tours
Puffin Express is the wonderfully descriptive name of a boat tour from Special Tours. You’ll see puffins, and you’ll get to see them quickly!
The boat leaves from the old harbor in Reykjavik, as do most boat tours that leave from Reykjavik. Here’s your boat:
As soon as you leave the pier, you’ll start getting some spectacular views of Reykjavik. The concert hall Harpa: [Read more…] about Puffin Express boat ride with Special Tours
Krauma Thermal Baths in West Iceland
Krauma Thermal Baths are in West Iceland, near the town of Reykholt. Note that there are 2 towns named Reykholt in Iceland: the other one is in the South of Iceland, in the Golden Circle area. Krauma opened at the end of 2016, the first in a trio of new premium thermal baths. GeoSea in North Iceland opened in 2018, and Vök Baths in East Iceland opened in 2019.
All of these feature hot outdoor pools heated by nearby geothermally heated water, and Krauma makes sure you know this the moment you step out of your car. It’s located right next to the Deildartunguhver geothermal area, and its clouds of hit sulphuric steam. Deildartunguhver is Europe’s most powerful hot spring. (That’s defined by total flow rate.)
Seal watching boat trip with the Icelandic Seal Center
If you’re driving around Ring Road, when you’re up north you’ll pass very close to the town of Hvammstangi. There aren’t a ton of things to see around this part of Iceland, so the wooden sign in the shape of a seal might catch your attention. (I don’t think I took a picture of the sign, but you can see it here!)
That sign advertises the Icelandic Seal Center, which is a museum and research center. The museum is nice (and it’s just down the street from a grocery store, which can be few and far between in this part of the country!) More on the museum later. At the museum you can purchase tickets for a seal watching boat ride. That gets you a roughly 90 minute boat ride out to some places where seals like to lounge about.
There’s the boat you’ll be on; it sits about a 1 minute walk from the museum. Our first interaction with the guide, and possibly yours as well, will be the guide trying to talk you out of the tour. It can be a rough ride based on the weather and wind; full refunds are offered freely if you don’t think you’re up for it. I liked this– they definitely don’t want you to have a bad experience! [Read more…] about Seal watching boat trip with the Icelandic Seal Center
Seeing the Westman Islands with Eyja Tours
Most everything you’ll find on this web site or in our book are things we have seen or done during one of our Iceland trips. Eyja Tours on the Westman Islands was an exception: I had met the owners on the Westman Islands, but not actually done the tour. And between talking to the owners and reading reviews online, I was confident enough to recommend their bus tour. On our most recent trip to Iceland in the summer of 2019, we finally got to try the tour. As it turns out, my confidence was well justified.
Ebbi is your guide. Ebbi knows everything there is to know about the Westman Islands. He can tell you about the little unnamed islands you can see as you take the ferry in, the ones with a single house on them. Turns out those are clubhouses for hunting groups! [Read more…] about Seeing the Westman Islands with Eyja Tours