Reykjavik Outventure

I have not. I’ll be honest, I have seen their owners post things on Facebook about how great they are, yet are not disclosing that they own it. I believe they were banned in two groups that I know of for this. That right there is a no go for me. Check more reviews too because the bad ones are pretty bad.

Well that’s concerning!

Yes, they have quote a few reviews where people were not picked up and the response from the company was not professional. Too many of those reviews for me to even consider them. Then on the Facebook pages, it's just me, but I have a huge issue when people do not fully disclose that they are the owners or work for a place. When they act sneaky like that, I will often time out them. I think enough others did that as well as they are not self promoting on two pages anymore.

Have you considered other companies? We self drive in Iceland as much as possible. Our very first trip back in 2015 though we did not, and we used Reykjavik Excursions for the Golden Circle. That was fine, it was October so very few people and the big bus had less than 20 people. Overall it was very good, but I have no idea how they are now. We have used Troll for a few day excursions that required guides and they are wonderful to work with. Troll is very good with communication, which is what sold me on them. One trip the second day was cancelled due to weather and they were excellent at communication, had a great alternative, and refunded the 2nd day immediately (not days later). So from that we have used them several other times. I have heard good things about Nice Travel, but can't vouch for them personally.

Troll is very good with communication

I am also impressed with their communication. I emailed them this past Monday with a few questions I had about one of their tours and I received an almost immediate response. And a very good response that addressed all my concerns.

It’s crazy how many different tour operators there are in Iceland. I’ve had pretty good luck following the recommendations of RS forum members for day tours in the past. So, that’s what I plan to do for Iceland too.

The new RS Iceland book comes out April 9th. I’ll be curious to see if any recommendations have changed from the Frist Edition book that I have.

Good luck deciding!!

carrie--Take a look at the Lonely Planet Ring Road book. That was the best guidebook I have found for Iceland. The other very helpful resource is IcelandWith A View, which she has a YouTube channel with segments on anything and everything. She actually just collaborated with Lonely Planet for their next book.

mikliz97, thanks for the suggestions. I have the new LP Iceland book in my Amazon cart for when it is released in a few weeks. I’m not sure the ring road book will be much help for me as I don’t plan on driving. The LP books are always my least favorite, but I for some reason still buy them. I prefer Rough Guides and RS.

I’ve already started watching Iceland with a View on your tube, after I saw you mention that on another thread. Wake up Reykjavik is another good channel. Not too much content though.

carrie--I normally am not a fan of Lonely Planet either, but they do a fantastic job with the Iceland books. Even though you are not driving, I think the book would be helpful. So many ideas in there! When I was planning furring rod trip several years ago I found so many things fun that book that I did not know existed. It is laud out well too.

mikliz97, thanks! I will be sure to get it.

Linda, I hope you’re having some luck deciding which tour to take.

I used the Reykjavik Outventure tour company recently for a northern lights tour and it was amazing and our driver, Magnus, was the best. I would not recommend the Your Day Tours company as their driver was not as good and organized and we used them for the South Coast Day Tour. We used Reykjavik Excursions for the Golden Circle Tour and our driver was amazing, it was so organized and a very well run company.

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!

We booked a (very expensive) private South Coast tour with snowmobiling with Reykjavik Outventure in February 2024. Unfortunately, we did not receive the private tour portion of this package. We were picked up (late) and driven to the base camp for snowmobiling on the glacier. When the snowmobiling was done, we were taken back to Reykjavik. Our driver did offer to stop at one waterfall on the way home and waited in the parking lot as we walked up to it ourselves. We did not receive a private tour, nor receive most of the package as described. We contacted the company afterwards and Bence, the Operations Manager, told us it is up to the guests to make sure everything is experienced on the private tour (what?!). While they agreed we did not receive a private tour - only a ride to snowmobiling and back - they refused to give a partial refund for the portion of the tour we did not receive.

This tour was booked through a booking company and our hotel. Both the booking company and hotel agreed that Reykjavik Outventure was acting inappropriately and agreed that we should receive a refund. They both spoke with Reykjavik Outventure separately and were not able to reason with them. In the end, both the booking company and the hotel waived their commission on our booking and gave it to us because they felt bad that Reykjavik Outventure refused to do the right thing. Our hotel has also severed their relationship with Reykjavik Outventure as a result of our experience and will no longer book their guests with this company.

Iceland is a beautiful country with a lot to explore. While we encourage everyone to visit the country, we strongly urge you not to use Reykjavik Outventure for any tours in hopes that they will not steal from you as they did us. There are many other reputable tour companies you should use instead. We enjoyed EastWest Iceland a great deal. We also had a good experience with Superjeep Iceland and with Nicetravel Iceland on our last two trips to the country.

Specifically, EastWest Iceland had a fantastic Golden Circle tour that we highly recommend!

After a time with many issues, like not paying his guides etc, Jóhann's company is declared bankrupt with today.
Be ware of this company and the new name under which Jóhann is operating ("Premium Iceland Tours ehf.:).
It is a scam!

andytiroler--That does not surprise me. Thank you for sharing that.