Custom Made Private Day Tour

by Gravel Travel · Glacier hiking · Helicopter & flightseeing · Highlands

4.30· 127 Google reviews of the operator

Beginners welcome
Luxury
Couples
Suits older travellers
Works in the rain
Eco-certified
Skip the queue
Can be tailored

from €1,871.91 per vehicle

Next departure: Thu 22 Oct

Book Thu 22 Oct · €1,871.91 the vehicle Other dates

Custom Made Private Day Tour — Gravel Travel

1 / 40

40 photos from Gravel Travel. Tap any one for the full-size original.

Duration
12 hours
Difficulty
Very easy
Season
May – Sep
Starts in
Reykjavík
Pickup
Hotel pickup included
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
09:00
Cancellation
Free until 24 hours before

Our take on this one

Twelve hours, one guide, one SUV, and no fixed route — you say what you want to see and they build the day around it. Gravel Travel will happily put a lava tube, a waterfall and the highlands into one run, or take you the length of the south coast, or combine things no scheduled tour bundles. They will draft the itinerary with you if you would rather not. €1,826 buys the vehicle and the day, not a seat, so the cost per head falls sharply with four or more. Departs 09:00, summer, free cancellation up to 24 hours. Be realistic about distance when you plan it: twelve hours is roughly 600 km of Icelandic road at most, and that is a lot of windscreen.

Book it if: Groups with a specific list that no packaged tour matches, or a second visit where the obvious sights are already done.
Skip it if: If you do not already know what you want to see, you are paying a premium for a blank page — a scheduled tour has done the thinking for you.

Written by us, from the operator's own details and what we know of the route. We don't take a fee for a good word.

About this experience

Tailor made SUV tour. Tailored specifically to your desires, your guide will spend a full day taking you all across this marvellous country.

Do you want to go snorkelling in the morning, see the glaciers at midday, and reach the Blue Lagoon by the late afternoon? Or explore a lava tube cave, walk behind a waterfall, and see the magnificent highlands, all the while keeping your base in Reykjavik? With this tour, whatever is possible to do within 12 hours can become a reality.

Your expert guide can take you wherever you want to go, and tell you all about the history of each location. He can even help you make up an itinerary.

Description from the operator, Gravel Travel. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Where you go

Custom made private tour

Cancellation for this tour

Free cancellation until 24 hours before departure; no refund after that. If the operator cancels for weather or safety, you get a full refund or a new date.

If the weather cancels this tour

Iceland's weather is real. What usually stops this one is high wind or rain on the ice — the guide decides at the meeting point, sometimes after you have set off. Here is exactly what happens to your booking.

1Gravel Travel decides, and tells us. Operators cancel when it is unsafe or pointless, and we back that call every time — we do not ask them to run anyway.
2We contact you by email, and by phone if your tour is the same or next day. You choose: another date if there is one you can make, or a full refund. There is no fee and nothing to argue.
3The refund goes back to the card you paid with, through Stripe, usually visible within a few working days. If this tour was one of several in your booking, the others are untouched.

What you do not get is the day back. If this is the only free day in your plan, put a spare day next to it — the planner leaves days free with the rest-day option. And if you want out because the forecast looks bad, that is your own cancellation: free until 1 day before departure, the operator's policy after that.

Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →

Who this is not for

Not a good fit if you want a relaxed day: 12 hours is a long time on the road, most of it spent getting there and back.
Priced per vehicle, so it is poor value for one or two people and good value for four or more sharing.

Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.

Why we list it

Gravel Travel is one of 204 operators we work with — chosen for reliability, honest descriptions and how they treat guests when weather changes plans. We don't list everything; we list what we'd book ourselves. The six checks every operator passes →

What travellers say about Gravel Travel

Read all 127 reviews on Google →

Operator rating 4.3/5 from Google — these are reviews of the company, not this specific tour. Shown as Google returns them, unedited.

Chai Chuan Wei
★★★★★ · 6 months ago
We went for Katla Ice Cave tour this morning on 29 Mar. Gunnarr is our guide. He can drive superjeep very well and is a very interesting guide. Would recommmend to join their ice cave tour which is of very good experience we had
Roya Shahi
★★★★★ · 2 months ago
The Landmannlauger super jeep tour departing from Hella (I chose pick up there, but pick up from Reykjavik is also possible) was wonderful and so much fun! Our tour guide was great, had a sense of humor and explained the scenery and history of all the places we visited very well. The super jeep is huge and comfortable, so can cross the rivers easily and makes for a fun ride. The tour included lots of incredible, beautiful spots like the famous Landmannlauger area and scenery of course, which also included time to go on a brief hike and relax at the hot spring, lots of volcanic scenery between points of interest on the tour, much of it looking like a different planet, a big crater with lake, a few gorgeous waterfalls including the tallest in Iceland, beautiful and unique scenery all around. The tour is packed with so many amazing sites and is the perfect way to explore the highlands. I highly recommend booking with Gravel Travel, as the itinerary was perfect, customer service was friendly and prompt, and the experience was one of the highlights of my Iceland trips.
Nora Tuominen
★★★★★ · 4 months ago
The Katla ice cave tour from Vík was great! The ice caves are changing constantly, but at least in late May the cave was about 30 meters deep and the walls were beautiful mix of blue, clear, white and black stripes. There were no other groups at the cave, and the guide allowed us to stay in as long as we liked. The journey to the cave and back was fun as well, with the guide sharing stories and facts about the areas we drove past.
Jared Kaufman
★★★ · 8 months ago
I have to say I was disappointed by the Super Jeep Northern Lights tour. The lights were incredible, however, I’m not sure what we gained with the Super Jeep. For the added cost from a traditional tour, there did not appear to be any evident difference. Don’t waste your money on this upgraded experience if you’re expecting something special by being in a “super jeep”. Guide was a little rough around the edges, though, brought us to a great spot. Pick up was late, drop off was over an hour early. A 4 hour experience was actually less than 2.5 hours.

Reviews from Google · updated 21 Oct 2026

Read before you book

Best Glacier Hike in Iceland (2026): 5 PicksThe glacier hikes we would book ourselves in Iceland, on Sólheimajökull and in Skaftafell, with real adult prices, departure points and who each one is not for.
Cruise ship day in Iceland: what fits in six hoursShore excursions for cruise days in Reykjavík, Akureyri and Grundarfjörður — what fits inside a six-hour call and what to leave for another trip.
Glacier hike in Iceland: which glacier to bookThree glaciers sell almost the same walk at different prices and distances. Which one fits your route, what 'easy' means, and what blue ice really requires.

Reviews from our travellers

Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.

Reviews arrive the day after each trip — none yet for this one. After your tour we send one email asking how it was, and what you write goes here, unedited.

Glacier hiking — questions people ask

Which glacier is best for a first glacier hike?

Sólheimajökull on the South Coast, about two and a half hours from Reykjavík. It is the most accessible glacier tongue, the walk from the car park is short and the three-to-four-hour tours (/experience/6853/ or /experience/914990/) suit beginners. Skaftafell in the southeast has bigger ice and fewer people, with tours like Glacier Wonders (/experience/17340/), but it is a five-hour drive each way, so it only works if you are staying out there.

Can you hike on a glacier in Iceland in summer?

Yes. Glacier hiking runs all year. In June to August the ice is grey and gritty on the surface with blue crevasses and meltwater channels, and the weather is milder. In November to March the ice is whiter and you may see ice formations, but daylight is short and the wind bites. Neither is better; summer is easier, winter is prettier. The one thing you cannot do in summer is visit a natural blue ice cave.

How fit do I need to be for a glacier hike?

Moderately. You walk two to three hours on uneven ice in crampons, with some short steep sections. Anyone who can manage a hilly day walk will be fine; the pace is slow because the guide is checking the route. It is not for anyone with knee or balance problems, and most operators set a minimum age of eight to ten. Check the tour page. Longer tours like Glacier Explorer (/experience/17338/) push further onto the ice and need more stamina.

What do I need to bring on a glacier hike?

Sturdy boots with ankle support, waterproof jacket and trousers, warm layers, gloves and a hat, plus water and a snack. The operator provides crampons, a harness, a helmet and an ice axe. Jeans and trainers are not allowed on the ice, and guides do turn people away. Most meeting points rent boots and rain gear for a small fee; check the tour page and book them in advance in summer.

Hotels

Where to stay for this tour

From the cheapest to the top end of what is near Reykjavík, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site.

All hotels in Reykjavík →

One checkout, any number of operators
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203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it

from

€1,871.91 per vehicle

Gravel Travel's own price. 3% off the whole trip when you book two or more tours together, in one checkout.

Your date

The next departure we can see — change it if this tour is for another day.

Pick a date to check departures.

Departs09:00

Reykjavík: light 08:37–17:48, 9 h 11 min of daylight.

✓ Free cancellation until 24 hours before
✓ Instant confirmation by email
✓ If Gravel Travel cancels for weather or safety: a full refund, or another date
✓ Card — Apple Pay or Google Pay where your device offers it — through Stripe; the charge is made in Icelandic krónur
✓ Price promise: Gravel Travel's own price, or we refund the difference
✓ One checkout, even with tours from several operators
✓ Vetted operator — the six checks every operator passes