Airport transfers in Iceland

It is about 50 kilometres and 45 minutes by road; there is no train. Scheduled airport coaches run to the BSÍ terminal after every arrival and are the cheapest option. Private transfers (/experience/942190/, /experience/1193487/) meet you at the door and drop you at your hotel, worth it for families or late arrivals. Taxis are expensive. If you are stopping at the Blue Lagoon, book a transfer that includes it (/experience/1036423/).

Two and a half hours before a European flight and three before North America; the airport is small and queues bunch around the morning and afternoon departure waves. From central Reykjavík allow 45 to 60 minutes' driving plus a buffer in winter weather. That means leaving your hotel three and a half to four hours before departure. Coaches and transfers work backwards from your flight time when you book.

By highland bus. From late June to September, scheduled transfers run from Reykjavík to Landmannalaugar (/experience/247406/, /experience/914986/) and back, about four hours each way on gravel and river crossings. The return-in-a-day option (/experience/270187/) gives you several hours at the site. Rental cars without 4x4 are not insured on these roads and get stuck. If you are hiking Laugavegur, the luggage transfer (/experience/1036525/) moves your bag hut to hut.

For three or more people, or a night arrival, yes. The coach drops you at a terminal or a hotel bus stop and you may need a shuttle or a walk with luggage; a private car goes door to door and waits if your flight is late. For a couple on a daytime flight with light bags, the coach is fine and much cheaper. Check the tour page for what happens if your flight is delayed.

Tours if you are here for four days or fewer in winter, or do not want to drive on ice in the dark. A car if you are here a week or more in summer and want the Ring Road at your own pace. Many people do both: tours from Reykjavík for the first days, then a car. The planner handles the tour half; for driving, book the glacier walks and boats as meet-on-location versions.

From €55 to €1420 a person, with a typical price of €110. That is the median of 40 per-person day-tour fares we currently sell. Multi-day packages and private charters are priced differently and sit outside those figures.

Reykjavik - Westman Islands (Bus transfer to Landeyjahöfn) with Magic Iceland Travel , at €55 a person. Read what it actually is before booking on price alone — the cheapest line is sometimes an admission ticket rather than a guided trip, and a large coach costs less per seat than a small-group minibus because it gives you less time at each stop.

2 of the 416 are priced on request rather than published, which almost always means a private charter where the cost depends on group size and pickup point. Ask us and we will get a quote from the operator.

416 of them, from 55 operators: Iceland Premium Tours, Gravel Travel, Elding Adventure at Sea, Your Friend in Reykjavik, BagBee, IceTransfer.is and 49 more. Every one is a company we hold a contract with — we do not list everything in Iceland, on purpose.

Day tours run from 1 hour to 14 hours, most commonly about 4 hours. Pickup and drop-off are usually inside that figure, so a three-hour tour from Reykjavík can mean closer to four door to door.

108 of these are admissions or tickets rather than guided tours — Akureyri Airport Bus - To Airport from €10, for instance. Worth knowing if you are driving yourself and only need entry.

Yes — 2 of the 416 run over two days or more. Those include accommodation and usually breakfast; check the individual itinerary.

353 of 416 (85%) offer pickup. The rest ask you to meet on location. Pickup is the single most common cause of a missed tour in Iceland: it runs to a window rather than a time, and the bus will not wait long.

293 of the 416 are private, the other 123 are shared departures. Private costs more in total but is priced per vehicle, so for four or more people it often works out close per head — and you set the pace.

Across the next 360 days of live availability we hold departures in October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September. That is a rolling window rather than the whole year, so a month missing from that list is not necessarily a month with nothing running.

35 of 416 run only part of the year; the other 381 run all year round. In Iceland that is usually about daylight or ice rather than demand.

Cutoffs run from 1 to 23 hours before departure, and 162 of them accept bookings inside 24 hours — so booking the night before is often possible. Popular winter tours sell out days ahead regardless of the cutoff.

258 of 416 (62%) allow free cancellation at least 24 hours before departure. The exact window is on each tour page and comes from the operator's own policy, not ours. If the operator cancels for weather you are refunded in full.

Operators rate them: 322 easy, 78 very easy, 15 moderate, 1 challenging. Iceland's ratings assume weather — an easy walk in still air is a different proposition in 15 m/s of wind.

40 of the 416 set one, ranging from 1 to 20 years. The rest have no stated minimum, which usually means infants are allowed but not that the tour suits them.

252 of 416 are marked family-friendly by the operator. That is their judgement rather than ours, and it usually means the walking is short and the vehicle has a toilet.

Operators have flagged accessibility on some: 66 for prams and strollers, 23 for wheelchair users, 22 for limited mobility, 19 for limited sight. Ring us before booking rather than relying on the flag alone — Icelandic sites vary enormously and a flag does not describe the terrain at the stop.

Varies by operator. Across these: wi-fi on board on 77, parking fees on 58, food and drink on 26, entry tax on 19, admission fees on 17. Anything not listed as included is not included — Icelandic operators are literal about this.

181 of 416 are guided in person, with guiding offered in Arabic, English, Esperanto, Filipino, French, German and 5 more. English is standard on every shared departure in Iceland; other languages usually mean a private guide.

They start from Capital Region (Reykjavík), Keflavík Airport, Reykjanes & Blue Lagoon, Highlands (Landmannalaugar), Snæfellsnes, South Coast (Hella, Hvolsvöllur, Vík) and 6 more. Where a tour starts matters more in Iceland than how long it lasts: the same tour from Reykjavík and from Vík are different days entirely.

The operator cancels and refunds you in full — Icelandic operators cancel readily, and that is a good sign rather than a bad one. What they will not do is refund you for a tour that ran and simply had poor visibility. Wind cancels more tours here than rain or cold.