ICELAND: My Travel Agent, I Heart Reykjavik

My family was very happy with all the trips we have taken on this vacation in Iceland.



I want to give most of the credit to Auður and my travel company, I Heart Reykjavik, who listened to what we wanted and helped us pick out the perfect tour operators to plan every day.



We paid her, and then she handled paying all the tour companies and getting us all the vouchers for our tours.

She used a very cool online system to compile all our tours.



Also, definitely do one of their walking tours of the city with them. We learned so much from Hrannar, in a casual non-scripted way. It was a great introduction to Iceland on our first day.

Because some people have asked, the tour companies pay her a commission, and we don't have to pay her anything.

So please go through her to book your trips. It will make all of your Iceland trip planning so much easier. And she responds quickly to emails.

Here are some of the tours we chose:

Private Super Jeep Tour of Northern Lights



Inside the Volcano



Golden Circle and Magical Nights



Blue Lagoon and Airport Transfer


Image: Courtesy Blue Lagoon

ICELAND: Private Super Jeep Tour of Northern Lights

We did the northern lights tour, on the Saturday we arrived in Iceland, with a company called Mountain Taxi. They picked us up in a modified Mercedes Sprinter. They take a standard Sprinter van and replace the standard suspension and tires.


Image: Courtesy Mountain Taxi

For northern lights, our Icelandic travel agent Auður Ösp of I Heart Reykjavik told us that it's always better to go with a smaller group and vehicle. The bus tours are the cheapest but you might end up with 400 people and it's just not as nice. She also likes the super jeep tours since they can take you to areas the buses can't (and therefore you won't be surrounded with the aforementioned 400 of your fellow travelers).

Auður was right, we had a private tour for eight, and that made it really special.



We drove outside the city and made a few stops, looking for the northern lights.



We caught a glimpse a few times, then stopped at a secluded lake, and started to see bands of green coming us from the horizon. We sampled some local schnapps called Brennevin, and they was a treat.



After the stop at the lake, as we were driving through the darkness, our driver, Gisli Pall, thought he saw something in the sky, safely pulled off the road, and told us to all get out quickly!

We did, and then the real show started.

The Northern Lights in all their glory. Dancing green and purple lights, going in and out, moving across the sky, and painting a ribbon above us.

Our group was exclaiming with joy about what we were seeing. It was a once in a lifetime experience.


Image: iPhone attempt at capturing a bit of the northern lights.


Image: Our driver, Gisli Pall

This video shows what it looked like: