South Coast and Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon Full Day Tour from Reykjavik

Bad weather and very windy conditions! They had to get us the most sturdiest bus in the fleet! The driver did an excellent job however. The guide spoke a bit too much about the flood that took place a few days earlier in... my taste but he was very knowledgeable and friendly nonetheless. Our main destination for the day: Jökulsárlón! This blueish lagoon with its drifting icebergs is something unlike you've ever seen before. It is something you have to see in real life, pictures I've seen don't really do it justice. The boat tour surely added to the experience, we even got to taste 1000 year old ice! Is 1 hour at the glacier lagoon worth a 15 hour day trip? It depends... I for one was very pleasantly surprised!

Despite the bad weather the pick-up at our hotel was right on time. A smaller van brought us to a central bus station where we were transfered to the bus that would bring us to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. It was an easy ...and quick proces. Since there were quite a few Germans on the tour, our guide, named Brandon, did the entire tour in (fluent) German and English. About every 10 minutes he spoke over the intercom about the surroundings, Icelandic traditions, the weather and other often funny tidbits. The bus stopped quite a few times on the way to and from the lagoon, including 2 stops for 45 minutes to have lunch and dinner. The day was long and the weather bad. Very bad to say the least as it rained most of the day. I highly recommend everyone to bring a decent rain suit as some strong winds at the Skógafoss waterfall got me soaking wet and that accounted for some unpleasant hours on the bus. I should have been better prepared for this trip. However, seeing the icebergs in the distance made up for it, big time! What a sight! A 30 minute trip by amphibian boat brought us even closer to it all. The car chase scene in the James Bond movie ‘Die Another Day’ was filmed on this lagoon and it’s not that hard to remember this particular scene while you’re there. I can honestly say the visit to Jökulsárlón makes this long trip worth it and most of the people on this tour seemed to agree. Everything else you see is just an added bonus. Definitely one of my highlights in Iceland! We arrived back at our hotel at 22h00.

Veltra made the tour easy with a simple booking process, without any problems once we arrived. The pick up process at the hotel was smooth. Our tour guide told us about Iceland's culture, geology, and history as we made ...our way to the Jökulsárlón lagoon - everything from the old ways of the settlement to modern language and custom. Although the grayline tour bus was a little uncomfortable (without much leg room for a long ride), the waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, coast, and countryside were amazing and we were otherwise well taken care of during the trip - a "must see" experience of ice and water. It was a good way to introduce us to Iceland and to entice us to come back when we have more time to explore on our own. We would not have missed seeing it all. Again, Veltra made it easy.