Glacier Hike Starting from Solheimajokull

The tour was just perfect and the guide was so nice and kind. The day was beautiful and it went smoothly. The kind guide even made us stop extra 2/3 times outside the tour program to eat ice cream or to pet the horses. Really recommend! 10/10

We went on a three-site tour, but they found some spare time and stopped by tomato farms and photo spots, so we actually went to about six. Renting a car is one of the options for sightseeing in Iceland, but I think it's better to go on a tour because it will take you around.

We received both a text and email confirmation that our glacier hike on Sólheimajökull was booked. My daughter and I were very excited as this was our big splurge for the last day of our trip. We had already explored the South Coast of Iceland and visited many spectacular beaches and waterfalls in the area. The one thing that we still wanted to do was hike on a glacier which requires crampons and a guide hence we booked this trip. We excitedly packed for the 2.5 hr drive from Reykjavik and the 3 hr hike. We check the weather, make sure we have the right gloves, neck warmer, sunglasses, etc. We drive directly to the meet site and arrive a few minutes early, thinking we will have a little time to walk around and eat a quick snack before our hike. When I check the confirmation to see which line to queue into, I discover that Viator cancelled our trip via email at 5:30am. No call or text, just an email at 5:30am. Who is checking their email religiously while on vacation?? A text would have been much more helpful. A apology from a human would have been even better. Nope - nothing like that from Viator! I call the number on the email to see if there’s been a mistake or if we can get waitlisted - perhaps someone has canceled their reservation or is running late. The very nice girl who answers is in a wind tunnel. I can’t understand anything she says. She tries to get in a better spot. Still nothing is decipherable. Our call gets disconnected. I call back. We talk again. I explain this is the last day of our trip and ask if there’s anything Viator can do. Disconnected again. Call a third time…I can finally hear her say she’s going to call her manager. So I wait…and wait. She eventually calls back to say there is nothing Viator can do. There are all these different operators taking groups on hikes but somehow Viator can’t find 2 open spots on any of them. I ask if we could go horseback riding or some other activity in the area since we’ve driven all the way from Reykjavik. She says no to all. It is now too late to book anything else. Our entire day has been wasted. We can look at the glacier (which we had already done) but cannot go up. I’ve taken Viator trips in other countries and been happy with them. But never again. Viator ruined the last day of our otherwise wonderful Iceland trip. To top it off, it’s 4 days later and they still haven’t refunded the $190 for my tickets. So we wasted half a tank of gas (which is a small fortune in Iceland) to drive to a glacier we could not hike, had to pay the parking fee (not expensive but confusing and time-consuming) and now I have to fight Viator to return my money? Completely atrocious behavior! The absolute least they could do is return my money quickly. Just appalling!

Incredible geological experience! Long hike for younger kids, but guide made it exciting for the kids and adults alike.

Although the guide seems well versed on the Icelandic volcano, she was not attentive of her participants. I say this because I took a fall, and she had not the slightest idea what had happened until I met up with the group looking for first aid attention.