Whale Watching & The Golden Circle

Top Attractions:

Thingvellir National Park

Golden Circle

Gullfoss Waterfall

Great Geysir & Strokkur

Overview

This tour is a must-do if you want an easy, spectacular way to experience Iceland in a single day. You’ll start with a whale watching trip just off the Reykjavik coast, then head out to see geysers, waterfalls, volcanic craters, and tectonic rifts on the classic Golden Circle route. It’s a well-paced, scenic highlight experience—with minimal effort required and maximum wow-factor.

Tour Snapshot

Duration

11 hours

Level

Easy

Availability

march - november

Starting point

Reykjavik

End point

Reykjavik

Languages

English

Trip style

One-day tours

Minimum age

6 years

What to expect

On tour

Whale watching tour
Golden Circle tour in a minibus
Bird watching
All entrance fees
English guidance

Transportation

Pick & up drop-off in Reykjavik
Meet on location

Accommodation & Meals

Accommodation
Meals
We recommend you bring your own snacks

Route map

Use our interactive map to investigate the details of your adventure.

11 hours

Route Overview

Start your day with a convenient whale watching tour from Reykjavik, with optional hotel pick-up or an easy walk to the harbor if you’re staying downtown. After spotting whales and enjoying the fresh sea air, the adventure continues on a comfortable minibus to the Golden Circle, where you’ll visit Thingvellir National Park, erupting geysers, Gullfoss waterfall, and the stunning Kerið crater.

Starting point

Reykjavik

End point

Reykjavik

Whale watching

Seeing a whale in the wild is a truly special and unforgettable experience—there’s nothing quite like the moment a massive tail breaks the surface or a spout appears on the horizon. You’ll head out into Faxaflói Bay with experienced whale-watching guides who provide plenty of insight into the marine life along the way. Weather and sea conditions help determine the route, always aiming for the best possible chance to see whales—typically within 15 km (about 9 miles) of Reykjavik’s harbor.

Minke and humpback whales are most commonly spotted, along with dolphins, porpoises, and other sea life, with sightings on over 90% of tours. On rare occasions, departures may take place from nearby harbors if needed to improve the viewing experience. Insulated overalls are provided for comfort, and the onboard café offers hot drinks and snacks to enjoy while you take in the views.

Departure from

Reykjavik

Golden Circle Sightseeing

This classic Golden Circle route takes you to four of Iceland’s most iconic natural attractions: Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir geothermal area, Þingvellir National Park, and the volcanic crater lake Kerið.

Þingvellir National Park

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Þingvellir is one of Iceland’s most significant historical and geological locations. Visitors can walk through the dramatic rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart. It’s also the site of the world’s first parliament, founded in 930 AD, making it a destination of both natural beauty and deep cultural importance.

Geysir Geothermal Area

This geothermal valley is known for its bubbling hot springs and erupting geysers. Strokkur, the area’s most active geyser, erupts every few minutes, shooting hot water 20–30 meters (65–100 feet) into the air—an impressive and completely natural spectacle.

Gullfoss Waterfall – The Golden Waterfall

Gullfoss is a powerful, two-tiered waterfall fed by glacial waters from Langjökull glacier. Walkways allow you to get close enough to feel the spray as the river crashes into the canyon below. It’s one of Iceland’s most photogenic and unforgettable sights.

Kerið Volcanic Crater

Kerið is a striking volcanic crater with steep, iron-rich red slopes surrounding a vivid blue lake. Visitors can walk around the rim or follow a path down to the water’s edge for a unique view of this surreal landscape. It’s a colorful and dramatic final stop on the Golden Circle route.

Departure from

Gullfoss Waterfall

Please note

Pick-up for this adventure comes with an additional cost of 2800kr per adult and 1400kr per child. Please be ready for pick up at 8:00 am and look out for a Special Tours company minibus. If you prefer to meet on location, please arrive at Special Tours, Geirsgata 11, 101 Reykjavík at 8:30 am.
This is a combination of two separate tours. If one of the tours is canceled, you will still be able to join the other part.

Arctic Adventures

Arctic Adventures is a top Icelandic tour operator known for its small-group experiences. Since 1983, they’ve specialized in guiding travelers through Iceland’s wild terrains, from glaciers to volcanoes. Their tours are all about adventure and sustainability, led by expert guides who make sure every trip is safe, fun, and memorable. Arctic Adventures combines deep local knowledge with a strong commitment to nature, making them a trusted choice for anyone looking to explore Iceland up close and responsibly.

5.0

Special Tours

Special Tours has been sailing the seas since 1996, bringing travelers up close to Iceland’s marine life. Whether it’s puffin watching, whale spotting, or casting a line for sea angling, they make every trip a memorable adventure. With a fleet of comfy boats and a crew that knows how to blend fun with expert knowledge, you’re in for an epic ocean journey. Special Tours mixes personal service with eco-friendly practices, making sure your sea adventure is as sustainable as it is exciting. For anyone craving a taste of Iceland’s wild waters, this is the trip to take.

Packing list

Get ready for your trip, here are some items, you should not forget.

What to bring (Required)

Warm outdoor clothing
Sturdy shoes
Headwear
Gloves

We're here to answer your questions

The pickup time is stated on your voucher and therefore we recommend you to review your voucher carefully. We ask all participants to be ready from the start of the pickup time indicated as you may well be the first pick up of the day. Please be at your assigned location at the right pick up time that you chose when booking the tour.

Wait for your guide at your assigned pick up location.

Have your email and phone number listed with us so we can contact you if we run into any trouble finding you.

View our pick-up locations in Reykjavík.

Alcohol is prohibited on all of our tours before and during activities. If we find the participant to be intoxicated, we will prohibit them from taking part in the activity.

After the activities of the day are finished then you are more than welcome to have a drink and relax.

Yes, we do have a tour into Langjökull Ice Cave that has no minimum age and it is a fantastic option for the whole family. As a Whale Watching with our partner company Special Tours, enjoyable tour for a family traveling with young children, these guys have an enormous success rate in seeing whales (upwards of 98% in the summertime).

If you want to explore parts of Icelandic Highlands than we have our magnificent Landmannalaugar Safari tour that also offers you to bathe in natural hot springs. Almost all of our jeep tours are suitable for children over the age of 6 years old. Then we also have a relaxing experience that we highly recommend, our Golden Circle & Secret Lagoon tour.

We reserve the rights to adjust the itinerary and/or take different routes depending on conditions. Your safety is our number one priority.

Please read more information in our terms and conditions in regards to this matter.

Yes, we have specially trained and certified guide on all of our tours, expect on our self-drive tours.

All of our tours are English guided.

No, for all your questions and concerns you would need to contact our customer service.

In Iceland, the standard is 230V and 50Hz and we use F-type power sockets and plugs. If you are visiting from the UK, USA, Canada or other countries using a different voltage, Hz or plugs, therefore, we highly recommend you to bring an adaptor.

We have four different categories that help participants to get a better understanding of what to expect from the tour. The categories are Easy, Moderate, Challenging and Demanding. All of our tours are rated to make it easier for you to find a tour that suits you.

For further information about the difficulty ratings and descriptions.

You can book almost all of our trips here on our website. You will find a booking window on each tour page and the best and safest way is to book and pay is directly through our website.

1. You can pay directly through our website. That is the easiest, safest and fastest way to reserve and pay for your adventure. If you choose this way then you will receive a voucher as a confirmation via email. Which you will need to bring with you on your trip.

2. You can pay via phone, our phone number is +354 562 7000. Please be noted, however you pay, you will always get a voucher. It is important to have your voucher ready for your tour so please remember to print it out or make sure that you can show it through your electronic device.

You will receive a confirmation email after you have made the booking. If you think that you have made a booking and haven’t received an email confirmation then you may please contact us via email with an inquiry through our contact form, and we will figure it out together.

All charges are made in the tour operators currency: For tours in Iceland it's Icelandic krona, ISK, but for tours in Canada/Greenland it's either USD or CAD.

On Adventures.com you can view an estimate of prices in EUR and other currencies. This is only to help you understand the approximate price.

Your credit card will always be charged in the operators currency.

Keep in mind that your card issuer may charge you a foreign transaction fee.

We do not require minimum participants on most of our tours but there is a minimum of 2 people for a few of our trips. If you are traveling solo and interested in a tour that requires more than 2 participants than we can take down your information and contact you if more people book the tour.

We can arrange private departures as per customer request. Almost all of the tours that we offer can be arranged as a private tour. If you prefer to have a private tour arranged than you may feel free to contact us through email info@adventures.com

Unfortunately, we don’t have any waiting list for our tours. Availability is found on our website in the availability sheet where all updates will automatically be made to the sheet listed in each tour description. We have a variety of different adventure tours around Iceland so there is a big chance that you find a similar version of the tour that you were originally looking for.

If your tour that you have booked is canceled on our behalf than you will receive a 100% refund. The refund process is different depending on the way you booked the tour.

If you booked the tour through our website then we will start the refund process as soon as we know if you will not be rescheduling and you will receive a separate email with a confirmation about that your refund has been processed.

If you booked the tour via booking agent than you will need to contact them directly to receive the refund. We will confirm with them about your canceled tour and then the refund process will start on their end. Extreme Iceland only receives the payment when the tour has finished, that means that your payment still remains with the booking agent and therefore, the refund can only be processed directly from their end.

The minimum age requirement is decided by our operational managers and is dependent on each activity and its difficulty ratings and can, therefore, vary between tours We put great value towards safety for our customers and the minimum age policy falls under this. Therefore we can not accommodate a person that has not reached the age limit on the tour.
We ask you to try to understand that this is based on safety procedures and we can therefore unfortunately not make any exceptions on this rule.

We can unfortunately not accommodate you and your group if the number of your group extends the number of available seats left on the tour. Our website shows the correct number of available seats left. It is impossible to squeeze additional participants onto sold out departures as we have really strict policy measures as to how many participants are assigned to each guide on our tour departures. Therefore we hope that you understand as this is of course done with our customer's safety in mind.

Still not convinced?

Customer Care

For Iceland, Scandinavia & Baltic tour

Open daily from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM GMT

Address

Köllunarklettsvegur 2

104 Reykjavík

+354 562 7000