"We ordered a glacier hike but was not…"

We ordered a glacier hike but was not able to join the hike the current day and reached out to them to get it postponed to the next day, which said it has available spots on their website. They were not very helpful and kept referring to the "terms" on our purchase in which no refund was possible at that point in time. That is the definition of a company that is only in it for the money and not happy customers.
I could understand if they had actually had costs related to our tour, but it was a tour in which they bring 30+ people up the glacier with "small groups" meaning they split up at some point with multiple guides.
I suggest trying another company for your trips on Iceland.

"MAGICAL AURORAS- not so magical "

MAGICAL AURORAS - Northern Lights Mini bus tour

This was a VERY disappointing experience, I completely understand that this is not a guaranteed sighting by any means. However, the driver was not really interested in looking for the best spot to find Northern Lights instead he was going for what was convenient, which was about 10 mins away from the airport, in an area full of HOUSES lit up with Christmas decorations!

Despite what the aurora forecast said he insisted that we stay in that spot. It was very cold and windy so we stayed in the minibus for almost 2 hours waiting. From the start there were other passengers that voiced out their concerns of the chosen area based on what they were seeing on the aurora tracker, we were too far south we needed to go north in order to get clearer skies. One of the passengers was very upset because this was his second time and we were going to the same spot he had unsuccessfully visited to a few days ago with another driver. Our driver didn’t want to hear what the other passengers were saying. There were a few other minibuses that were but eventually left either to go home or look for a better spot.

As for that free re-booking if you don’t get to see anything the first trip… good luck! Sure you can re-book if they have availability and if it still fits your schedule. Even though I left time to do this in our schedule, they did not have space for 2 other dates I tried to re-book and the day before our tour already got cancelled because of the snow. They said we have up to a year to re-book and it’s transferable but realistically we will never use it nor would we recommend this to anyone even if it’s free! We paid almost $300 for 2 adults + 1 adults, we definitely felt ripped off.

In the end since we also had a car we went on our own, we caught a glimpse of it but still way better than going on a tour if you are able to.

"My recent experience withMy recent experience with Arctic Adventures was quite disappointing Arctic…"

My recent experience with Arctic Adventures was quite disappointing, and I would rate it a 2-star. There were several issues that need addressing:

1. The northern lights tour that was supposed to be included never happened. We were only able to see the lights because another guide called his group to witness the spectacle. Our guide didn't make any effort to help us with this.

2. Our guide was exceptionally annoying, which negatively affected the overall experience.

3. The glacial hiking equipment they provided was subpar. They gave us a useless pick and forced us to rent shoes, even if we already had appropriate footwear.

4. The glacier hiking experience was compromised due to the presence of a person with a medical condition, preventing us from exploring the full amazing path. Additionally, a friend who booked the Vatnajokull Ice Cave tour (not the multiday one) got to visit a much better ice cave than we did (we visit an ice hole).

5. Dinner arrangements were frustrating, as the hotel's remote location left us with no other options, forcing us to dine at the expensive hotel restaurant, which cost more than restaurants in Reykjavik.

6. We choose not going on the Krauna visit, and the guide failed to take us to the horse farm, resulting in a 1.5-hour wait for nothing and no horse farm experience.

7. The promise of breakfast in Vik was unfulfilled, as we never made it to Vik.

8. Some information provided by the guide turned out to be inaccurate, prompting me to fact-check later.

9. The trip was supposed to include a visit to the Elhraun lava field, but the guide neglected to stop there.

10. Lastly, the customer service I encountered was terrible, adding to the overall dissatisfaction with the tour.

11. The website has a lack of clear information and a lot of gray areas. Be aware.

I will be in Iceland until Nov. 10th and hope them to fix this.

ARC-T50759458

UPDATE: This has been solved last year, I fixed my review on google but did not changed here. I change the rate to 5-start but I will leave the review as a note for future.

"A Perfect Introduction to Iceland"

The 3 day golden circle and south coast tour was fantastic and a great introduction to Iceland.

Pickup from bus stop 12 was easy and on time. Our guide, Jói, was fun, helpful and very knowledgeable, providing us with lots of information about the places we visited as well as plenty of ad-hoc details during the journeys.

We saw so many beautiful places, everywhere you looked was like a postcard picture!

For me the glacier hike, ice cave and glacier lagoon were the highlight. Things I had never seen or done before.

The hotel accommodation for the 2 nights was in a beautiful remote location. It was simple but clean, comfortable and warm with everything you needed. The food in the restaurant was lovely (as were the staff) and a great place to relax in the evenings and get to know our fellow travel companions with a drink or two.

We were also lucky with the weather on the first night and clear skies meant we were able to see the northern lights from outside our rooms!

After 3 days it was sad to part with everyone, but it was a great way to start our holiday and I can highly recommend this trip. I hope to return one day and maybe do the 7 day trip next time!

"Epic Iceland "

So grateful to Arctic Adventures for making our journey to Iceland a trip that we’ll never forget. Our guide Soli was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and experienced in delivering an exceptional experience for us on tour. Great value for money and memories that will last a lifetime.

"Atrocious company, absolutely abysmal! I would give this company 0 stars if possible!"

I would give this company 0 stars if I could! I have lost over £300 as a result of their negligence for which they are refusing to accept responsibility!

I live in the U.K. and booked a trip with Arctic Adventures in December 2021. I was not able to select the month and year from the options and hence left the option as December 2022 before stating the correct month and year here in my review.

The lateness in providing a review is that I have spent nearly a couple of years trying to get my money back. As stated, if I could have selected 0 stars for Arctic Adventures, I would. They have been beyond atrocious and terrible in their odious and asinine comprehension of the situation and it is only fair that I share my experience here as I have exhausted all remedies to get my money back.

I booked a trip for my wife, infant daughter and me to Husafell Glacier. It was booked through Tourdesk acting as the agency for Arctic Adventures the tour operator. By error, I did not book the transport to and from the glacier site. When I realised this, I immediately contacted Arctic Adventures (5 days before the trip) as the booking form said that if there is an urgent request, it would be best to contact the operator directly. Due to abysmal customer service, a lack of proactiveness and utter disregard, I was not able to get the transport arranged with them and missed the trip.

I didn’t try to cancel until it was too late (free cancellation upto 24 hours are the terms) as we were so keen to make it due to it being a trip of a lifetime. This began a nightmare as I argued my case which was an exercise in futility. Replies were condescending and they didn’t move. Attempts to go through the European consumer agencies and the Icelandic Tourist Association did not work either. Arctic Adventures is totally callous and arrogant towards tourists and even the authorities are unable to stop them.

While they argued that refunds are available only if cancelled upto 24 hours in advance, they totally disregarded the fact that I had been trying to arrange the transport for 5 days before the trip. They admitted their customer service was shoddy and the situation could have been avoided but didn’t take any responsibility by refunding my money.

A company to be avoided, I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I did with this unethical money grabbing company.

There are other better tour operators in Iceland.


UPDATE - 13/5/24:

Arctic Adventures has replied with what ultimately looks like a token sorry approximately 7 months after my review. Taken together with their condescending replies when I dealt with them, this is very much on par with what one can expect from them as a customer.

No firm indication of the action they plan to take, just a vague reference to 'take appropriate steps', an absolute nonsense with no respite for the client.

"If zero stars was available!"

If zero stars was available!!

Absolutely shocking false advertisement. Waste of money. Basically criminal. The advertisements of what to expect are so false. Post customer service is terrible. I even told the tour guide I was unhappy with the tour and what I’d received yet no one cares.

"Horrible company"

Horrible company - do NOT recommend!

If zero stars could have be given...
My experience with Arctic Adventures can be described very shortly as I do not want to give them any more of my time, but need to warn other costumers:

Arctic Adventures is UNRELIABLE.
My experience was burdened by disrespect for people and their money, lack of service and extremely bad communication.

Dont use your money on this company but support the small and reliable companies instead.

"Heaven on the Earth"

I booked the Laugavegur and Fimmvorduhals 6-day hut-to-hut trek directly on Arctic Adventure website in June 2023. All three stars for the beauty of the place. I wish I had better guide. Experience would have turned into five stars.

Pros:
1. Beautiful, jaw dropping landscapes all around the highlands
2. My first solo trip was well taken care by Arctic Adventure - planning, organization, food, and experience
3. A few parts of the trail are challenging but all worth the efforts. For most part the trail is moderate
4. Small group setting was perfect to make friends, break-time talks, trekking and off trekking company. We made good memories during dinner, preparing dinner, and post dinner cleanup.
5. Our guide was Halldor. He was very energetic, friendly, a good cook and cool person.


Cons:
1. Hut experience can get awkwardly cozy as you need to sleep around many strangers, and sometimes very close to them

2. I felt the guide (Halldor) could have done better job as a guide. The ride from Reykjavik to the trailhead was about 4 hours. There was no communication from him during these 4 hours (unless anyone asked specific questions). I was expecting information about the hike, expectations, interesting geology, fun stories to keep the group engaged and entertained.

3. Later the same day, as we started to hike, he made our group undergo a 'test' to assess our fitness level. He made us hike more than 425m elevation gain in about 15-20 mins. It was crazy to begin the hike such way as I couldn't enjoy the scenery and the unique striped mountains around. All I was focused on is hiking and keeping up with the group. I wasn't there to "work out". I wanted to take in the fresh air and smell roses along the way. A medium pace with picture opportunities would have been appreciated

4. He continued the same crazy style on the second day as well. Rushing all along the hike. His reasoning second day was the longest length of the day hike, 25km. I reminded him to keep the moderate pace at least three to four time in two days. He was hiking so fast that there was no way for him to see or know if all of the group is able to keep pace with him or not. If something had happened to the last bunch of folks in the group, god knows how long it would have taken to get the news to him.
Third day on, he slowed down a little and I also started ignoring his pace so that I could enjoy the nature more than worrying about keeping up.

5. Apparently our group was comprised of different sub-tours. A few folks were there for 4-day hike, some for 5-day hike with added site seeing and very few for 6-day hike. However, there was no clear communication from the company or the guide about how departure was going to be handled. Everyone including the guide was clueless and confused. This part was very frustrating to many folks in the group.

6. After 4th day, most of the folks from our group departed. I was left with a family of 2 parents and 2 kids for the last two days. Halldor got so relaxed after 4th day that he didn't keep us on schedule for last two days. On the last 6th day, we were supposed to go on fimmvorduhals hike which is again 22-25km long. The family didn't seem interested in doing the full hike. Although I wanted to hike all the way and I was ready way ahead than the family, it didn't matter. We started hiking pretty late in the morning and didn't go all the way. I was very disappointed that I couldn't do what I was there for. I would blame this partly on the guide

7. This is very minor point. I had asked Halldor about small favor. He agreed to it but kept forgetting it even after couple of reminders. Ultimately, he didn't seem to be taking his customers seriously or he was too cool to do that :-(

"Arctic Adventures 6 Day Fantastic Experience "

Absolutely incredible experience! We just returned from the 6 day, small group, multi day tour which went above and beyond our expectations! The Ring Road itinerary was a perfect mix of all that makes Iceland so special. We are still in awe trying to process all we saw and experienced. Our guide, Andre’, was fantastic! He was extremely knowledgeable, not only knew the route very well but also the best vantage points for great views and pictures. He was very relaxed and approachable while working to make certain each of us was having a positive experience. As well, he added in extra destinations throughout which were a bit off the beaten path and simply phenomenal! We had opportunities to be together as a group and ample opportunities to split off to do to own thing which was nice. The accommodations were as described in beautiful locations and again, Andre’, made certain our needs were being met and that we were all comfortable. Every detail of our trip from pick-up to drop-off went off without any issues. I highly recommend Arctic Adventures and will definitely use them in the future. Our experience was simply over the top!