The best guides in tremendously beautiful nature. - Amazing experience in stunning nature with top notch guides. Mariano took great care of us and was incredibly knowlegable and passionate about his work. Would recommend a 100%.

Exciting Type 2 Fun Adventure - The 4 day Laugavegur trek was an amazing experience! I was in a group at the end of the trekking season prior to winter starting. It was a group of 12 from a diverse range of countries. Our guide, Dave, was excellent. He had a ton of experience trekking in Iceland, had excellent communication skills and was able to clearly provide the daily plan to the group. He also carried the backpack of one of the trekkers to assist with the pace of the trek where required. I would recommend Dave to any newcomer or experienced trekker coming to Iceland. He's also an excellent cook. I am not a super experienced trekker, but I would note that although the trail itself is not technically difficult, the trek can be a mental battle. We got good but not great weather during the trek. It could be a lot worse. But for the weather we did get, it gets cold, wet and windy. I underestimated the weather, especially the wind. But, this adds to the experience if you are in the right frame of mind and can accept a bit of rain and wind. If you haven't done a lot of tenting before, this is NOT the place to learn. Too much wind. Do the huts instead; which are comfy but simplistic. Make sure to pack river shoes. The river crossings are cold, but fun and an unforgettable experience! The vistas are incredible and change day by day. Day 1 is a day hike in Landmannalauger, which is area covered in ryelite mountains with a distinct brown colour and lava fields. Day 2 is a long tough day through a mountain pass that ends with an amazing vista into the Alftavatn camp area. Day 3, Dave took us to an amazing 200m deep canyon. Day 4 ends in the beautiful area of Thorsmork (first sighting of trees on the trek) and a view of God's Land (which is an amazing view). You can stay for an additional 2 days as well in Thorsmork. I also recommend the Skogafoss Waterfall Trail on the other side of the mountain pass.

Breathtaking 4 day hut-to-hut Laugavegur Trail with Halldór/HD as guide 🌋🇮🇸🏔️ - Unforgettable 4 day trip on the Laugavegur Trail thanks to arctic adventures but mostly because of our guide Halldór/HD! Super grateful to have had an Icelandic native who could share his personal experiences. We also relied heavily on his expertise on day 2 with the snow. I would not have felt confident navigating this portion of the trail on my own. His guidance made us feel secure at all times, allowing us to immerse ourselves fully in the experience. Halldór was responsible for 14 adults with diverse needs. Halldór handled everyone with unwavering positivity and patience. We are deeply grateful for having had such a skilled guide to make our trip memorable. Our group consisted of 5 friends and we made lifelong memories. It brought us closer together and we were all good friends to begin with! The other 9 people in the group were strangers but we became really close to most of them by the end of the trip. Shout out to all the other super cool people we met on the trail too! For those wanting day-to-day details and more trip recommendations: MUST BRING: - Arctic adventures sends a helpful info package 1 month prior. We followed that & were well prepared In addition, I think also bring: - ear plugs - blackout sleep mask - cold & sinus medication, analgesics, muscle relaxants as can’t buy this OTC in Iceland - hand sanitizer (norovirus was going around) - antimicrobial wipes - alcohol (can only buy beer at Landmannalaugar & Thorsmork huts) - swimsuit (hot spring at landmannalaugar 😄) - wool balaclava or ski mask - waterproof main bag as they get left outside the huts - travel pillow not included in sleeping bag rental - gratuity for your guide. They put in a lot of work! PLEASE EXPECT: - only a twin sized sleeping space in the huts. You will likely be sleeping close to a stranger. One of the huts has bunk beds & you have to sleep doubled - to help with meal prep and clean up. It’s part of the camping experience! Also since only 1 guide it’s too much for them to do on their own. And remember, if there were 2 guides likely the trip would be an extra $1000 USD per person - to walk a long distance! Seems obvious but some of our group had difficulty with this… - there is only 1 guide and he/she has to stay at the front. Please try to keep a group pace as they can’t be in 2 places at once - weather changes dramatically throughout the day - can drink the water unfiltered at all points. Truly incredible ITINERARY: Day 1 - 4 hour bus ride from Reykjavik to Landmannalaugar. Washroom stop at 2 hr mark. When arrived, settled into hut, had group meeting & small lunch. Then 8kmassessment hike with an initial steep climb. This hike is for the guide to assess the group’s ability/pace. Went to the Mountain Mall after for a beer and hotdog. Amazing! Dinner of cheesy noodles & smoked salmon. After dinner we swam in the natural hot spring and took a hot shower. Divine! Day 2 - breakfast was oatmeal & yogurt. Weather was snowy/windy most of the day for this 25km hike. Started through a lava field. Most challenging part was the weather & total distance. Sandwiches for lunch at Hrafntinnusker Hut. Afternoon descent was difficult due to the slow pace of our group. Dinner of lamb stew! This hut was the most cramped with bunk beds. Hut located at Álftavatn Lake. Can see 3 glaciers. Lake is cold if you want to swim. Ask about the farmer and his daughter ghost story! Day 3 - breakfast of oatmeal. Sunny weather. Very easy hiking day in comparison. Saw 2 gorgeous waterfalls & side hike to Markarfljótsgljúfur - 200m deep canyon made by a sudden glacial river ripping through the rock and sand. Made it to Emstrur hut - grassy, lush & surrounded by 3 glaciers. Biggest glacier Mýrdalsjökull which Katla volcano is under. Dinner of grilled arctic char, rice & salad. Delicious! Day 4 - HD made us Icelandic pancakes! Really sunny and warm day. Only a 15km hike. I was in shorts by the end of the hike. Largest unbridged river crossing. Thorsmork is paradise and our entire group agreed we need to come back to explore it more! Recommend buying a beer for the bus ride home. 4 hour bus ride back to Reykjavik. An unforgettable journey! 🌋🇮🇸

4 days Laugavegur 2 days Fimmvorduhals, request for Dave Barry - We did 4 days Laugavegur, 2 days Fimmvorduhals, a bucket list must do hike - in perfect weather (we were lucky), with a fantastic guide - shout out to Dave Barry and an incredible group of hikers. Landscape is otherworldly and magical. Thank you Dave who cooked fantastic meals, made difficult but wise calls when it was a blizzard and whose humour was always en pointe. Couldn’t have asked for a better guide.

Amazing views on the Laugavegur trail - My brother and I walked the Laugavegur trail on this guided walk with 14 others and Fanny as our guide. It was an amazing experience and the landscape was truly breathtaking. Fanny was an enthusiastic and encouraging guide. Her love of the area was infectious and contributed significantly to the enjoyment for the group. But she also showed great composure, resilience and problem-solving skills, exactly what you would want in a mountain guide!

Awesome experience! One for the bucket list! - We just completed the 4 day hut-to-hut Laugavegur trail trek. What an incredible experience. Despite being experienced independent multi-day hikers, for ease of organisation, logistics etc we decided to do this as our first ever guided group hike. We are so happy that we did. This hike crosses some of the most dramatically beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen. The weather and conditions are constantly changing making for great experiences and some stunning pictures (although they don’t seem to do justice to the reality). This is a challenging hike that should not be attempted without some previous experience of hiking in adverse conditions over multiple days. There are steep ascents and descents, river crossings that require a change of shoes and getting wet up to the knee in very cold water, and as part of a group, you need to be able to keep up. We did a ‘test’ hike of about 7km on our first day at the first hut (Landmannalaugar) that was extremely physically demanding and set us up for the days ahead, and I assume gave the guide a chance to gauge our abilities and fitness levels. We then did the 55km Laugavegur trail over the next 3 days, ending at Þórsmörk valley. A massive shout out to our guide Andrea Volpi who was the perfect balance of responsible and laid-back. He communicated every evening and every morning, and checked in to make sure everyone was managing well with what is quite a challenging hike. He also cooked us a solid meal and dessert every evening and made sure there was plentiful snacks, and a good breakfast with lots of coffee / tea. Breakfast was not cooked but plentiful - oatmeal, cereal, banana, apple, skyr and yogurt, bread and spreads. The food was not at all complicated but it was good quality, fresh and there was a lot of it. He set a sensible pace and was knowledgeable about the route and the geography and geology. His extensive experience and demeanor instilled just the right level of confidence. The only minor negative was that their pre-hike communications were pretty minimal. I received a good email about a month out, with a pdf of some practical advice about what to bring regarding gear and clothing which was very helpful and pretty spot-on. It did lack some practical factual info about sleeping arrangements in the huts, the toilet and shower facilities, and a bit more detail about the types of food we could expect, etc. I think this would have been helpful in order to be more mentally prepared for conditions and I know some of the others in our group thought so. It certainly didn’t negatively impact our actual experience and would not stop us from recommending this to others. Above all, we thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and company of the rest of our 16-strong group, which varied in age from 16 to 74, and featured 8 Americans, 2 Canadian-Chinese, 4 Australians and 2 Italians. This was a surprise to me, as we have mostly avoided holidays that involve having to interact at length with strangers! But for this particular experience, they certainly enhanced our enjoyment not detracted from it, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to push themselves out of their comfort zone – physically and mentally! Not specific to Arctic Adventures, some further comments: 1. I do not understand how anyone could do this hike and sleep in tents. The weather is extremely changeable and unpredictable and that wind is cold! The huts are cramped and really a bit overcrowded but they are warm and have cooking facilities inside them. Kudos to the campers! 2. As mentioned, the huts are very functional spaces but they are clean and the ‘mattresses’ are clean. I took Loop silicon ear plugs and while they were definitely better than conventional ear plugs, they didn’t really block out the cacophony of snoring very well. Be prepared for very poor sleep quality. 3. Another tip – not sure if it’s only specific to Arctic Adventures – is to make sure your bag with your clothes and overnight stuff (which is transported ahead of you by vehicle every day) really IS waterproof. These duffels are left outside the huts in a large pile until you arrive to retrieve them, which means that they are likely to get very wet.

A phenomenal experience in the Icelandic Highlands - An awesome trek on the Laugavegur Trail with our guide HD. He went out of his way to bring the trekking group together as a family and showed us lots of out of the way spots. I had such a great time on this challenging adventure.

Great experience - Just finished the 4-day hut-to-hut with Arctic Adventures earlier this week and it was pretty spectacular. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is 1. because I thought the equipment rental could have been better - both my sister-in-law and myself rented poles through the company and both sets were broken in some capacity. We made them work, but if you rely on poles, I'd bring your own. Our sleeping bags that we rented didn't have any issues. The second reason I give this 4 stars is cause I would maybe recommend having two guides for a 16 person group. It's a lot of wrangling, and having one person at front of the team and one person at back would be really helpful. I think it would also take a bit of a load off the one guide who has so much to handle each night and morning. The trek itself is stunning, and Arctic Adventures did a great job of getting us to our locations each day, transferring our luggage, and feeding us. *luggage transfer - Make sure your duffle is waterproof or covered, the bags will sit outside in rain before they are picked up by luggage transfer. The company tells you this ahead of time, but I'm just double advising it. *the food - I was pleasantly surprised by the food on the trip--some great salmon dinners! If you have food allergies or preferences, just know that sometimes you might have to prepare your own food. *Team effort - 16 people is a big group- expect to work as a team for meals and clean up. *Huts - try to find pictures of the huts you're staying in so you're not surprised. I expected what we got, but I know others were surprised by the nature of the hut (shared mattresses etc). Lower your expectations so you are pleasantly surprised---these are actually quite nice huts if you aren't expecting a hotel in the middle of the wildnerness :) (The second hut we stayed in was double mattress bunk beds-- so if you travel single you may need to share a mattress with a stranger in a tight quarter capacity). I also found the bunk beds difficult to get in and out of--and there was no safety bar -- so if you have a fear of falling out of the bed, try not to be on that side. Thanks Arctic Adventures for a great trip!

Great trek but lousy equipment, gear, and food planning - I give high marks for our guide and this beautiful trekking route (A++ rating). But this review is going to focus on two things the company itself was responsible for that soured our experience (C- rating): the quality of the equipment and gear and the amount of food. Arctic Adventures is the biggest outdoor tourism company in Iceland — so why can’t they get the basics right? There is no excuse to skimp out on equipment, gear, and food. 1) Leaky tent with no ground tarp provided. I’m not talking condensation here; I’m talking steady dripping water through the tent ceiling. On our first night in the whipping rain, my sleeping bag got drenched from my feet to my knees. The bag of clean socks and underwear that I kept inside the tent for warmth also got soaked. And because it rained the entire 4 days, nothing could dry off. I had no dry socks and no change of underwear for the entire trek. Folks considering the tent option of this tour should make sure the company guarantees a high quality tent in good working order before committing to this trip. 2) Rental rain jacket was a joke. It was a rubberized Helly Hansen raincoat — which was not meant to be worn with a backpack, didn’t breathe, didn’t keep out moisture and became very heavy when wet. The guide had to give us the RAB brand goretex jacket off his back. Poor man. 3) Not enough food. There were 6 men and 4 women in our group, with 1 woman on a keto diet. The company did not supply enough meat protein for this spread of people. The 3 non-keto women sometimes ended up with no meat or eggs to eat. And the keto woman sometimes went without eating because there was no protein option for the particular meal. When everyone pays the same price, everyone should feel like they’ve had enough to eat, and this was definitely not the case. There’s just nothing worse than not having enough sustenance on an active outdoor trip. Meal planning was a major fail here. Arctic Adventures — do better!

Huts on Laugavegur trial — Disgusting - This tour was disgraceful—a group of 16, crammed into huts (one hut had two people sharing the top bunk and two in the bottom bunk—needless to say Norwalk virus thrives here. We were crammed into one hut with another group of 16–32 people, cook, eat and sleep in the same room. Breakfast and lunch —grab some cereal and pack a sandwich for 20km plus—hits were unhygienic, no hot water , bus broke down on the way there. Had to change buses three times to get back to Reykjavik. I’ve hiked all over the world—the trail was nice but the trek and nightmare due to accommodation—got sick, Iceland needs to get out of the hut/ trekking business until they establish safe standards and hygiene , DIsgraceful!$