Kimkim Trip Reviews for Iceland

This was undoubtedly the lowlight of the trip. To be clear – we did not see any foxes but that is not the reason for the poor review. It’s nature, and you get what you get. The main reason is that we were given extremely little time to see them. What was billed as a day looking for them turned out to be a very different experience. We were actively looking for them for perhaps 90 minutes or so, after a hike to old whale processing plant, lunch and then an early break for dinner. We had two guides. One, to be fair, tried to be engaging and helpful. The other, named Frosti, was completely disengaged, unhelpful and even expressed agitation towards the group when we asked questions about looking in different places, etc. He did not want to look for the foxes before low tide (even though he wasn’t sure when that was, saying just “sometime in the afternoon.”). He did not want to leave the beach area because “they come here to eat.” Yes, we suggested, but they are coming from SOMEWHERE, so can we walk about to different places? He just sat down and literally started picking flowers. All in all, I’d say two things: (1) be up front about the experience. It’s not a day looking for foxes. It’s not even half a day. It’s a small part of the day; and (2) the company needs to better train its guides. Again, the woman (Lara, I think) at least provided some information and engaged with the group, and led us on a hike before lunch. And even though we all would have preferred spending that time looking for foxes, Frosti could not have cared less about us or our experience. He just sat on the bench and said, in essence, do what you want but be back for lunch. I’m curious to see what other kinds of reviews show up elsewhere, because our group (about 10 of us overall) were all clearly annoyed by it all. Some specifically came to Iceland for this experience and were very disappointed.

Actually, we skipped this. We visited the lagoon and walked around but decided - mainly based on time - to not do the zodiac tour. The glacier is really cool and worth seeing. I don't know how much more the zodiac tour would have added.

Skipped it, due to terrible experience with the same company the day prior.

Trip was cancelled.

As advertised. It was a great experience and our driver/guide was awesome.

A real highlight. So much fun!

Best part was having a traditional Icelandic experience.

Great introduction to Iceland

Unique hotel in convenient location

Very nice. Triple room was very spacious.

Beautiful hotel! Restaurant is very nice as well.

Yummy, homemade breakfast. Will need an eye mask with summer travel.

Loved the private tour! Tour guide was very good and authentic. Ice cave was accessible for our 5 year old.

Too long for kids, very rough waters with uncomfortable seating

LOVED this experience! The ride out to the cape is very dramatic over the black sand in an open air tractor. Our guide Matthias was excellent providing interesting history of the area and about the wildlife. We still laugh about his safety tip he shared (which he attributes to his brother) - "if you face plant your face should still land on the cliff, if not your too close" ; ) Excellent advice! You could tell that he cared about his family's connection to the cape.

Eldhestar is definitely a busy place. But I have to say they are very organized and everyone gets where they need to be. It was raining on the day we went but they provide you will full rain gear and boots which was great. We didn't have to worry about our stuff getting dirty or wet. The team pairs you with a horse based on your experience. The main guide was stern but I think you have to be to keep a group of mostly novice riders safe. Mid way through the ride the guides check on how everyone is doing and offer riding tips which was nice. We did the very basic Siggi tour which was great for the first time being on a horse in a very long time. Basic doesn't mean boring- right away we rode the horses through a small river which was very exciting! At the end I definitely wanted to go riding again- which to me is a sign of a good experience.

This was a very nice hotel and restaurant. It is a Grest Location!! Amd a very nice town. It is centrally located and not too far of a drive for most all major attractions. It is close to Reykjavik; within the Golden Circle, and not too long of a drive to the glaciers, volcano, and waterfalls.

Very nice clean, and quiet place. Pretty far off the main road. Could use an upgrade to some of the furniture. Didn’t trust the bench to even hold our suitcase. Had all the amenities to cook and fix our own meals.

This was probably the most quiet hotel we have ever stayed at!! Super close to everything and amazing restaurant Gött Super Quiet!!

Great place! Close to town! They had an big event there when we checked in and ended up upgrading our room to an separate individual suite!

Our young lady as our guide was so kind, fun, and thoughtful! We had great conversations ; she showed us such beautiful scenery; and her amazing horses!! This tour ended up being only my husband and I and our guide. She was flexible and gave us options on our ride and pace

This was an amazing tour and Martin ( our guide) was fantastic. The area in and around the glacier and ice cave were spectacular! He even brought a some Brennivin chilled with glacier ice with his to share a toast on this magnificent site!

The boat ride was amazing! Up close and personal with the icebergs, glacier and a lazy harbor seal! They were up front about the wind and assured our safety. Our guide Teddy was fun friendly and experienced

Super nice “Off the Beaten Path” hot spring! Short drive from Reykjavik. Close to other amazing places waterfalls and hot springs.

Good location pretty close to train station, pedestrian area. Staff was helpful and friendly. Breakfast was good. Room was clean and a good size. It's a modern building (although from the bad period of modern buildings...) so there are some quirks but it was a great place to stay for us.

This might have been our favorite hotel of the trip. It's in a great location-- right next to parliament in the downtown core. The rooms have large patios and ours had a great view. We ended up getting upgraded to the penthouse room our last night and it was huge with two giant decks. The rooms are well decorated and very clean. The staff was really helpful and friendly. The breakfast was great. There is a restaurant in the hotel that we didn't try but it looked good. The location was amazing-- we joked that everything we needed was 1 block away (bank, 24-hour store, grocery, restaurants, food hall, city hall, parliament, the pond, pedestrian zone, etc.) It was a great spot from which to see the town.

This is a large hotel in a very small town. It's where buses seem to pickup and drop-off for trips away from Reykjavik. I was surprised by the size when we got there. It looks a little like a self-storage center from the outside because it's all correlated metal but our room was really nice and very large. We had our own hot tub (although it wasn't really private and we had to go out the front door and around to get to it). Very nice, though!! The hot tub was super clean and warm. The room was really clean and bright too. The hotel also has two large public hot tubs and saunas and other facilities. The dining room is bright with lots of windows and the food was very good. The staff was super helpful. They also do laundry overnight for you (I think it was about $20/load). That really helped us and we didn't have to waste a few hours doing it ourselves (which almost cost as much when we did it in Bergen). My only complaint is the design just seemed a little sterile inside and out.

The hotel is owned by an Icelandic woman with a lot of charm and character-- she's a character! The rooms were large and looked out over open space behind. You can park right in front which was nice since we had so much stuff. The baths were large and the rooms were pretty big too. The restaurant was great and the breakfast buffet was pretty good too. The dining room had great views of the mountains and glaciers off in the distance. There was a large patio that we couldn't use because it was raining but that would have been a nice place for a drink or casual lunch/dinner.

We had two adjoining rooms in one of the cottages on the hill. Each room had its own bath (small but nice) and the room was decently sized and had a view over the town. They seemed like they'd been redone pretty recently. The cottages are part of a larger hotel which has a big, modern building (where breakfast is and the restaurant is). We ate dinner there and breakfast and had two great meals. The new building is beautiful and has some lounge spaces and amenities for guests that we didn't use while there.

I warned my family before we arrived-- this is going to be "something"... And it was! The viking village is a crazy restaurant/shop and hotel all decked out in faux viking motif. The lodging is really like a motel. We had two rooms in the main building and they were fine. Our kid's room was pretty tight but ours was a little bigger. The baths felt like those in an RV but were fine. I think that the little cabins would have been really fun to stay in. We peeked in while they were being cleaned and they had a large bed downstairs and smaller beds in the loft area. Our kids would have enjoyed that. We got in late and left early so didn't get to eat at the restaurant but got to go inside while they were doing some work on it. It's huge and really decked out with historic pictures and artifacts. It reminded me of a viking Trader Vic's or tiki bar. The buffet at the hotel was okay and the dining room was pretty crazy as well-- indoor pond and waterfall and faux stone ceilings and walls. It's definitely a thing and we were happy we stayed there for the experience.

I love this hotel (but I'm a sucker for historic hotels!) It's a huge wooden building on the water near the ferry terminal. There are tons of public lounge spaces and a great outdoor deck for having lunch, tea, etc. There's a fancy restaurant and a cafe which also serves on the deck. The food was great-- lunch and breakfasts. Our room was large and had a large deck looking out over the fjord. The bathrooms are a little funky because of the old building but worked fine. Our kids had a corner room with views in every direction and two decks. It was a little tight with two beds but the funky shape and ceilings made it really cool for them. I was sad we were only staying one night here. I would have loved to stay longer, with the hotel as one of the main attractions (although Balestrand is beautiful and there's lots of hiking, biking, water-related activities to do from here).

This hotel worked great for our family of 4. We had a top-floor room with views out over the cityscape. The location is good-- close to the water and the main activities of Bergen but a little outside of the tourist rush. The breakfasts were great but you had to get there earlier or you might have trouble finding a table. The staff was very helpful.

We had a room in the restaurant building and it was tight but worked well for our family of 4. We had views of the fjords and were next to their restaurant, bar, and all the local attractions. The staff was great and they had a great place to store our luggage on our last day. It worked out well. I will say that, if there's a cruise ship in town (which there was our first day) it's parked right in front so the view of the fjord becomes a city view of a 20 story building... But we only had a ship there 1 day during our stay.

I was angry when we arrived and got to our room (but calmed down...) I thought it looked a lot better online but our room, according to my son, looked like his dorm room. It was pretty sterile, faced an interior courtyard, and was cut into two pieces so our bedroom had no window. It was decent sized, though, and in a good location. The breakfast was good but you had to get there early or you would have trouble finding a table.

Loved the location for this hotel-- on the water and near the palace. We had a family room and crammed 4 of us in it. It was very tight for 4. The service was great and the breakfast was perfect. My complaints are the size of that room was small and the windows in the historic building are small. The dining area where breakfast is served doesn't look out at the water (not sure if it was because of construction or if that's permanent). Otherwise a great place to stay.

This was the highlight of our trip-- for the whole family. We got picked up in Reykjavik and taken 3-4 hours to the starting point. We hiked and then stayed in our first hut (after a visit to sit in the nearby hot spring!) The scenery on the trip was amazing. You really get a different sense of Iceland than you do by chasing the attractions around the ring. Instead of looking up at the mountains and glaciers, you're in them. At the end of our 2nd day, I think the scenery was the most beautiful I'd ever seen. The valley we looked down into (and ended up staying in that night) had pointy volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, lakes all in a vivid green setting. It was really beautiful. That hut, right on the lake, had incredible views as well. The huts were perfect. They're rustic and you share large rooms with your fellow guests. I was worried about that for my family but it was perfect. Fortunately no loud snorers... You work together to help cook and clean the dishes. The food was great and they accommodated everyone's diet issues. You make a bag lunch for the hike before heading out. Vans move your luggage from hut to hut so you only need a small daypack. That makes it really nice for hiking. The first day was pretty short. The second day was long-- about 18miles. The third and fourth days were medium. The days are long and there's no rush so it's not too hard. We were all tired after 18 miles but a nice, hot shower, and some good warm food revived everyone. There are showers-- you have to pay for hot water (definitely worth it!) and you can buy the tickets on-site with cash/card/phone. So that's easy. Some huts have snacks and drinks to sell as well. A beer at the 3 hut was really welcome...

This was an awesome experience. You get driven in a nice van to the edge of a glacier, hike up into it (short hike), explore the ice cave a bit, walk around on the glacier, and head back. The size of the glacier and the beauty of the caves and ice formations were incredible. The ice inside the caves was clear and blue-- super beautiful. The features outside were immense and awesome. It's not physically challenging so anyone who can hike can do it.

I thought I would hate this must-see activity but ended up really liking it. I thought it would be crammed and crowded and Disney-like. We got there in the early evening and it wasn't crowded. It was a nice experience which I wasn't expecting. The facilities are beautifully designed. The water is warm (and you can find hotter or cooler areas). We had some drinks prepaid. The wine wasn't great but the beer was decent. The mixed drinks were fun and there were good non-alcoholic versions for the kids. There are activities while in the water-- the facial scrubs (4 parts), a waterfall to be under, different areas to hang out, places to find hot spots, and the bar. The locker and shower facilities were good and clean. It took me a while to figure out my locker but got it working.

We had a great experience! We kayaked around the fjords (not the big, tall ones, but the coastal fjords right on the North Sea). We stopped to fish (and caught a few small guys). Then we pulled into a small harbor and walked to our historic farmhouse where we stayed the night. The farmhouse was great-- we all had nice beds, a warm wonderful meal. There was a great fireplace that helped warm us up after a little rain got us right as we were pulling up. We had a great breakfast and then headed out again. Our second day, we had a problem with high winds so we hiked the island, which was fantastic, and then got a boat ride back. Michael, our guide, was fantastic and made us some great Norwegian fish soup for dinner (sadly not with fish we caught...) The kayaks were great and the house was amazing. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who wants a little adventure. The kayaking wasn't tough or long so it was a great family event.

We had a great ride on the speedboat around the fjords. The gear kept us warm and dry, the boat was comfortable even at high speeds, the guide was great and the scenery was really beautiful.

This was a nice few hours touring around the area. The drive itself was great and the stops were cool. It was the last thing we did in Flam so I wasn't as excited about it, thinking we'd already seen everything, but we all enjoyed it. At the end we did the optional hike to the waterfall and that was very nice (about 500ft of altitude gain.)

We loved this experience. You take the historic train from Flam to the station just before the top, zip line down to where you pick up your bike, and ride back into town. The zip line was really fun. It's paired so you can race your wife/brother/friend. That's fun. The bike ride was great and mostly downhill. We stopped at the river and had a lunch picnic in the island. I would bring food along because we didn't find much along the way (we missed the cheese place that was mentioned in the info). The bike return was near downtown so really convenient. I love this day-- so much I wanted to do it again...

Nice cruise around Oslo's bay. It's great to go by the remote islands with their smaller weekend cottages and boathouses/bathhouses. The boat is a large, sailboat (but it's always under power with no sails raised). The information is good and there is some food and drinks available on the boat (although it's more snack food, hot dogs, etc.)

We had already walked many of the locations that this tour went to. It had a lot of history and information about the places we visited but didn't cover that much of the city. We tend to be more visual and active and want to walk around and see a ton with a little less information. It was still great, though.

Nice way to spend some time in Copenhagen, causing the canals.

This was our least favorite hotel. It is clearly in the middle of a renovation. There was evidence of construction all around, but our rooms had clearly not yet been worked on. The showers had mold, the shower doors didn’t work well and so the whole bathroom got flooded, there were nail holes everywhere. The common areas, however, were lovely - especially the bar. And we again loved the off-the-path location. It was crazy windy on the day we checked out and the night before and all the barriers between rooms were shaking and making noise throughout the night. I would recommend leaving this hotel off the list until they have completed their renovations.

This was a quaint little hotel conveniently located near the ferry. The rooms were fine and overall the hotel is a little dated and in need of some upgrading. But it was charming and we loved it for that. Breakfast options were somewhat limited.

This was our favorite hotel of the week. Remote location added to the experience. Dinner was unexpectedly incredible. A little smelly from the sulphuric emanating from the geothermal pools - but did not negatively impact our experience (and not the hotel’s fault!).

Great location - very clean. Rooms a bit small but that was not a major issue.

Amazing experience walking to and onto the glacier and seeing the cool streams and caves formed from the ice melting. Also very humbling to see the effects of global warming up close. In the attached photo you can see two separated parts of the glacier that just a couple of weeks ago had been touching. And we were told that where we parked (maybe 1/2 mile away) was covered by ice only 30 years ago.

This was incredibly cool. Everything from pulling on the dry suits, then the wetsuits, then the gloves and boots - the walk over to the water, getting in the water - it was all so much fun and so different from other snorkeling experiences. It is definitely cold! But if you follow instructions on what layers to wear and how to keep your mask sealed, it is really not that bad. The color and clarity of the water is 100% worth it! And the cookies and hot chocolate afterward were a great touch. Our guide, Nico, was so kind, knowledgeable, and funny.

This was one of our biggest highlights. Being on the water with the icebergs in the glacial waters was a humbling experience. The icebergs are so cool up close, and ever changing. Walking under the bridge over to Diamond Beach and seeing all of the ice on the beach was another highlight. Lots of birds playing around and taking rides on the bergs washing out to sea.

Excellent first stop after landing in Iceland. Helped us work out the kinks from our overnight flights and start off our vacation in style. Loved the face masks and cocktails in the water. Ate lunch at the cafe and everything was really tasty.

This was fun and the best part for me was the drive across smoldering lava fields to get there.

This was stunning. It was so beautiful - it seemed almost fake.

Super fun! Driving on the black sand beach parallel to the ocean was exhilarating!

Very interesting and informative and cold!

We skipped due to flight problem

Such a wonderful and relaxing experience! Great way to end our adventure!

We had a fabulous time going to see the ice caves! Our guide Natalia was AMAZING and incredibly knowledgeable!

Such a fun time! We love the horses of Iceland and when we got an opportunity to ride some of them we couldn’t resist!

This was such an amazing experience! We got to see the lagoon in all of its glory and even got to see some ADORABLE seals!

So interesting to see the lava caves! We had a great time and our group was relatively small which made it even more enjoyable.

Cozy and full of charm.

Very nice rooms.

Nice rooms and a delicious breakfast buffet.

It was less of a hike and more of an exploration of the tip of the glacier, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This was more fun than we expected. We drove through three completely different trips of terrain. The black sand is otherworldly, but driving through the fields of wildflowers and the river canyon was unexpected and beautiful.

It was a neat experience. The water was crystal clear and the wet suits kept us surprisingly warm.

The tour guide was lively and knowledgeable.

It was a perfect way to start our vacation after an overnight flight.