Lava Travel

Where do I even start?! All 4 of us - myself, my husband, and my 2 girls, ages 6 and 8 had an amazing time! I provided some guidance to Gummi, and he planned us an amazing trip. First of all, the accommodations were amazing:

Berjaya Reykjavik Marina - This was our favorite hotel of the trip. It was such a cozy, hygge vibe. Exceptionally clean. So many different rooms to hang out in! An awesome restaurant and bar with a happy hour. You could tell that this was not only a great place for tourists but for locals as well. There were always locals hanging out at the bar and in the lobby. Our kids loved the bunk bed in our room and the libraries and different rooms in the hotel. My daughter and I got sick one of the days, and it was nice that we had such a cozy room to hang out in. It was truly a place we loved to hang out in. The included breakfast buffet was the cherry on top!

Skálatjörn Guesthouse / Goat Farm - My girls were in love with the goats. The woman who runs the place was so friendly, and everything was exceptionally clean. It was a great place to rest after a long day of exploring.

Hotel Vík í Mýrdal - Amazing breakfast. Very spacious room with a loft area for our kids to sleep (they loved it). Their room darkening shades could use some work, but all in all it was a great place to stay. Close walking proximity to everything we had planned in Vík. Exceptionally clean.

Some activities we did that really stood out:

Blue Lagoon Comfort Admission (If I went back to Reykjavik, I would definitely do the Blue Lagoon a few more times! It was very relaxing)
Lava Tunnel Activity (This lava tunnel was seriously cool. My kids enjoyed all the troll lore. )
Glacier Ice Cave Experience (This was my favorite activity of the entire trip - it was so amazing! Once in a lifetime experience for sure!)
Explore Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon by Amphibian Boat ( we enjoyed seeing all the wildlife and my kids really enjoyed skipping rocks on the glacier bay beach)
Reykjavík Puffin Watching (I've never seen a puffin, let alone so many puffins all at once! This was truly a sight to see! Don't expect to get close enough to get any true close-ups of puffins though - I was a bit disappointed by how my photos turned out from so far away). However, I understand why it is important to give them space while they are nesting. Bring a really powerful telephoto lens if you plan to do this! I had one but needed more zoom! I actually enjoyed this more than the whale watching excursion - mainly because it was only an hour whereas the whale watching was 4 hours on a boat; my kids grew tired of being on the boat for that long.
Family-Friendly Horse Riding on Black Sand Beach. - Big hit with the whole family! The horses were all so sweet and well-behaved. I was a bit worried considering this was my first time on a horse ever, but I felt very safe!
The Secret Lagoon - Very cool hidden gem. The rocks at the bottom of this hot spring feel soooo good on the feet!

Gummi was very responsive on WhatsApp whenever we had issues. I would highly recommend using him as a guide or planner for any trip to Iceland. We even got to meet him in person because he was driving a couple and happened to stop at the same restaurant as us at the same time. I saw him and thought, that has to be him, and it was!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Vík í Mýrdal

Vík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Skálatjörn

Selfoss

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Reykjavík Marina - Berjaya Iceland Hotels

Reykjavík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Family-Friendly Horse Riding on Black Sand Beach

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whales of Iceland Museum

Reykjavík

Quality of Experience

Faxaflói Bay Whale Watching Excursion

Reykjavík

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon by Amphibian Boat

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Reykjavík Puffin Watching

Reykjavík

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lava Tunnel Activity

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Big ‘Thank you’ to the kimkim team and especially to our trip organizer/guide Gummy! Our vacation was very well planned and everyone really enjoyed it.

We had an amazing time. All of our excursions were great. We did a Lava Cave experience and our guide was great! The Ice Cave experience was so cool and our guide was really fun and even gave us information about movies filmed in certain parts of Iceland. Our favorite activity was the Zodiac boat tour at Glacier Lagoon. We visited the Blue Lagoon and Laugaras Lagoon. The Laugaras Lagoon was by far our favorite of the two. Gudmundur our specialist was quick to answer our questions and help with anything we needed. His planning of our trip and knowledge of Iceland were top notch. We loved everything we did and saw.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Vík í Mýrdal

Vík

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Grímsborgir by Keahotels

Ásborgir

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Búðir

Búðir

Amazing location!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Apótek Hótel by Keahotels

Reykjavík

Great hotel and location!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Center Hotel Arnarhvoll

Reykjavík

We were disappointed in the hotel. The staff was friendly and we were greeted with sweet treats in our room upon arrival. That was the positive. Unfortunately, the rooms were not up to par. It was shown/advertised as a 4 star hotel and the rooms did not meet this standard. We had 2 rooms for one night. The bathrooms in both rooms were very tiny and awkwardly layed out. The shower in our children’s room was so small and the shower cleaner brush was left in the shower. Water leaked out from the shower as well. Our shower in the queen room was an oddly shaped tub shower and hard to get into. The queen room had cracks in the ceiling and seemed not well maintained. Walls and doors needed paint.

Authenticity & Character

Spa was nice.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Glacier Ice Cave Experience

Iceland

Quality of Experience

I

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Víðgelmir Lava Cave Experience

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon by Zodiac Boat

Iceland

Once in a lifetime experience. Great guide!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We loved that, Gummy, being a local, shared his passion for Iceland. The information and insights he provided were excellent. He recognized and catered to our interests and needs. We enjoyed all of our activities - it’s hard to pick a favorite.

There wasn’t a detail left untouched for our trip to Iceland. Gummie was incredibly thorough. For ease of use I had our pdf of the trip printed into a presentation book and we kept it in the car with us, plus now it’s a great detailed keepsake. The rental from Blue Car came with WiFi and we found that to be so helpful. Each hotel stay was perfect and went beyond expectations for unique settings, boutique style rooms and staff experience. We found the restaurant recommendations super helpful as well as tips like getting wine or liquor at Duty Free in the airport upon arrival. We packed appropriately for all kinds of weather and went out on our adventures regardless of weather until the unexpected snow storm in the East Fjords changed our plans. We made a quick plan B to enjoy the Vok Baths and a quiet rest day. Overall, we loved our entire Iceland experience and the KimKim service was excellent.