Not every tour starts the way you plan it.
Greg and his three traveling companions landed in Iceland on a July morning, ready for eight days of private touring across the country. What they got instead — within the first hour — was a delayed flight, two missing suitcases, and an unplanned visit to a clothing rental shop in Reykjavík.
It set the tone perfectly. Because what makes a private tour in Iceland memorable is rarely the thing written on the itinerary. It is the moment when things go sideways and your guide knows exactly what to do. It is the conversation in the car that gives a waterfall its story. It is the running joke that starts on day three and somehow survives until the last photo at the edge of a Highland canyon.
This is the real account of Greg’s eight-day tour with Philippe, our co-owner and lead guide. It covers Snæfellsnes, the Silver Circle, the Golden Circle, the South Coast, the glacier lagoons, and a full traverse of the F208 Highland road — but the moments that stayed with everyone had very little to do with a checklist of stops.
After the tour, here is what Greg had to say:
The Travelers
Greg and his group — four Australians — arrived in Iceland in late July as the first leg of a bigger journey that would end with a cruise departure from Reykjavík. They had eight days, a taste for adventure, and the kind of humor that turns a luggage disaster into a comedy sketch.
The plan was a comprehensive loop hitting Iceland’s western, southern, and highland regions, all in our Toyota Land Cruiser — the vehicle built for the kind of roads that appear later in this story.
What Philippe learned very quickly: Greg is tall. Very tall. The original plan had the group rotating through the front passenger seat to enjoy the best views. After a few hours on the road, it became clear that the back seat of a Land Cruiser, generous as it is, was not designed for Greg’s frame. He became Philippe’s permanent copilot for the rest of the trip — and the front seat was never contested again.
Day 1 — Arrival: When Iceland Tests Your Flexibility
The flight was late. Two of the four suitcases did not arrive with them. For most travelers, this would set a grim mood for the start of a holiday. For this group, it became the first shared adventure.
Philippe drove them to the clothing rental shop in Reykjavík recommended by Icelandair — a service most visitors do not know exists. While the group tried on mismatched jackets, hiking boots two sizes too big, and waterproof layers that had clearly seen better days, the fitting room turned into something between a fashion show and a stand-up routine.
They left equipped for whatever Iceland would throw at them over the next couple of days, and they left laughing. The suitcases would catch up. Iceland was not going to wait.
Day 2 — Snæfellsnes Peninsula: Copilot Confirmed
The first full day of touring took the group west to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula — a region often called “Iceland in miniature” for the way it compresses glaciers, lava fields, coastal cliffs, and fishing villages into a single stretch of coastline.
Philippe took the scenic mountain roads that cut across the interior of the peninsula, offering panoramic views of the Snæfellsjökull glacier-volcano — the same one Jules Verne chose as the entrance to the center of the Earth. From up there, the entire peninsula spreads out below, and on a clear day like this one, you can see all the way to the Westfjords.
The group explored Arnarstapi’s coastal arches, the black pebble beach at Djúpalónssandur, and the iconic Kirkjufell mountain. It was a full day, and the kind of visual variety that makes Snæfellsnes such a strong opening act for an Iceland tour.
The real highlight, though, came at the hotel that evening. The suitcases had arrived.
And then came dinner.
Greg’s group, being Australian, asked the restaurant if they could bring their own bottle of wine — a common practice back home called BYO, where you pay a small corkage fee. The server, visibly confused by the request, went to check with the manager. The answer came back: yes, technically they could bring their own wine. The fee would be the price of the cheapest bottle on the wine list — around 9,000 ISK.
Dinner was enjoyed sober, and the wine list remained untouched.
Day 3 — The Silver Circle: Cards, Craters, and Canyon Baths
Day three headed inland to the Silver Circle — a route through Borgarfjörður that most visitors to Iceland never hear about, despite being packed with some of the country’s most beautiful and unusual natural sites.
The day started with an easy hike up Grábrók, an extinct volcanic crater with views across the lava-covered valley below. Then came the waterfalls: Glanni, tucked in a quiet forest along the Norðurá salmon river, followed by Hraunfossar — one of Iceland’s most unusual waterfalls, where water seeps through a lava field and cascades along an entire riverbank rather than dropping from a single cliff. Right next to it, Barnafoss crashes through a narrow rock channel, violent and loud where its neighbor is calm.
A stop at Deildartunguhver — Europe’s most powerful hot spring — and a guided walk through the 5,000-year-old Víðgelmir lava tunnel rounded out the sightseeing. But the day’s true reward came at the end: the Húsafell Canyon Baths, an exclusive geothermal bathing experience tucked inside a narrow canyon. Hot water, cold air, canyon walls on both sides, and the kind of silence that Iceland does better than anywhere.
That evening, the group introduced Philippe to Five Crowns — a card game that would become a fixture of every remaining evening. The competition was fierce. The stakes were pride. The rules were explained approximately once, then constantly debated for the rest of the trip.
Day 4 — Golden Circle via Kaldidalur: Wet Feet on a Warm Glacier
This was the day the itinerary took a deliberate detour.
Instead of approaching the Golden Circle from Reykjavík like most tours, Philippe drove the group through Kaldidalur — a highland track that runs between Iceland’s two largest ice caps, Langjökull and Þórisjökull. It is a route most visitors never see, and it reframes the entire Golden Circle experience. You arrive from the wild side, having already driven through landscapes that belong more to the interior than the southwest.
The glacier snowmobile experience on Langjökull was next. On paper, it should have been a straightforward thrill — riding across the surface of Iceland’s second-largest ice cap. In practice, the summer of this particular year had been unusually warm. A record heatwave the week before had accelerated the melt, and the glacier’s surface was more slush than ice. The group returned from the ride grinning but thoroughly soaked from the knees down.
Wet feet could not dampen the mood. Philippe adjusted the schedule to visit Þingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss in the late afternoon — avoiding the midday crowds and giving the group’s boots a chance to dry in the car.
Day 5 — South Coast: The Birth of the Roof Box Game
The South Coast delivered exactly what it always delivers — a relentless procession of waterfalls, black sand, and glaciers. Seljalandsfoss, where you walk behind the curtain of water. Skógafoss, wide and thundering. Sólheimajökull glacier tongue, cracked and blue against the black sand. Dyrhólaey promontory, where the group had the luck of spotting puffins nesting on the cliffs. And Reynisfjara, the black sand beach with its basalt columns and crashing Atlantic waves.
But the day will be remembered for something else entirely.
At some point during the drive, Linda noticed how many cars on Icelandic roads carry rooftop cargo boxes. It is a genuinely common sight in Iceland — most families own one. Linda found this endlessly fascinating, and what started as a casual observation escalated into a full-blown road game: every time the group spotted a car with a roof box, whoever saw it first had to shout “Roof box!”
The game became obsessive. Points were claimed. Contested sightings were debated. Philippe contributed the Icelandic angle: locals call roof boxes þakbox, but the informal nickname — “the mother-in-law box” — nearly caused a diplomatic incident in the back seat.
The Roof Box Game survived until the last day. It was never officially retired.
Day 6 — Vatnajökull: Ice, Diamonds, and a Canyon
Day six took the group east to the domain of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest ice cap — and into the landscapes that Iceland is most famous for internationally.
The glacier lagoon at Jökulsárlón is one of those places that looks almost artificial in photographs, but in person, the scale is what gets you. Icebergs the size of buildings drift across a lake fed directly by the glacier above, and the silence — broken only by the occasional crack of calving ice — is almost theatrical.
Across the road, icebergs that have washed out to sea return to shore at the Diamond Beach, sitting on black volcanic sand like oversized gemstones catching the light.
Fjallsárlón, a smaller and quieter glacier lagoon just minutes away, gave the group a more intimate version of the same experience — fewer people, closer to the ice wall, and a stillness that Jökulsárlón does not always have.
A visit to Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park and the dramatic Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon — a two-kilometer-long serpentine gorge carved through ancient rock — rounded out a day that covered more visual ground than most people see in an entire trip.
Day 7 — The F208: Highlands, Hot Springs, and a Farewell Photo
This was the day the tour earned its Land Cruiser.
The full F208 — a highland track that connects the lowlands to Landmannalaugar through some of Iceland’s most remote and dramatic terrain — is not a road you drive casually. It requires a serious 4x4, experience with river crossings, and the confidence to keep going when the landscape stops looking like anything you have seen before.
Philippe took them in from the south. The first surprise was Huldufoss — a waterfall hidden behind the Hólaskjól highland campsite that most travelers drive right past. From there, the F208 began to reveal itself: one landscape after another, each completely different from the last. Green moss gave way to black lava. Red volcanic slopes appeared next to orange mineral deposits. Rivers cut through the lava fields, and each crossing required Philippe to read the water before committing. In the Land Cruiser, the group watched from dry seats as the river climbed the wheel arches.
Then came Landmannalaugar — the destination that makes the F208 worth every river crossing. Rhyolite mountains in shades of red, yellow, green, and purple surrounded them on all sides. The geothermal heat beneath the lava fields feeds natural hot springs, and after a short hike through the area, the group soaked in the warm water, surrounded by nothing but volcanic wilderness and sky.
The return route took the northern section of the F208, passing through volcanic desert and along the Þjórsá river valley. The last stop was Sigöldugljúfur — the Valley of Tears — a canyon where dozens of waterfalls cascade down steep walls on both sides. It is one of the most beautiful and least visited places in Iceland, and it was here that the group took their farewell photo.
Eight days. Four Australians. One Land Cruiser. And a canyon full of waterfalls to end it on.
Day 8 — Transfer to the Cruise Port
Philippe drove the group to Reykjavík harbor, where they would board their cruise. Goodbyes were warm, the Roof Box Game got one final point on the drive through Reykjavík, and the Five Crowns standings remained unresolved.
What Made This Tour Work
Every private tour is different because every group is different. But a few things made Greg’s tour particularly memorable — and they are the same things that make private touring in Iceland consistently better than the alternatives.
Flexibility from minute one. When two suitcases went missing on arrival, Philippe adapted immediately. A group tour would have shrugged and moved on. A self-drive traveler would have been on the phone with the airline while trying to navigate Reykjavík. With a private guide, the problem was solved before it became a problem.
An itinerary built for the group. The original plan evolved during the trip. Days were reordered to match weather and energy levels. The approach to the Golden Circle through Kaldidalur — not a standard tourist route — happened because Philippe knew it would deliver a better experience for this particular group.
The Highland access. The full F208 traverse is something most visitors to Iceland never experience, because it requires a vehicle and a driver equipped for it. In our Land Cruiser, with Philippe reading the rivers and the terrain, the group accessed Iceland’s most spectacular interior landscapes in complete safety and comfort.
The human element. Five Crowns in the evenings. The Roof Box Game on every drive. The BYO wine negotiation that became a running story. These are not things that appear on an itinerary, but they are the things people remember ten years later. They happen because a private tour creates the space for them — shared time, shared jokes, a guide who becomes part of the group.
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FAQ
How long does this type of Iceland tour take? Greg’s tour was eight days including arrival and cruise departure, with six full touring days. This is a comfortable pace for covering western Iceland, the South Coast, the glacier region, and the Highlands. Similar itineraries range from five to ten days depending on which regions you want to include.
Do I need a Land Cruiser for the Highlands? You need a capable vehicle. The F-roads that access Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk, and other highland destinations are legally restricted to 4x4 vehicles, and many require actual river crossings. Our Toyota Land Cruiser is specifically modified for these conditions.
Can a private tour adjust if things go wrong? This is one of the biggest advantages. From lost luggage to weather changes to a glacier that is more liquid than solid, a private guide adapts the plan in real time. The itinerary is a framework, not a contract.
Is it worth adding the Highlands to an Iceland itinerary? If you have the time — absolutely. The Highlands are Iceland at its most raw and most rewarding, and they are inaccessible without the right vehicle and experience. Greg’s group consistently said the F208 day was the highlight of the entire trip.
All articles in our travel stories relate tours that we crafted and operated since Lilja Tours was founded. Clients gave us permission to use their pictures, which we appreciate because we want these accounts to be as authentic as possible. To preserve our clients’ privacy, we never use their real names.
