My husband and I were part of a group of 12 from a cruise that had booked a 2 day tour with Jon. Due to unforeseen circumstances, our 2 days in Reykavik was reduced to only 1 day and a different date than we had originally scheduled. Jon was great and rescheduled with no problems! He even managed to take us all of the places we had wanted to see!
He took us on a tour of the Church in Reykavik, the peninsula south of the capital, the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal power plant, a horse farm (a pleasant surprise not on the original itinerary!), Gullfoss waterfall, the "Old Geysir", and Thingvellir National Park. We did so much in such a short time, but it was well worth it! His personal touches made the trip so much more enjoyable and the time passed by too quickly.
My husband and I, and another couple, spent 8 days in Iceland with Jon as our tour guide. We visited almost all of Iceland - the southern coast, eastern fjords, north coast, west fjords, and the interior highlands, and the golden circle. Jon was reliable, well informed, and very responsive to our needs. If we were tired, he cut back (a little), and when we were really interested in something, he made it happen. His enthusiasm for his country was clear and made the trip more fun. He was a very safe driver, and made us feel comfortable and well taken-care of. We recommend him without reservation!
We searched the Internet and sent out several requests for private guide services. Bragi responded almost immediately and that set the tone for our excellent tour of South Iceland. Jon Thorrison was our guide and we had a great time. He accommodated all of our needs and requests. After a day in Reykjavik on our own, Jon picked us up from our hotel and transferred us to the Reykjavik airport where we took a smaller plane to Hofn to start out grand adventure.
He hired a nice four wheel drive vehicle and off we went to areas where we saw few, if any people. We saw some amazing sights, including the largest herd of reindeer Jon has ever seen. We climbed up areas in our 4WD until the snow blocked the road. We hiked and stopped to refill our water bottles with fresh spring water from streams. We saw and walked among glaciers and empty glacier beds (that had been washed away by the last volcano eruption). We hiked the glacier and sat in an ice cave.
I can't begin to write down all that Jon showed us and told us. From the visit to a grocery store, the picnics near the cliffs where puffins fly to eating dried fish with lots of butter. We had meals of reindeer carpaccio, smoked puffin and Minsk whale. We stayed at an amazing country inn, Hotel Ranga, who will wake you up at night to see the Northern Lights (which we didn't get to see).
Jon took care of our every need. We didn't have to worry about paying for anything. We payed only at the end. He was personable and friendly and felt as if he were our friend at the end of our four days with him.
We are already planning our next trip back!
Bragi is wonderful! The 2 days my husband and I spent with him touring the south and west of Iceland were the highlights of our 14 day trip to Europe. Before we arrived in Iceland, Bragi put together a detailed itinerary to match our interests in scenery and history. On our first day, when we were headed to the black sand beaches on the south coast, I mentioned I was also interested in geysers and Silfra. Bragi made changes to our plans on the fly to enable us to take a “mini-Golden Circle” tour to see the geysers and Silfra after we finished on the south coast. This added a couple of hours to our planned day, but was a much appreciated addition to our trip.
The second day was devoted to history. We learned about Snorri Sturluson, a 13th century Icelandic poet, historian, chieftain and author, and visited his home. We also learned about the settlement of Iceland and the history of the sagas. Throughout the day, Bragi also told us about the geology and culture of Iceland.
We did so many things in our two days: waterfalls, beaches, fjords, geysers, Thingvellir, Silfra, a power plant tour, a tour describing the recent volcanic eruption, a glacier, the folk museum at Skogar, hot springs, the Settlement Center, etc., etc. Thanks, Bragi!
Bragi is very knowledgeable about his country and conveys this knowledge in fluent English. He is the perfect guide, and we spent two remarkable days in his company. We are already planning another stop in Iceland with Bragi for 2013.
My first review accidently ended up under Reykjavik attractions rather than under tours, but I had to add another review as our two days with Bragi were wonderful. He took our group of 12 all over in his comfortable 16 seater bus at a very reasonable price picking us up at our cruise ship. We toured the Golden Circle, had a delicious lamb stew lunch near the waterfall, and visited the Pearl, the Hydropower center, and a Greenhouse flower grower on the first day and then toured Reykjavik with numberous stops, swam in the Blue Lagoon and viewed the thermal phenomenon on the peninsula nearby before being returned to our ship, tired but happy. Bragi is a font of information and took good care of us. The two days including all admissions cost $200 per person.
