Iceland Super Jeep Private Tour

[dvcdisney]

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone can suggest a private Super Jeep tour company that will pick up a the cruise port in Reykjavik. I understand that there are a lot of private and group tours available, but what I'm looking for is a tour that would allow a lot of independence. Lots of tours require the guide to stay with you for most of the tour and we can understand some prefer that and likely, this is the reason for booking the private tour.

We love to hear all the wonderful history and background information on the specific sites we'll be visiting, but my family likes to explore on our own. We find this would be okay for a Golden Circle tour. We wouldn't consider wandering on our own for other tours like Ice Cave or Lava or Glacier Tours.

Essentially, would anyone be able to suggest a tour company that would offer some great insights into the places but allow us the freedom to tour the stops on the Golden Circle tour on our own?

We did consider renting a car and driving, but we're looking for a Super Jeep tour experience which seems to be exclusive to tour companies since we would also like to visit the Langjokull Glacier.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[aggiedog]

I'd contact several companies and ask them yourselves. If you explain what you want, they can tell you what's available. There is significant concern regarding Iceland's lava fields and moss, as it takes decades to grow. They don't take kindly to people walking on it. Similarly, one of their park trails is currently closed due to people going around the mud on the trail, into the moss, damaging the ecosystem. Not saying that's what you want to do, but you could mention you don't want to do "that" kind of wandering when you contact companies.

I think it really depends where you want to go with the super jeep.

 

[Pens Fan]

I agree with the above poster. As Iceland has become more popular as a tourist destination, they are struggling with finding a balance between accessibility and preserving what brought all those tourists there in the first place. While you can definitely rent a car and go your own way, I'm not sure if the super jeep companies that are geared specifically to going off road allow that. You will have to contact some and ask, I imagine. I also recommend posting this question over on Cruise Critics's port specific pages. You will get a much wider audience than on here, as Disney only does a couple of Iceland cruises each year.

I will also point out that the true "super jeeps" are not like your typical jeep-type vehicle most people are familiar with. The tires on these things are massive and driving them takes a definite skill. They handle very poorly on asphalt, for example, as they are intended for rough terrain. When we went out on the glacier they deflated the tires to almost nothing and then had to inflate them again before taking off. Also the company that we used (Discover Iceland) didn't allow their tours to go on the glacier alone - even though all were driven by guides. So even though we were on a private tour the rest of the day, we met up with two other groups and the three jeeps went out on the glacier together, for safety reasons.

While everyone's different, we loved having guides, and not just for their knowledge of the areas we visited. When we are in a foreign country, we find a large part of the experience is just meeting and talking to the locals. We used Discover Iceland both days that we were in Reykjavik and had two different guides. Both were wonderful and we truly enjoyed spending the day with them.

Whatever you decide, enjoy Iceland. It's a very special place.

 

[daedelus]

I would warn against renting and driving unless you know what you're in for. The rental companies have elaborate and expensive insurance waivers depending on where you're planning on going. This includes "volcanic ash and dust" insurance which in a "risk" on about 80% of the island.

We rented a little Citroen and drove the Golden Circle, which was fine. Anything outside of that, I'd be very careful. I've heard horror stories about some of the bills presented...

 

[aggiedog]

I'll admit it didn't occur to me you were meaning to "wander" in a super jeep. I took it to mean walk/hike once on location. Perhaps that's what you did mean. But no, I doubt you'd be able to rent a super jeep. They are not standard cars in any way, and any place they are meant to go, you would need a guide to keep you safe.

If you want to rent a standard car, I actually think you'd be fine within the radius of your standard port excursion time limit. Check the Iceland TripAdvisor forum on which companies are better and pitfalls to be aware of, but much of the sand/ash warnings apply to those driving south or the ring road. If you stick to the main roads (not F roads) you should be fine.

 

[ACQUADUCK]

Use Extreme Iceland they are very good.

 

[dvcdisney]

I'd contact several companies and ask them yourselves. If you explain what you want, they can tell you what's available. There is significant concern regarding Iceland's lava fields and moss, as it takes decades to grow. They don't take kindly to people walking on it. Similarly, one of their park trails is currently closed due to people going around the mud on the trail, into the moss, damaging the ecosystem. Not saying that's what you want to do, but you could mention you don't want to do "that" kind of wandering when you contact companies.

I think it really depends where you want to go with the super jeep.

Thank you. I've been contacting a few.

 

[dvcdisney]

I agree with the above poster. As Iceland has become more popular as a tourist destination, they are struggling with finding a balance between accessibility and preserving what brought all those tourists there in the first place. While you can definitely rent a car and go your own way, I'm not sure if the super jeep companies that are geared specifically to going off road allow that. You will have to contact some and ask, I imagine. I also recommend posting this question over on Cruise Critics's port specific pages. You will get a much wider audience than on here, as Disney only does a couple of Iceland cruises each year.

I will also point out that the true "super jeeps" are not like your typical jeep-type vehicle most people are familiar with. The tires on these things are massive and driving them takes a definite skill. They handle very poorly on asphalt, for example, as they are intended for rough terrain. When we went out on the glacier they deflated the tires to almost nothing and then had to inflate them again before taking off. Also the company that we used (Discover Iceland) didn't allow their tours to go on the glacier alone - even though all were driven by guides. So even though we were on a private tour the rest of the day, we met up with two other groups and the three jeeps went out on the glacier together, for safety reasons.

While everyone's different, we loved having guides, and not just for their knowledge of the areas we visited. When we are in a foreign country, we find a large part of the experience is just meeting and talking to the locals. We used Discover Iceland both days that we were in Reykjavik and had two different guides. Both were wonderful and we truly enjoyed spending the day with them.

Whatever you decide, enjoy Iceland. It's a very special place.

Thank you. I also agree. I have no intention of wandering on our own. As I mentioned, most guides tend to stay with the group the entire time, even when walking to an area frequented by everyone. I do enjoy the information and meeting new people, especially in a new country. But sometimes, we like to be able to spend time exploring the area with just us (and yes, I know there are a 100 others there doing the same thing)...but you know what I mean.

When we went on an Alaskan cruise, we went to visit Mendenhall Glacier...and although there were many others there, we enjoyed being there with just us...and we looked in silence for a long time...I feel I need to always pay attention when there's a guide with us and I feel that would be rude to not acknowledge when the guide is talking...but my family enjoys just seeing...not sure if I'm making my self clear...but I do understand what you're saying.

 

[dvcdisney]

I would warn against renting and driving unless you know what you're in for. The rental companies have elaborate and expensive insurance waivers depending on where you're planning on going. This includes "volcanic ash and dust" insurance which in a "risk" on about 80% of the island.

We rented a little Citroen and drove the Golden Circle, which was fine. Anything outside of that, I'd be very careful. I've heard horror stories about some of the bills presented...

Thank you. I did notice that when we were thinking of driving ourselves....we decided against it because we felt we wouldn't be able to see what we wanted to see without a guide. Another reason all the insurance required and reading about a lot of damage that the car can get by just driving around.

 

[dvcdisney]

I'll admit it didn't occur to me you were meaning to "wander" in a super jeep. I took it to mean walk/hike once on location. Perhaps that's what you did mean. But no, I doubt you'd be able to rent a super jeep. They are not standard cars in any way, and any place they are meant to go, you would need a guide to keep you safe.

If you want to rent a standard car, I actually think you'd be fine within the radius of your standard port excursion time limit. Check the Iceland TripAdvisor forum on which companies are better and pitfalls to be aware of, but much of the sand/ash warnings apply to those driving south or the ring road. If you stick to the main roads (not F roads) you should be fine.

In a way, I did mean wander in a super jeep. Essentially, I was wondering if there was a super jeep tour company that would take us to the locations we wanted, but still give us the freedom to go (as long as it's normally accessible to guests) and explore. And I'm not talking about lava caves or glacier hikes...even if we were experienced, we would never consider going on our own for things like that.

I guess we want to explore on our own, but still have a guide. We don't want to drive on our own, but still want to feel like we have control of where we want not what guides want us to see....

I think it's just a matter of speaking to the guide once we choose one. I think they'll be more inclined to let us know which places we can explore "on our own" vs those that they need to accompany us. I just don't want to insult them by asking them to give us space...

We had a great tour during our British Isles cruise. We had our guide take us to places we wanted to visit, but he asked us each time if we wanted him to join us and he understood each time we told him we can go on our own. I liked that freedom.

On other private tour we had, our guide never left our side and although he was wonderful with all the information and insights, we felt we didn't explore as we wanted. He was fabulous as a guide, but we prefer the hands off tour.

 

[dvcdisney]

Use Extreme Iceland they are very good.

Thank you. They are one of the ones I'm looking into.

 

[dvcdisney]

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and info. I appreciate it!

 

[ACQUADUCK]

Thank you. They are one of the ones I'm looking into.

They are very good,

Contact.


Neil Kelleher
TRAVEL CURATOR: PRIVATE & CUSTOM TOURS
neil@adventures.is
adventures.is

 

[aggiedog]

I have no doubt you'll be able to find someone to help you. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Pens Fan]

I think it's just a matter of speaking to the guide once we choose one. I think they'll be more inclined to let us know which places we can explore "on our own" vs those that they need to accompany us. I just don't want to insult them by asking them to give us space...

I agree with this.

We book private guides a lot when in port. The guides we have used have been really flexible. At times they did walk with us and added valuable insight, but often they didn't. Sometimes they would drop us off in an area, show us the right path and then pick us up at the other end of the trail. I think the really good guides have a sense of when people want them around and when to disappear, if you know what I mean. I really think you can find a guide who will give you the experience you are looking for, but in a safe manner. As I said in my first posts, these Iceland Super Jeeps are not your typical jeep-type vehicle. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser and are used to driving off road, but I don't think any one of us would have been comfortable driving one of those things. The one we were in the first day had 42 inch wheels!! Heck, just climbing into it was hard enough, never mind driving it .

You are going to have a blast. Our two days in Reykjavik were some of our fondest memories of that trip - and probably top 10 of any trip we've ever taken. Pretty much anywhere you go in Iceland is going to be spectacular, but the Super Jeeps can go places the tour busses can't (and it's so fun leaving them behind ). And flying across the glacier in those jeeps - well, that's just special.

 

[dvcdisney]

They are very good,

Contact.


Neil Kelleher
TRAVEL CURATOR: PRIVATE & CUSTOM TOURS
neil@adventures.is
adventures.is

Thank you!

 

[dvcdisney]

I have no doubt you'll be able to find someone to help you. Enjoy your trip!

Thank you!

 

[dvcdisney]

I agree with this.

We book private guides a lot when in port. The guides we have used have been really flexible. At times they did walk with us and added valuable insight, but often they didn't. Sometimes they would drop us off in an area, show us the right path and then pick us up at the other end of the trail. I think the really good guides have a sense of when people want them around and when to disappear, if you know what I mean. I really think you can find a guide who will give you the experience you are looking for, but in a safe manner. As I said in my first posts, these Iceland Super Jeeps are not your typical jeep-type vehicle. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser and are used to driving off road, but I don't think any one of us would have been comfortable driving one of those things. The one we were in the first day had 42 inch wheels!! Heck, just climbing into it was hard enough, never mind driving it .

You are going to have a blast. Our two days in Reykjavik were some of our fondest memories of that trip - and probably top 10 of any trip we've ever taken. Pretty much anywhere you go in Iceland is going to be spectacular, but the Super Jeeps can go places the tour busses can't (and it's so fun leaving them behind ). And flying across the glacier in those jeeps - well, that's just special.

That's exactly the guide experience we're looking for. We're really excited! THere's just so many places to visit, I just want to make sure we enjoy everything we see. As for the Super Jeep, I agree...we weren't planning to drive one...sorry, I should have been more clear...one of the main reasons that we want to take a tour is because we want to have the Super Jeep experience.