4 days Laugavegur 2 days Fimmvorduhals, request for Dave Barry - We did 4 days Laugavegur, 2 days Fimmvorduhals, a bucket list must do hike - in perfect weather (we were lucky), with a fantastic guide - shout out to Dave Barry and an incredible group of hikers. Landscape is otherworldly and magical. Thank you Dave who cooked fantastic meals, made difficult but wise calls when it was a blizzard and whose humour was always en pointe. Couldn’t have asked for a better guide.

Amazing views on the Laugavegur trail - My brother and I walked the Laugavegur trail on this guided walk with 14 others and Fanny as our guide. It was an amazing experience and the landscape was truly breathtaking. Fanny was an enthusiastic and encouraging guide. Her love of the area was infectious and contributed significantly to the enjoyment for the group. But she also showed great composure, resilience and problem-solving skills, exactly what you would want in a mountain guide!

Awesome experience! One for the bucket list! - We just completed the 4 day hut-to-hut Laugavegur trail trek. What an incredible experience. Despite being experienced independent multi-day hikers, for ease of organisation, logistics etc we decided to do this as our first ever guided group hike. We are so happy that we did. This hike crosses some of the most dramatically beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen. The weather and conditions are constantly changing making for great experiences and some stunning pictures (although they don’t seem to do justice to the reality). This is a challenging hike that should not be attempted without some previous experience of hiking in adverse conditions over multiple days. There are steep ascents and descents, river crossings that require a change of shoes and getting wet up to the knee in very cold water, and as part of a group, you need to be able to keep up. We did a ‘test’ hike of about 7km on our first day at the first hut (Landmannalaugar) that was extremely physically demanding and set us up for the days ahead, and I assume gave the guide a chance to gauge our abilities and fitness levels. We then did the 55km Laugavegur trail over the next 3 days, ending at Þórsmörk valley. A massive shout out to our guide Andrea Volpi who was the perfect balance of responsible and laid-back. He communicated every evening and every morning, and checked in to make sure everyone was managing well with what is quite a challenging hike. He also cooked us a solid meal and dessert every evening and made sure there was plentiful snacks, and a good breakfast with lots of coffee / tea. Breakfast was not cooked but plentiful - oatmeal, cereal, banana, apple, skyr and yogurt, bread and spreads. The food was not at all complicated but it was good quality, fresh and there was a lot of it. He set a sensible pace and was knowledgeable about the route and the geography and geology. His extensive experience and demeanor instilled just the right level of confidence. The only minor negative was that their pre-hike communications were pretty minimal. I received a good email about a month out, with a pdf of some practical advice about what to bring regarding gear and clothing which was very helpful and pretty spot-on. It did lack some practical factual info about sleeping arrangements in the huts, the toilet and shower facilities, and a bit more detail about the types of food we could expect, etc. I think this would have been helpful in order to be more mentally prepared for conditions and I know some of the others in our group thought so. It certainly didn’t negatively impact our actual experience and would not stop us from recommending this to others. Above all, we thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and company of the rest of our 16-strong group, which varied in age from 16 to 74, and featured 8 Americans, 2 Canadian-Chinese, 4 Australians and 2 Italians. This was a surprise to me, as we have mostly avoided holidays that involve having to interact at length with strangers! But for this particular experience, they certainly enhanced our enjoyment not detracted from it, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to push themselves out of their comfort zone – physically and mentally! Not specific to Arctic Adventures, some further comments: 1. I do not understand how anyone could do this hike and sleep in tents. The weather is extremely changeable and unpredictable and that wind is cold! The huts are cramped and really a bit overcrowded but they are warm and have cooking facilities inside them. Kudos to the campers! 2. As mentioned, the huts are very functional spaces but they are clean and the ‘mattresses’ are clean. I took Loop silicon ear plugs and while they were definitely better than conventional ear plugs, they didn’t really block out the cacophony of snoring very well. Be prepared for very poor sleep quality. 3. Another tip – not sure if it’s only specific to Arctic Adventures – is to make sure your bag with your clothes and overnight stuff (which is transported ahead of you by vehicle every day) really IS waterproof. These duffels are left outside the huts in a large pile until you arrive to retrieve them, which means that they are likely to get very wet.

A phenomenal experience in the Icelandic Highlands - An awesome trek on the Laugavegur Trail with our guide HD. He went out of his way to bring the trekking group together as a family and showed us lots of out of the way spots. I had such a great time on this challenging adventure.

Great trek. Great leader/guide - Fanny F. - The trek guide/leader was Fanny. Throughout Fanny was thoroughly professional, cheerful, and always supportive to all in the group. It was difficult as it became clear that some in the group were struggling with the challenge of walking in the conditions. And although most in the group were happy to share the work of food preparation and clearing up afterwards unfortunately there were some who seemed to think the chores were below them (yet perfectly happy to eat the food). Read up what to expect before you go, be physically prepared for it and be willing to get stuck in - then enjoy. But nb it is not supposed to be 5 star hotels!

Awesome 6 day trek - I am from Australia and trekked the Laugavegur and Fimmvorouhais 6 day hike with an awesome group of people led by a very capable and knowledgeable guide Fanny in June 2024. The trek is brilliant! Arctic Adventures were terrific with responding to lots of questions prior to the trek. Iceland is amazing and if you want to trek hopefully you will get Fanny.

Best landscape most fun - I had an amazing 4/5 days with our guide Fanny. The landscape was out of this world and it was a joy to lose oneself in it. Our guide Fanny was a great leader, full of interesting information on geology, botany, history etc, and she was full of fun. One tough hike of 25k but all the rest were very manageable. The huts were basic, like scout hostels but I really enjoyed them. For me this was my best ever hiking experience. 😊😊😊

Great experience - Just finished the 4-day hut-to-hut with Arctic Adventures earlier this week and it was pretty spectacular. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is 1. because I thought the equipment rental could have been better - both my sister-in-law and myself rented poles through the company and both sets were broken in some capacity. We made them work, but if you rely on poles, I'd bring your own. Our sleeping bags that we rented didn't have any issues. The second reason I give this 4 stars is cause I would maybe recommend having two guides for a 16 person group. It's a lot of wrangling, and having one person at front of the team and one person at back would be really helpful. I think it would also take a bit of a load off the one guide who has so much to handle each night and morning. The trek itself is stunning, and Arctic Adventures did a great job of getting us to our locations each day, transferring our luggage, and feeding us. *luggage transfer - Make sure your duffle is waterproof or covered, the bags will sit outside in rain before they are picked up by luggage transfer. The company tells you this ahead of time, but I'm just double advising it. *the food - I was pleasantly surprised by the food on the trip--some great salmon dinners! If you have food allergies or preferences, just know that sometimes you might have to prepare your own food. *Team effort - 16 people is a big group- expect to work as a team for meals and clean up. *Huts - try to find pictures of the huts you're staying in so you're not surprised. I expected what we got, but I know others were surprised by the nature of the hut (shared mattresses etc). Lower your expectations so you are pleasantly surprised---these are actually quite nice huts if you aren't expecting a hotel in the middle of the wildnerness :) (The second hut we stayed in was double mattress bunk beds-- so if you travel single you may need to share a mattress with a stranger in a tight quarter capacity). I also found the bunk beds difficult to get in and out of--and there was no safety bar -- so if you have a fear of falling out of the bed, try not to be on that side. Thanks Arctic Adventures for a great trip!

Great trek but lousy equipment, gear, and food planning - I give high marks for our guide and this beautiful trekking route (A++ rating). But this review is going to focus on two things the company itself was responsible for that soured our experience (C- rating): the quality of the equipment and gear and the amount of food. Arctic Adventures is the biggest outdoor tourism company in Iceland — so why can’t they get the basics right? There is no excuse to skimp out on equipment, gear, and food. 1) Leaky tent with no ground tarp provided. I’m not talking condensation here; I’m talking steady dripping water through the tent ceiling. On our first night in the whipping rain, my sleeping bag got drenched from my feet to my knees. The bag of clean socks and underwear that I kept inside the tent for warmth also got soaked. And because it rained the entire 4 days, nothing could dry off. I had no dry socks and no change of underwear for the entire trek. Folks considering the tent option of this tour should make sure the company guarantees a high quality tent in good working order before committing to this trip. 2) Rental rain jacket was a joke. It was a rubberized Helly Hansen raincoat — which was not meant to be worn with a backpack, didn’t breathe, didn’t keep out moisture and became very heavy when wet. The guide had to give us the RAB brand goretex jacket off his back. Poor man. 3) Not enough food. There were 6 men and 4 women in our group, with 1 woman on a keto diet. The company did not supply enough meat protein for this spread of people. The 3 non-keto women sometimes ended up with no meat or eggs to eat. And the keto woman sometimes went without eating because there was no protein option for the particular meal. When everyone pays the same price, everyone should feel like they’ve had enough to eat, and this was definitely not the case. There’s just nothing worse than not having enough sustenance on an active outdoor trip. Meal planning was a major fail here. Arctic Adventures — do better!

Great Hike but Poor Service from Agency HQ - It is a mixed review: Our guide (and auxiliaries in training) were very good and friendly and the landscape speaks for itself. You don't really need 4 days to do the Laugavegur. It is relatively flat. We were the first group of the season for the 4-day Laugavegur and followed by two days in Thorsmork. Two areas were deficient: (1) as it turned out our group could have comprised up to 16 persons and 1 guide. It was not the case as were 12 and ha 3 additional guides in training, but - even so - it was difficult to keep the group's cohesion and many people felt behind. It also meant that you had to help at the hut with cooking and cleaning. (2) the second issue has been more bothersome: we pay on 1-Jan and then learned about an early bird discount which showed up a week later. We went back to the agency and ask to benefit from the discount as well as we had booked even earlier. We were told that it was not possible because this discount did not apply to our product (4+2 days) and yet we met within the very same another couple who had booked in January after us and received the discount. Basically, a white lie from the agency.