Gravel Travel Iceland: Super Jeep Tours and Your 15% Discount

If you want to see the parts of Iceland that most visitors drive past, Gravel Travel is worth knowing about. They are a family-run operator, authorized by the Icelandic Tourist Board, and they are well rated on TripAdvisor. Their 4×4 trucks reach tracks ordinary tour buses can’t, which is the whole point of the company.

They have given my readers a deal: subscribe to my newsletter and you save 15% on all Gravel Travel tours booked online. That is up from the 10% we started with, and it applies across their whole range — day tours, private tours and the highland trips.

Here is what they run.

Northern Lights

Northern Lights Hunt — Jeep Tour With a Photographer

Four hours hunting the aurora in a 4×4 super jeep, well away from the city lights. Small groups, so you are not fighting for a view, and a photographer comes along to get pictures of you with the lights behind you. Tripods available. The jeeps can reach roads that coach tours cannot, which matters on a night when the clear sky is somewhere awkward.

Northern Lights Tour with Photographs, Local Pastries and Hot Chocolate

The same four-hour aurora hunt from Reykjavík, with Icelandic pastries and hot chocolate thrown in while you wait. Standing in the cold staring at the sky is considerably more pleasant with something warm in your hands. The cheaper of the two northern lights options.

The Highlands

Landmannalaugar Super Jeep from Reykjavik

Eleven hours, small group, pickup from Reykjavík or South Coast accommodation. You get about three hours at Landmannalaugar itself — enough for a hike at whatever level suits you and a soak in the geothermal pool afterwards. On the way you pass Hekla, and on the return there are stops at the Hnausapollur crater and the Sigöldugljúfur, Sigöldufoss and Hjálparfoss waterfalls. If road conditions close the highland track, the day switches to a highland waterfall route instead.

Private Landmannalaugar Super Jeep Tour from Vík

Nine hours, private, and it starts in Vík rather than Reykjavík — worth noting if you are basing yourself on the South Coast. The route takes in Eldgjá canyon, Blautulón, Langisjór and the Hnausahraun lava field on the way to Landmannalaugar.

9 Hidden Waterfalls Super Jeep Private Adventure

Eleven hours from Reykjavík and at least nine waterfalls, including Háifoss, Gjáin, Þjófafoss and Sigöldugljúfur. Because it is private, the guide can shift the running order to suit the weather, which in the highlands is not a small advantage.

Laki Craters Private Super Jeep Adventure from Vík

Eleven hours from Vík out to the Lakagígar crater row — the fissure responsible for the 1783 eruption that changed Icelandic history. Stops at Fagrifoss and Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon along the way. This is a highland track, so check which dates it runs.

The South Coast, Glaciers and Ice Caves

Private South Coast and Katla Ice Cave

Ten hours covering Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, the black sand at Reynisfjara, and then about an hour inside an ice cave under Katla. The Katla caves see fewer visitors than the better-known ones further east. Helmets and crampons are provided, and a glacier hike can be added.

South Coast & Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike from Reykjavik

Ten hours, pickup and return from Reykjavík, with a guided hike on Sólheimajökull built into the South Coast day. A sensible option if you do not want to drive and want to actually set foot on a glacier rather than photograph one from the car park.

Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike: Meet at the Glacier

About three hours on the ice with a guide, meeting at Sólheimajökull rather than in Reykjavík. If you already have a car and are driving the South Coast anyway, this is the cheaper and more efficient way to do it.

Vík to Katla Ice Cave Adventure

Three hours from Vík into an ice cave in Mýrdalsjökull, on the glacier that sits over the Katla volcano. Short, and a good use of an afternoon if you are staying in Vík.

Private Day Tours

Private Customizable Golden Circle Tour

Ten hours around the Golden Circle with the itinerary in your hands. Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss are the backbone, and you can add the Kerið crater lake, the dairy at Efstidalur farm, or a soak at Laugarvatn depending on what appeals.

Private Golden Circle + Laugarás Lagoon

The same Golden Circle day, finished off at Laugarás Lagoon, the newest geothermal lagoon on the route. A good combination if you want the sightseeing done by mid-afternoon and the rest of the day spent in hot water.

Full Day Private Snæfellsnes Peninsula Tour

Ten hours around the Snæfellsnes peninsula, which gets called “Iceland in miniature” often enough that the phrase has worn thin — but the range really is there. Kirkjufell, Snæfellsjökull, lava fields, black sand and fishing villages, all in one day. Being private, you can linger where you want to.

The Silver Circle: Private Borgarfjörður Day Tour

Ten hours in Borgarfjörður, a region thick with saga history and short on crowds. Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful hot spring, is on the route, and you can add either the man-made ice tunnel inside Langjökull or a stop at Krauma spa.

Þakgil Canyon from Vík Private Super Jeep Adventure

Four hours from Vík into Þakgil, a green canyon tucked in behind the black sand and the glaciers. Not somewhere you reach in a rental car.

Private Dynjandi Waterfall from Ísafjörður

Three and a half hours from Ísafjörður to Dynjandi, the waterfall that fans out down the mountainside in the Westfjords. Aimed at cruise passengers, but open to anyone in the area.

Custom and Multi-Day

Gravel Travel also builds private multi-day trips and takes on groups and corporate travel. If what you want is not on the list above, it is worth asking them directly — that is the advantage of dealing with a small family firm rather than a booking platform.

How to get your 15%

The discount is for my newsletter subscribers. Subscribe, and you will get the code along with the rest of the codes I have negotiated with around fifty Icelandic operators. Then book directly on graveltravel.is and enter the code at checkout.

You can also see the full list of deals I have arranged for readers.