BusTravel Iceland — Attraction in Reykjavik

Let me begin by saying the one star has ZERO to do with not seeing the Northern Lights. I booked this tour completely believing that seeing anything was a long shot. It is the operation of the company and its employees attitudes that garnered this rating.

We originally had booked a tour for Sunday December 22 but it was cancelled because of weather. No issues, things happen. I rescheduled for Dec 27 and got an email from the company earlier that afternoon with specific instructions on pickup and a description of the bus to look for.

I arrived at the instructed time and waited well past the 2030 pickup time looking for the bus as described. One showed up matching the description but only took two passengers. Two other buses that did not match the description showed up and were immediately charged by confused tourists trying to find their tour. Since neither of the buses matched the description, my wife and I stayed out of the chaos and waited.

After waiting nearly 20 minutes, I received a phone call from a lady from TravelBus Iceland who was irate that I was late for my tour. She was screaming in the phone that my tour guide was at the location looking for us and we needed to find “Jess”. Two guides were outside and when asked if they were Jess. One polite guide said he was Matthew and the other gave a curt “no” when asked if he was Jess.

I informed the unnecessarily angry employee on the phone that neither person at the bus was Jess and she began screaming at me again telling me to go find them. When I told her there was no one there she began screaming “What do you mean no one is there?” At this point I had enough of this type of treatment and asked her what part of Jess is not here that she didn’t understand. She began to scream over me and eventually hung up. Interestingly enough, a tourist next to me phone rang and it was the same angry rude woman yelling at that customer in the same manner.

I walked over to the driver that had rudely said he wasn’t Jess since he was the last bus left. Finally realizing that some organization would be required to deal with the large amount of people, he began calling out the names of who he was looking for. Lo and behold, I was the second name he called.

After getting on the bus, he introduced himself as “Jeff”. Are you kidding me ? When I asked if you are Jess it never occurred to you to say “I’m Jeff”? Jeff went on to say that the tour was late beginning because boarding was harder than it needed to be. Yeah Jeff it was and it is due to incorrect information on your email, the angry lady screaming at people and your disorganization.

Anyways the tour was a dud. A hour or so trip in blizzard like conditions to sit in a parking lot with three other buses ran by the same company to see more blizzard like conditions. At one point it cleared for a few minutes and Jeff said it was the beginning of the northern lights. People got off the bus to look and there was nothing there. Like I said before I didn’t book expecting to see the lights but I also didn’t expect to be subjected to verbal abuse on the phone followed by a ride to a parking lot. Of the multiple tours I did in Iceland, this was the only one not worth a Krona. Skip this company’s tour. It’s a money grab. (Confirmation...

My partner and I booked golden circle tour and when the day arrived it was a bit of a chaotic start. In December th daylight is already precious and the small bus was pretty late picking us up - no doubt due to pasengers being late given what we had to put up with all day.

We assumed that to our mobile tickets would be checked getting on to the big bus but instead a roll cal was done, then on the bus it was done again, then they still weren't happy about something and took us all back off the bus to roll call us back on the bus again!

So we head off and it's getting light by this point, we were told that we were stopping at a lovely place called Olfas but when we got there it was just a retail outlet! It was day light and we just wanted to start hitting the beauty spots but there was a 30 mins break at this retail park and one couple failed to return to the bus at the requested time, another roll call had to be done to find out who was missing so they could be called. So 45 minutes of precious daylight is lost at a retail outlet! Is that stop really necessary in the months of limited daylight!

So we then took a lovely ride to Kerid Crater which was lovely but there was only time at this stop to go down the steps and just under halfway around the top of the crater.

The horses were lovely to see and Gullfoss spectacular and the time there wa just right but yet again selfish passengers turn up 10 to 15 mins late holding up the bus and when they return after being called it seems like the bus is in no hurry to leave.

Then we went to the Geysirs, again a good amount of time and passengers were warned that they had to get back to the bus on time and there was no issues really but it still felt like the bus was sat around a bit.

At this point it was beginning to get dark and we assumed we'd be heading to Reykjavik but we were told we were going to Thingviller national park. It was getting pretty dark when we got there and people were surprised to be told be there for 45 minutes! The upshot is that because so much time was frittered away, we walked through that park in bad light, not great for photos and I was starting to worry about standing black ice that we can't see in the rapidly falling darkness - it's not the time or place to slip and fracture a wrist!

We eventually get back in the bus at the second car park at the other end, was travelling awhile thinking we were going back to Reykjavik when we arrived at the 1st car park for reasons unknown! Then the bus sat whilst the tour guide had a waffle - it wasn't like a Reykjavik was just up the road and we were a bit fed up by this point! We loved all the scenery we saw but it felt a very long day because of all the faffing about and wastage of time and it's not great seeing the stop in near darkness. It needs to be...

Terrible Experience （Discrimination Against Asian Women） I just needed an apology! But instead, BusTravel Iceland kept shifting the blame, avoided addressing the real issue, and even sent subtle personal threats. I travelled solo with Bus Travel Iceland on March 25, 2025, for the Golden Circle + Blue Lagoon one-day tour, and it was an incredibly disappointing experience. The attitude and behaviour of the guide were the worst part of this trip, and I feel compelled to share my experience to warn others. The group consisted of 10 people, and I made a new friend, a solo Japanese woman. Here’s what happened: We missed the Geysir stop because the guide didn’t communicate the itinerary clearly. At the second stop, we were given only 30 minutes, and I was feeling very sick from the bumpy ride (the guide’s driving wasn’t very smooth). Given how short the stop was and my discomfort, I mistakenly assumed it was just a lunch break. When we realized we missed the sight, we were already at the fourth stop. When we told the guide about this mistake, instead of apologizing or offering a solution, he became arrogant and dismissive. My friend, despite speaking politely, apologized and asked if we could go back, but the guide rudely told her: “I think the problem is your English understanding.” His tone and attitude were inappropriate and discriminatory. I told him it was rude, and instead of acknowledging his mistake, he interrupted me loudly, insisting that he was not at fault. I was uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to escalate things further, as he was also the driver. Later, after missing the stop, the guide mocked my friend's accent when she asked about Icelandic pronunciation. He even recorded her without her consent. Initially, he tried to record her face, but after she stopped him, he switched to recording audio. My friend asked him to delete it, and his response was rude. He deleted the audio but without any apology or acknowledgement of the issue. I sent an email to the company, hoping for an apology or some resolution. Instead, they dismissed my complaint, argued that we were at fault, and even threatened legal action for “false accusations.” I felt completely let down by both the guide’s unprofessional behavior and the company’s response. This experience made me feel uncomfortable, especially as two Asian women. The guide’s behavior towards us seemed to reflect a discriminatory attitude, and the company’s lack of empathy only made things worse. I would strongly advise against booking with Bus Travel Iceland. The tour itself was not the issue, but the poor customer service and discriminatory behavior left me feeling hurt and disappointed. For a better experience, I recommend looking for other companies, as I’ve had much better experiences with...