Icelandic Elements is the business of Pétur Benedikt Rafnsson. We had just completed a 2 1/2 week drive around the perimeter on Iceland (phenomenal), but my wife and I... read more wanted to get a taste of the Highlands, which really needs to be done by guide with local knowledge. We wanted a small group experience, but ended up with a private tour with Pétur (note we booked this trip a few weeks in advance). He suggested a trip to Landmannalaugar. While that is a popular destination with hot springs and beautiful scenery, the scenery along the drive is equally, if not more, spectacular. One of the highlights was a hike up to Ljótipollur aka Ugly Pond. It was far from ugly! Note that the order of photos is a bit scrambled the way they uploaded to TA.

Getting back to Pétur, he's an awesome guide, great pride in his country, great knowledge of wherever you would like him to take you, good conversationalist, including covering contemporary Icelandic music during the drive! Pick your trip, from his list or suggest your own, and have a great day!

  A private driving tour with Peter Benedikt is a “must do” in Iceland or else you’re going to be missing out a lot. We decided to contact Peter... read more and his luxury tour guidance the last two days of our trip. We wanted to reach important locations not on our scheduled tour; mainly spending time at Jokularson area to see the Glacier Lagoon, Blue Ice Cave, and Diamond Beach. It was a last minute decision.

Peter at Icelandic Elements came to the rescue. We told him the general areas we wanted to visit, he gave us specifics and then quoted a price for the entire trip, picking us up from our hotel and taking us to all the scenic locations along the way. He also knew every Game of Thrones filming locating which was a huge bonus for us since we’re die hard fans. The trip was a total of 11 hours.

All the planning is done by Peter according to your desire. He is very professional, friendly, and has excellent customer service. He arranged for us to go hiking at the glacier and hike at the blue ice cave. He gave us the link to book directly with the ice cave which we did as it was a different tour all together. The ice cave tour was separate since it required a different glacier expert and the vehicle used has to be configured to drive in the mountainous and glacier areas. It was also booked but he still found us a spot.

The blue cave ice tour was absolutely out of this world. Nothing like walking on top of the glacier and then rappelling down to see the inner paths of the cave. It’s like blue crystals and blue walls enveloping you, hearing nothing but the stream and drops of water coming from the melting ice of the glacier — it’s heaven on earth and it’s spectacular blueness stays with you.

Peter stayed on time and schedule and made sure we don’t miss the sites and can arrive at these areas at optimal time. All through the tour, which was a luxury suv, he talked about the historical and geographical relevance of the various glaciers, lava fields, climatic influences, and best places to explore. It makes a difference when your guide is not only knowledge about this region, he knows it deeply. He knows the residents, and have camped, hiked, fished, bikes, motorcycled, snow skied, etc at all the relevant locations. You can’t help but feel connected to the place the way he opens your mind to the beauty and the nature of Iceland, making the road trip simply perfect!

We stopped by Diamond Beach at the perfect time during sunset. The sun rays hit the thousand crystal ice boulders that made that black beach shine as if sprinkled with diamonds. You have to be there to truly experience this magic.

If you are a Games of Thrones fan, this is the tour you need to take as you can go to as many filming areas you can spare to see. There are so many locations will recognize on the spot — the snowy areas where Jon Snow and Ingrid hanged out, waterfalls where the dragons flew, area where khalessi got lost, so many areas. You can just have a field day chasing all these locations.

We recommend you contact Icelandic Elements to fully experience and see the absolute beauty of Iceland. For those taking this trip as a “once in a lifetime”, it can’t be that when you haven’t reached the most spectacular places in Iceland with the best private tour guide in Reykjavik.

  My two friends and I just arrived home from a long weekend in Iceland and our one day tour of the south coast of Iceland was a highlight. Petur was... read more friendly and extremely knowledgeable. You can see the love he has for his country in his eagerness to share it's natural wonders and history with his guests. We are already talking about our next trip to Iceland and taking another adventure with Petur. Highly Recommend!