There is no day trip from Reykjavik to Dettifoss, and anybody offering one is selling you something else. The falls are about 600 kilometres away by road — a long day's drive one way. This page is what actually reaches them from the capital, and what each gives the waterfall.
What you are buying is a six or seven-day circuit of Iceland with Dettifoss as one stop on it. Not a day trip, not a long day, not an early start — a week, with your beds and breakfasts included, in which the waterfall gets between thirty minutes and two hours somewhere around day four.
That is not a criticism of them. They are well-reviewed circuits of a country, and one carries more traveller reviews than any other departure listed. It is simply not what you probably meant when you searched for a Dettifoss tour from Reykjavik.
About 600 kilometres each way. Even if you drove it without stopping, that is most of two days behind the wheel. No operator runs it, and no operator should.
The falls are two hours from Akureyri, which is why almost every guided departure to them leaves from there. Fly or drive north, give yourself a night, and your Dettifoss day becomes a seven-hour outing rather than an impossibility.
Route 862 is not in winter service between January and early April. If your circuit has to reach the falls on a fixed day of a fixed week, you have less room to move than you would on a day tour you can rebook for tomorrow.
| A circuit from Reykjavik | Fly north and take a day tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 6–7 days | One day, plus a night in Akureyri |
| Cost | $1,479–$2,566 per person | From $209 plus flights and a hotel |
| At Dettifoss | 30 minutes to 2 hours | 30–90 minutes, your pick |
| What else you see | The whole island | North Iceland |
| Accommodation | Included, 5–6 nights | Yours to book |
| Cancellation | 4 or 7 days' notice | 24 hours |
| Best for | A first trip to Iceland | Dettifoss specifically |
If Iceland is your trip, take the circuit. If Dettifoss is your trip, fly to Akureyri — the domestic hop is short, and the day tours from there start at $209.
You get: five or six nights' accommodation with breakfast, a guide, transport, and on individual circuits a glacier hike, an ice cave, whale watching, an amphibian boat on the glacier lagoon or entry to a lava cave. The whole Ring Road, in other words.
You don't get: much time at Dettifoss. Thirty minutes on one, seventy-five on another, two hours on the third. You also lose the standard 24-hour cancellation window — one of these wants four days' notice from you and another seven, which is stated on every card.
Price band. $1,479 to $2,566 per person, accommodation included.
Length. Six or seven days, all round-trip from Reykjavik.
Time at Dettifoss. Thirty minutes, seventy-five minutes or two hours — a fourfold difference, and the only one of the three numbers that concerns this site.
Booking window. Further ahead than a day tour, and with a longer cancellation window to plan around.
| Circuit | Length | At Dettifoss | Cancellation | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4, 5, 6 or 7-Day Small-Group Ring Road Tou | 7 days | 75 minutes at Dettifoss | Full refund up to 4 days before departure | From $1479 |
| 6-Day Around Iceland Small-Group Tour from | 6 days | 30 minutes at Dettifoss | 24 hours | From $2565 |
| 7-Day Small Group Journey Around Iceland | 7 days | 2 hours at Dettifoss | Full refund up to 7 days before departure | From $2000 |
Almost anybody whose priority is the waterfall. If you want to stand at Dettifoss with time to walk on to Selfoss, none of these three gets you there efficiently. Fly to Akureyri and take a day tour that gives you ninety minutes at the falls for a fraction of the fare.
These circuits answer a different question, and answer it well: your first trip to Iceland, one booking, your beds arranged, the whole island in a week. Bought for that, they are good value. Bought as a way of seeing Dettifoss, they are not.
Four to seven days round the island with your beds and five breakfasts included, and seventy-five minutes at Dettifoss on the way past. Note the cancellation window: four days, not twenty-four hours.
From $1479 per person
Six days, 750 traveller reviews, whale watching and a glacier hike or winter ice cave included — and thirty minutes at the falls. Book this one for Iceland rather than for the waterfall.
From $2565 per person
Two hours at Dettifoss, the longest stop of any departure listed, inside a six-night circuit with an amphibian boat on the glacier lagoon. Cancellation needs seven days rather than twenty-four hours.
From $2000 per person
For the realistic alternative, Dettifoss tours from Akureyri. For the drive itself, roads and access.