1 hHengill with Landing
★ 4.4 · 12 reviews
- Lands on a geothermal ridge
- Steam vents up close
- One hour door to door
- Free cancellation
$578
Check availability→ Getting out of the aircraft
Iceland helicopter tour with landing
Three of the six tours from Reykjavik put the skids down away from the airport — on glacier ice, on a geothermal ridge, or three times in the highlands. Here is what the landings are actually like, what they add to the fare, and when they are not worth paying for.
Which Iceland helicopter tours land?
Three of the six. The Hengill tour lands once on a geothermal ridge and is the cheapest way to do it at $578 for an hour door to door. Fire and Ice lands twice — glacier ice and Hengill — for $910 over two hours. Landmannalaugar lands three times in the highlands over three hours, for $1,635. The two volcanic-area flights and the eruption-site flight do not land.
Landings at a glance
- Cheapest landing
- Hengill — $578One landing, one hour door to door
- Two landings
- Fire and Ice — $910Glacier ice and the Hengill geothermal field
- Three landings
- Landmannalaugar — $1,635Three hours in the highlands
- Typical ground time
- Around 10 minutes per landingRotors usually kept running
- What you stand on
- Glacier ice, geothermal ground, summit gravelNever raw lava — the surface is unsafe and unstable
- What to wear
- Windproof layer and proper shoesIcelandic wind on open ground, even in July
- Weather effect
- Landings are the first thing droppedA tour may fly and still not land if conditions turn
- Extra cost of landing
- Roughly $578 over the base flightCompared with the cheapest no-landing tour
What a landing is actually like
The aircraft comes down onto a flat patch the pilot has used before — ice, gravel or firm geothermal ground. Rotors usually stay turning, you unbuckle when told to, and you walk out ahead of the aircraft in a crouch because that is the habit everyone is taught in the briefing. Then there is about ten minutes.
Ten minutes sounds short. In practice it is the part people describe afterwards, because it is the only moment on any of these tours when the noise stops being the dominant fact. On a glacier in still air the silence is genuinely startling. On the Hengill field it is not silent at all — the ground hisses, steam moves sideways in the wind, and the smell of sulphur is unmistakable.
What you are paying for is that ten minutes, twice or three times. This is why cost per airborne minute is a misleading way to compare these tours with the flyovers: on a landing tour, the minutes on the ground are the product.
Every tour, current fare
The three tours that land
Ground time is roughly ten minutes per landing and is not counted in the per-minute figures below.
Swipe sideways →
| Tour | Price | Door to door | Landings | Per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hengill with Landing | $578 | 1 h | One | $9.63 | 4.4 · 12 |
| Fire and Ice, 2 Landings | $910 | 2 h | Two | $7.58 | 4.8 · 155 |
| Landmannalaugar, 3 Landings | $1,635 | 3 h | Three | $9.08 | 4.8 · 7 |
When a landing is not worth paying for
If what you came to see is the Reykjanes volcanic ground, landings add nothing. No tour lands on a lava field, because a fresh flow is unstable, sharp and in places still warm underneath. The three landing sites are elsewhere: ice, geothermal ridge, highland gravel. Paying the extra to land is paying to see a different landscape, not to see the volcanic one more closely.
Landings are also the first casualty of weather. Wind and surface conditions have to be right at the landing site as well as en route, and it is entirely normal for a tour to fly, do the sightseeing and skip a landing. Operators handle this differently, so ask before you pay what happens if the landing is dropped.
And if your day is tight, they cost time. Fire and Ice is two hours door to door for roughly twenty minutes on the ground. That is the right trade for most people, but it is a trade.
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Book a tour that lands
Prices are per person. All three cancel free up to 24 hours before departure.
1 h
2 hFire and Ice, 2 Landings
★ 4.8 · 155 reviews
- Glacier landing
- Hengill geothermal landing
- Two hours door to door
- Free cancellation
$910
Check availability→ 
3 hLandmannalaugar, 3 Landings
★ 4.8 · 7 reviews
- Thingvellir, Gullfoss, Landmannalaugar
- Three separate landings
- Three hours in total
- Free cancellation
$1,635
Check availability→ Common questions
Helicopter tours with landings in Iceland, answered
Which Reykjavik helicopter tours land?
Three of the six. Hengill lands once on a geothermal ridge for $578, Fire and Ice lands twice — on glacier ice and at Hengill — for $910, and Landmannalaugar lands three times in the highlands for $1,635.
Can a helicopter land on the volcano or the lava field?
No. A recent lava flow is unstable, sharp and in places still warm underneath, so no operator lands on one. The landings on these tours are on glacier ice, on the Hengill geothermal ground or on highland gravel.
How long do you spend on the ground?
Roughly ten minutes per landing, with the rotors usually still turning. Fire and Ice gives about twenty minutes across two landings; Landmannalaugar about half an hour across three.
What is the cheapest helicopter tour with a landing in Iceland?
The Hengill tour at $578. It is one hour door to door and lands once on the geothermal field east of Reykjavik, which makes it the quickest and cheapest way to get out of the aircraft somewhere you cannot drive.
What happens if the weather stops the landing?
The tour may fly and skip the landing. Wind and surface conditions have to be right at the landing site as well as en route. Operators handle this differently, so it is worth asking what the policy is before you pay.
What should I wear for a helicopter landing in Iceland?
A windproof outer layer and proper closed shoes, even in July. You are standing on ice or open ground in Icelandic wind, and ten minutes is long enough to be uncomfortable if you are dressed for a city break.
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