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→ The cheapest landing
Hengill geothermal helicopter tour
One hour door to door, one landing, and the ground vents steam beside you. The Hengill tour is the quickest and cheapest way to get out of a helicopter somewhere you cannot drive to — and the tour with the fewest reviews of the three that land.
What is the Hengill helicopter tour?
A one-hour trip from Reykjavik that flies east over the Hengill volcanic system and lands once on a geothermal ridge, for $578 per person. It is the shortest tour on this site that lands anywhere, and the cheapest way to stand on ground you could not otherwise reach. It carries 12 reviews at 4.4 — the lowest rating and the smallest sample of the tours that land.
Hengill by helicopter at a glance
- Price
- $578Per person; the cheapest landing available
- Duration
- 1 hourDoor to door, including briefing and weigh-in
- Landings
- OneAround ten minutes on a geothermal ridge
- Rating
- 4.4 · 12 reviewsLowest rating and smallest sample of the landing tours
- What Hengill is
- An active volcanic systemHot ground, steam vents and Iceland’s geothermal power country
- Distance from Reykjavik
- Roughly 25 km eastA few minutes flying; about 40 minutes by road to the area
- What you smell
- Sulphur, unmistakablyThe most-mentioned detail in reviews of geothermal landings
- Also covered by
- Fire and Ice — $910Which lands here as well as on a glacier
What standing on a geothermal field is like
Hengill is an active volcanic system that has not erupted in a long time but is very much alive underneath. The ground is hot in places, steam comes out of fissures continuously, and the surface is stained in yellows and reds where minerals have precipitated out of it. Most of Iceland’s geothermal electricity comes from this area.
From the air it reads as a pattern — plumes distributed across a hillside, following lines you cannot see from inside them. On the ground it is sensory rather than visual: the hiss, the warmth coming up through your shoes, and the sulphur, which everyone mentions and nobody warns you about properly.
Ten minutes is enough. This is not a landscape you want to walk around in for an hour without a guide, and the pilot will keep you to a defined area for a good reason.
Hengill alone, or Hengill as part of Fire and Ice
The same landing appears on two tours. The Hengill tour does it in an hour for $578. Fire and Ice does it in two hours for $910, and adds a glacier landing plus a pass over the Reykjanes volcanic area on the way out.
The maths is straightforward: the extra $910 buys a second landing on completely different ground, plus the volcanic flyover. If you have two hours, that is the better tour by some distance, and its 155 reviews at 4.8 reflect that.
The Hengill tour earns its place when the constraint is time rather than money. One hour door to door from an airport inside the city is a genuinely small commitment, and it still ends with you standing on venting ground.
Every tour, current fare
Hengill against the tour that includes it
The same geothermal landing appears on both. What differs is everything around it.
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 |
Book direct
Book a geothermal landing
Both land on the Hengill field. Prices are per person and cancel free up to 24 hours before.
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→ Common questions
Hengill helicopter tours, answered
How much is the Hengill helicopter tour?
$578 per person for one hour door to door with one landing on the geothermal field. It is the cheapest tour from Reykjavik that lands anywhere.
What is Hengill?
An active volcanic system about 25 km east of Reykjavik. It has not erupted recently but the ground is hot, steam vents continuously from fissures, and most of Iceland’s geothermal electricity is produced in the area.
How long do you spend on the ground at Hengill?
Around ten minutes, with the rotors usually still turning. The pilot keeps you to a defined area — hot ground and unstable surfaces make wandering a bad idea.
Is the Hengill tour better than Fire and Ice?
Only if your constraint is time. Fire and Ice includes the same Hengill landing plus a glacier landing and a pass over the Reykjanes volcanic area, for $910 over two hours. If you have the two hours, it is the stronger tour.
Why does the Hengill tour have a lower rating?
It is rated 4.4 across 12 reviews — the smallest sample of the three tours that land. A sample that size moves a long way on one or two disappointing flights, so it is worth reading as directional rather than conclusive.
Can you visit Hengill without a helicopter?
Parts of the area are reachable by road and on foot, and there are marked hiking trails around Hveragerdi and Reykjadalur. What the flight adds is the pattern — seeing how the vents are distributed across the system rather than standing beside one of them.
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