Tour guide in Reykjavik Pétur H.

Reykjavik, Iceland

English, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian

Tours Delivered,
Since Jan 10, 2022

7.0

Hours, Avg. response time

I'm Pétur H., your private tour guide in Reykjavik

Guide #53078

5.0 (114)

Hello, my name is Pétur, and I would like to be your guide in Iceland. Now, why should you choose me as your guide? Am I any different from the other talented people here offering their services? Well, I'm probably the oldest of them, so I've been in the school of life for the longest time. And even though I'm 67, I try to stay in good shape by running and lifting weights. I started running 30 years ago when I noticed my weight was increasing steadily, around 0.5 kg a year, and I had to do something about it. Luckily, my body can still do it and is ready for action if needed. I was born in Iceland and I have lived here my whole life, except for three years in Sweden as a young boy. I'm as local as they get and financially independent, which means I can do whatever I like. I enjoy being a guide, showing guests from other countries our magnificent island with all its natural wonders. That is why I quit my 9-to-5 job and decided to become a guide. I worked as a QESH manager for the Coca-Cola Company here in Iceland. Now, some of you might wonder what QESH stands for. That is Quality, Environmental, Health, and Safety. I had been working there for far too long, so I decided to resign. This was ten years ago, and I founded my own little company with me as the only employee and bought a Van. Since then, I've been a guide, mostly working for other travel agencies. But with the wise words from my wife saying don't put all your eggs in one basket, I also decided to accept an offer to become a lead auditor auditing quality, environmental, health and safety management systems in various companies. Interesting job I know well after all my years as QESH manager. With all this, I work as a contractor about 50/50. However, this meant I didn't develop my own guiding business as I had planned. The good thing is that no one likes audits in the summertime, when most tourists visit us. It is challenging to capture the attention of travelers visiting Iceland. Big companies in this business catch customers in their nets long before I have a chance. Now, I'm trying to change that with the good help of Tours by Locals, and here I'm creating my tours to places I know so well. Most of my tours are similar to those offered by others. People like to visit the same places so it's impossible to avoid that. But one of my tours is different. I like to take you out of the crowd and into my world and let you feel what it is like to be an Icelander. I'd like to take you through the areas where I was born and raised and then to other parts of Reykjavik, including the neighboring towns you might not otherwise visit. I will show you where some Icelanders have lunch, and you can eat as much as you like of typical Icelandic home food. We will visit the wonderful open-air museum featuring old houses saved from destruction and relocated from the center of Reykjavik, each with its own story. You get to learn everything about our unique geothermal open-air swimming pools and take a swim. Finally, I will invite you to my home. You haven't been to Iceland before you have done this. My qualifications: Certified Tourist Guide and a member of the Iceland Tourist Guide Association. Day Tour Provider, license issued by the Icelandic Tourist Board. Permit of Passenger Transport issued by the Icelandic Transport Authority.

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5.0

Traveller reviews for this guide

114 reviews

  • Rochelle S.
    May 2026

    Replied from Pétur H.

    Rochelle, thank you for the rating.

  • Lisa D.
    April 2026

    I cannot recommend Petur enough! He was such a delight and filled with knowledge. We appreciated his understanding of how much of the weather we wanted to be in vs. enjoying the lovely van and view from the warm inside (:

    Replied from Pétur H.

    Thank you so much, Lisa, for this nice review. I´m so glad you all enjoyed the tour with me, and I hope to see you again someday in Iceland. There is much more to see, and the weather is not always so cold.

  • Tabitha W.
    January 2026

    Doing this tour made our trip so much more enjoyable than had we done the Golden Circle on our own. Petur was a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable, and just fun to be around. From pick up to drop off everything was smooth, fun, and easy. Even through bad weather we made it to all our stops and were able to enjoy the full experience. Don't hesitate to book this tour...

    Replied from Pétur H.

    Tabitha. Thank you so much for this great review and all these nice words about me. It was great to meet you and your wonderful family.

  • Robert S.
    January 2026

    Great trip with Pétur. He was a wonderful and knowledgeable guide and helped us be able to see so much more than we could have on our own. We loved the scenery and the Icelandic horses were a big hit. Can't recommend him enough!

    Replied from Pétur H.

    Thank you so much, Rob, for this great review. I hope the South Coast tour you did on your own was a success, and that some of the information I gave you was useful.