skjaldarvik horse riding tours

We arrived in Akureyri on a cruise ship and had booked the horseback riding tour via Saga Travel. The Gues House owner picked us up at the port and drove us out of town about 15 minutes. We were able to use the restrooms and store anything inside before heading outback to the stables. I didn't have much experience on horses and my husband had a bit more. We had 3 young girls acting as guides and there were about 10 of us on the tour with varying levels of experience. I found the horses to be quite calm and sedate, which was great for me, but I would think anyone with experience would have been rather bored. We toured around the countryside and on different types of terrain, from seaside to alongside the roadway and through fields. There were a few opportunities to get the horses to go at a cantor or trot, but never an outright gallop. Perhaps it was because I was in the middle of the long line, but there wasn't much "guiding" with regard to pointing out any sites or vegetation or anything. It was basically a horseride through the counryside. It was enjoyable and I wasn't bored. I did notice in several other reviews that people were offered the use of a hot tub after the tour, but we were not offered this. I'm guessing it's because of the time of year. It was rather cool and a bit rainy when we were out. After we finished, the Gues House owner drove us back to town and dropped us where ever we wanted. She gave us a few ideas of sites to see which we appreciated. All in all, it was a good day for us beginners.

This was my first horse back riding experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Skjaldarvik provides the complete experience - we got picked up at the hotel by the friendly owner Bryndis, went for a 1.5 hour private horse riding through the beautiful landscape, a break in the middle with fermented shark and a shot of Brennivin, an outdoor hot tub over looking the green rolling hills with a bottle of champagne, and a delicious 3 course dinner at the end. The entire experience was very personal and did not feel commercial at all. Bryndis and all other staff made us feel at home. I think we spent a total of 4-5 hours. We did not stay at the guest house but the rooms were very tastefully decorated and we would definitely consider staying there in the future. Highly recommended.

Our ride was in the late afternoon in May. Despite the cold wind and rain we had a fabulous ride. The horses were very willing and well behaved, and gave us a taste of the wonderful tölt. The scenery was spectacular, and the guide was lovely. And as others have commented, the hot tub at the end was a great bonus. Well worth it!!!

Staff was friendly, but horses seemed jaded and somewhat bored. The riding tour itself does not have many spectacular parts, ideal for beginners but a little dull for more experienced riders. Hot tub afterwards is a nice bonus : )

I booked a horseback riding tour with Skjaldarvik through my hostel in Akureyri. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish. Staff come and pick you up from the hostel and take you to the lovely guesthouse right by the water. The guides are very helpful and informative. The horses are beautiful and well-taken care of. The trail along the water was breathtaking and you get in a good amount of running if you are willing. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in seeing a bit more of the Akureyri scenery.

We were looking for a place with good horses near Akureyri and found this nice place. They give us friendly horses with good gates and the young guide was the perfect tourleader. They really wanted to make us happy and they succeded. A perfect ending is to go in to a hottub and that we could do. Really comfortable. The guesthouse lokes nice and next time I'd like to come and stay there too.

I absolutely loved my experience. The horses are very well cared for and exceptionally friendly and beautiful! The facility (and the guest house) are on a beautiful piece of property just north of Akureyri and you can see snow-capped mountains, tons of bird life and ever more of Iceland's amazing terrain. The guides were young but very sweet and also quite experienced. It was a terrific addition to my Icelandic holiday!

We took a 1,5 hour riding tour at Skjaldarvik last weekend. This was a great place with great service. We are experienced couple and we really appreciated the quality of the horses. We have beet to several places in Iceland for horse renting. This is one of the best. Highly recommended!

The group for our ride gathered quite a big – 15-16 riders. However it turned to be no problem despite my concerns. I read before the ride that Icelandic horse have special pace, which make the ride easy even for novice. And it turned to be true – from the very beginning Klara, owners daughter, who is in charge of horses & riding tours, told us that we were going to make first “adaptation” part of the trial slowly and then split in two groups – one for those who wish to continue same slow and another for those who wish to accelerate. So then we came to the decision point all of us asked for acceleration unhesitatingly. I was given stallion Krafter – nice, but sly creature. Once, it felt that its rider was inexperienced; it did not miss the opportunity to stop to have some grass or to change direction and overtake other riders. But little by little I seized control over an animal and by the end of the ride we were almost ready for equestrian competitions :-) The only disappointment was that we came back covered with a thick layer of a dirt as there was no rain for a while and the trail was dusty, and our feet were soaking wet, as we were entering see during the ride. Of cause, it is something which can’t be avoided, but if I would be informed in advance, I would dress myself differently.

Our group of 4 adults booked a 1.5 hr horse back riding trip on August 10th at 10am. Cost at that time was 6,900 ISK. None of us are accomplished riders, only having done it a few times in the past. If you let them know that you do not know how to ride they will pick horses that are suitable for you.Icelandic horses are so much shorter than horses in North America! Which is extremely advantageous when getting on and off. I'm only 5'6" and no one had to boost me up or anything. Saddles were quite different from ones I've been on in the past, maybe English style I think? The young girls who were our guides (2 for a group of 6 people riding) were very nice and spoke excellent English. They were quite patient with getting everyone ready and explaining things about the different gaits the horses can do. Scenery - beautiful. The trail follows along the coast a bit, then back tracks over some fields, lava rocks, small hills, with views of mountains all around. You felt secluded, but never very far from the ranch.Afterwards you are able to use the outdoor hot tub and bathrooms/showers for changing. Very clean, very relaxing. They have an on-site restaurant which we did not try, but looked very nice. They also offer accommodation. Looked lovely.

I ended up doing my first horse riding tour at Skjaldarvik simply because they were at the time the only ones who offered pick-ups for one person in Akureyri. Let me preface this by saying that I've never been on a horse before, I have two left hands and feet, I'm as unfit as they get, I'm super anxious about hurting myself, and scared of most animals, including horses and dogs.Keep this in mind when I say that Dísa and the girls who did the tours deserve a trophy for the way they shaped my experience. They were warm and caring, patient with the most ridiculous problems and questions, and always took care of everyone, even in a larger group. My anxiety crumbled away quickly, and in the end I returned three times during my six days in Akureyri. (Unfortunately, this was an experience I was not able to repeat elsewhere in Iceland afterwards, so the Skjaldarvik team deserve full credit for this.)It wasn't just the horse riding, it was the whole package, staying around Skjaldarvik for the whole day, soaking in the hot tub, spending time with the family as if I was their house guest. You couldn't imagine a host more charming and endearing than Dísa, and her many stories about Iceland have stayed with me even a year after my trip.If you're in the area, there is not a single excuse to miss this.

We took a 1,5 hour riding tour at Skjaldarvik. I had been on the back of a horse 13 years ago and my better half had never ridden before, but the tour suited us perfectly. They picked up the horses based on your skills, so if you're unexperienced or even a bit scared you get the easiest horse to handle. It was such a lovely experience and the views amazing! The staff at the stables were very friendly, too. Highly recommended!

This was the perfect place to go for horse back riding. especially for beginners (which we were) but we were with a couple that were experienced and they were able to do advanced stuff. They will pick you up from town and drop you off again. There is also a hot tub you can take advantage of if you want to.

Die unaufgeregte kurze Reittour von 1,5 Stunden eignet sich optimal für Reitanfänger. Die Pferde sind ruhig und trotten einander hinterher. Für erfahrene Reiter eher langweilig. Ich bin seit Jahren nicht geritten, von daher war es als Wiedereinstieg okay. Ich durfte auf einer Teilstrecke sogar vorweg galoppieren, weil die Anfänger in der Gruppe nicht schneller wollten.

Wunderschöne Reittour mit zwei netten Begleiterinnen. Wir buchten im Tourist Office in Akureyri eine Reittour mit Hot Tub und Abendessen für ca. Fr. 90.00/Pers. Hat sich sehr gelohnt, da das Essen allein schon Fr. 45.00 gekostet hätte. Der Hot Tub ist sehr heiss und angenehm nach der Reittour in der Kälte!