Gréta Guðjónsdóttir

Gréta was born and raised in downtown Reykjavík but during the summer months she would travel abroad or stay at her farm close to the volcano Mt. Hekla. She studied in the Netherlands for four years, and has lived in Norway, Germany, Sweden and Madrid. She started as a photography tour guide because it allowed her to combine her 20 years of freelance photography with her need to be out in nature. Guiding has also been a great opportunity for her to use the languages that she has learned and be out in a beautiful surrounding with interesting people. She has been a part of the Icelandic Mountain Guides team since 2011 and she has been guiding for over 15 years. She is a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR). Alongside guiding, she teaches photography at an art academy and still works freelance, both in a studio and doing landscape photography.

All the Icelandic highlands hold a special place in her heart, especially around Mt. Hekla. She also really loves the head of Iceland, Vestfirðir and Hornstrandir. The remoteness and feeling of being totally along in the world is what she enjoys the most. In fact, her favorite place can be anywhere she can hear birds, water running in a river, smell nature and feel the weather. Getting some good pictures along the way is a big bonus!

She feels lucky to have done a lot of traveling but she still has a lot of places on her bucket list. She is mostly drawn to photogenic places or areas that allow her to hike, ski, run or cycle. She would love to hike in Nepal, run the Mount Blanc, cycle the Ruta Austral in Chile or Peru, as well as photograph South Africa, Japan, India, Mexico and Argentina.

Reviews from clients

• "This was an amazing trek. Even the less than perfect weather didn't put a damper on the grandeur and beauty of the Iceland landscape. Actually, the fact that the weather changed every hour added to the mystique of it all. Our guide Gretta was superb in all aspects. She was knowledgeable, fun, amazingly fit, engaging, and her love of Iceland's highlands was infectious." Anonymous
• "We had many guides over the years and Greta is among the best. She made our group feel like a group of friends. We always felt safe and taken care of. She pays attention to how people feel and changing weather and adapts very quickly so we were never too cold, too tired or hungry. Every guide should copy her approach to organising who and when will help with washing the dishes. Otherwise usually a few people do all the work and some never help. She has good time management skills and great local knowledge. Last but not least, she is a great story teller."Marko, Slovenia
• "Our guide, Greta, was wonderful in so many ways. She set a good pace, was friendly, helpful and kind, and most important she knew her mountains and put safety #1 "Hikergal2000