About Riding Iceland
Riding Iceland tours are designed to follow the ancient riding trails that have served people travelling across the country ever since the settlements of Iceland. Experienced guides, excellent horses and care for each individual guest are our commitments and pride.
Important factor on our tours are the bonds formed with the horses and forever friendships made between fellow riders. Travelling together through often challenging Icelandic nature and experiencing all the wonders of a Riding Iceland Tour is a lifetime experience.
Home Base of Riding Iceland is at Saltvík farm in north Iceland. At Saltvík farm Riding Iceland’s trail horses live outside in a big herd during the winter and most of our northern trails are starting and ending at the farm.
Team
The dedicated and experienced Riding Iceland team is ready to give you a warm welcome to Iceland and our tours.
Our ‘agents’ are good friends with a lot of knowledge about our tours because they’re all riding with us for many years already and are coming back to join us as wranglers as often as possible. If you feel more comfortable to first speak to one of them before you contact us directly (info@ridingiceland.is) or book online, feel free to contact them. All do of course speak english, as well as the language of the country they are from.
Please meet our team members below!
Bjarni Páll
CEO & tourguide, agent for IS
- info@ridingiceland.is
- Iceland
- Icelandic
Bjarni Páll and his family at Saltvík farm are the owners of Riding Iceland. The family has been operating riding tours since 1992. Bjarni is guiding many of the Riding Iceland tours every summer and likes life pure and simple in the highlands of Iceland with his horses and friends.
For email in Icelandic use: bjarni@ridingiceland.is
Mieke
Sales & tourguide / wrangler Agent for NL/BE
- info@ridingiceland.is
- The Netherlands
Mieke came first to Iceland as a tourist, riding Sprengisandur tour. Here she met Bjarni and in 2003 she came back to work on Saltvík farm and help during tours. She has been back every year during summers since then and moved to Iceland in 2019 to work for Riding Iceland.
For email in Dutch use: mieke@saltvik.is
Elsa
Finance/ Accounting
- Iceland
Elsa looks after Riding Iceland’s financial issues. She rides occasionally on tours and prefers selected sofa tölters.
Iðunn
Tourguide / wrangler
- Iceland
Iðunn is daughter of Bjarni and has been riding on tours with her father ever since she can remember. Right now she is studying tourism and business administration. Her biggest passions are being outside in the Icelandic nature in good company.
Sigrún Anna
Wrangler
- Iceland
Sigrún is the youngest daughter of Bjarni and has been riding all her life. At young age she was already joining her father over the tough trail of Sprengisandur to the south and back again. She is still in school but rides tours all summer as a wrangler.
Binni
Tourguide
- Iceland
Binni is an experienced tourguide, biologist and a storyteller by nature!
Gulli
Tourguide / wrangler
- Iceland
Gulli and his wife Hanna have been helping out on Riding Iceland tours for years as guides and Wranglers.
Palli
Tourguide / wrangler
- Iceland
Palli is an experienced tourcguide and horseman, he will be guiding Dream tour parts II, III and IV.
Gunnar Óli
Driver / Tourguide / Wrangler
- Iceland
Gunnar Óli lives on a farm close to Saltvík and has horses and sheep there. He helps with a lot of different tasks at Riding Iceland, but in summer one will meet him most likely as the dedicated driver, and possibly as a tourguide or wrangler.
Lisa & Mark
Agents for USA, wranglers
- lisa@ridingiceland.is
- USA
- English
Mark and Lisa have been riding with Riding-Iceland since 2011. Their love of the country, culture and of course the horses has turned into a passion which they like to share with American travelers. They love to help picking the perfect riding tour for each individual’s skills, and to provide helpful travel tips for planning a stress-free trip of a lifetime.
Conny
Agent for DE/AT/NL/FR, wrangler
- Cornelia.methner@web.de
- Germany
- German, Dutch, French
Conny is a crazy horse girl who could ride before she could walk. Her passions are Icelandic horss and the culture and nature of Iceland. She loves to see people getting addicted to Iceland after their first tour. Conny is joining riding tours in Iceland since 2002 and found a second home with Riding Iceland.
Eileen
Agent for NO, wrangler
- post@bergvang.no
- Norway
- Norwegian
Eileen and her husband run a visiting farm just outside of Oslo with around 200 animals, of which 26 Iceland horses, some of them from Saltvík. They offer riding tours around the farm, and Eileen competes with some of their horses. They visited Saltvík for the first time in 2013 and despite running a busy farm at home, they came back every year since.
Emelie
Agent for SE, wrangler
- emeliestalfors@gmail.com
- Sweden
- Swedish
Emelie rode her first tour with Saltvík farm 2012 and has been coming back almost every year since. She loves the icelandic nature and the lovely people you meet on every tour.
Jen
Agent for DE/AT, wrangler
- icelandriding@icloud.com
- Germany
- German
Jennifer lives in Berlin and first came to Iceland in 2002 as a tourist to ride the Kjölur trail and fell in love with the country and the people. She met Bjarni Páll in 2007 as a guest on the Sprengisandur Special Tour and has been riding with him ever since. Jennifer and Bjarni Páll have been collaborating on different projects between horses, art and design since 2010.
Kaja
Agent for DK, wrangler
- kajasofie@gmail.com
- Denmark
- Danish
Kaja has been working for Saltvik for more than 10 years. She knows every little corner of Saltvik and has been organizing both long and short trips with Bjarni. Kaja works with her own design company in Denmark but has been in Saltvik every year since her first stay in 2010 where fell in love with the Saltvik lifestyle.
Pym
Agent for LUX/BE/FR, tour guide, wrangler
- pym@ridingiceland.is
- Luxembourg & Belgium & France
- French
Pym likes to take the following ingredients: horses, music, nature, good food, simplicity and authenticity, and mix this all in Iceland to get the best recipe of happiness!
L’Islande à cheval, plus qu’un voyage, une expérience authentique et revitalisante.
Renske
Agent for UK/NL, wrangler
- rvanderrijt@hotmail.com
- UK
- Dutch
Renske was born in the Netherlands but moved and settled in the UK later in life, where she now lives with her dog Eli. She loves outdoor activities like horse riding, mountain biking and rock climbing. Her introduction to Iceland and the Icelandic horses was many years ago, and since then she’s coming back as a wrangler as often as possible!
Hanna
Cook
- Iceland
Barla
Agent for CH, wrangler
- info@svissholar.ch
- Switzerland
- German
Cooperations
We cooperate with the following travel agencies and tour operators through Europe and the USA:
- Cavalngo
- Centaur trails
- Ishestar
- Island Erlebnisreisen
- Island Tours
- Katla Travel
- Marilyn Goldfarb Travel
- New Element Scandinavia
- Pferd und Reiter
