Iceland Glacier hike tours put you on the ice with crampons, a certified guide and the gear to stay safe, for anything from three hours to a long climbing day. They run through the year on two glaciers: Sólheimajökull on the South Coast and the outlets of Vatnajökull around Skaftafell. You choose the glacier, the length and whether to climb.
Minibus pickup at Reykjavík bus stops, two waterfalls, then a guided hike on Sólheimajökull and the black beach on the way home. Harness, axe, helmet and crampons are included; 18 people at most. From age 8.
From $197 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Check in at the Tröll base near Hofgarður 20 minutes early, collect helmet, harness and axe, and take a short drive to a Vatnajökull outlet. Coffee and chocolates end the hike. Children from 8; boots rent at the base.
From $112 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Three hours on Vatnajökull from the car park at Skaftafell airfield, with ice axe, harness, helmet and crampons in the fare. Pick a morning or an afternoon start, and look for the operator's logo at the meeting point.
From $96 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A local glacier guide meets you at the black truck beside the gas station, and a 4x4 carries the group to the ice. Crampons, axe, helmet and harness are included; boots and rain gear rent on location. From age 14.
From $163 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Five hours and about 8 km on an outlet glacier of Öræfajökull, from the booking hut in the national park car park. A 4x4 bus runs you to the foot of the ice. From 14, with ankle-support boots required.
From $168 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four hours on Sólheimajökull from the Tröll trailer at the glacier car park, twelve people at most, with crampons, helmet, harness and ice axe. Hotel pickup is not included. From age 8.
From $121 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Up to 8 km on Sólheimajökull with an optional first go at ice climbing, eight guests per guide, from the yellow bus in the glacier car park. From age 14, shoe sizes 35 to 50 EU.
From $211 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Hike onto the ice from the Tröll base, then climb a wall of blue ice with a certified guide. Hiking boots come with the harness, helmet, axe and crampons. Six guests at most, from age 12.
From $256 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The long day: ice climbing plus about 8 km on the glacier with 350 to 400 m of ascent, seven and a half hours from the park car park. Ice-climbing boots are supplied. Ages 14 to 65, and strong fitness needed.
From $230 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your boat weaves through the icebergs of the smaller lagoon, then you hike the glacier behind it, in about four hours. Life vest, flotation jacket, crampons, harness, helmet and axe are included; boots rent on site.
From $244 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Paddle among the icebergs of the big lagoon with a kayak guide, in a drysuit and life vest, then hike on the ice with a glacier guide. Six hours in all; bring water and snacks. From age 14.
From $232 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The cheapest hike starts at $96 for three hours at Skaftafell, and every one refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead. Pick your date and see the meeting time before you pay.
Check availabilityYou meet a certified glacier guide at a car park or a base, you are fitted with a harness and helmet, you are handed an ice axe and, on most hikes, crampons. Then you walk onto the ice as a group behind the guide and spend the next hours among ridges, crevasses and meltwater channels. Nobody sells a ticket to the glacier itself: the tour is the way on.
On Vatnajökull the hikes start around Skaftafell, and the longer ones go to Falljökull, a creeping glacier that falls from the caldera of Öræfajökull. The national park tells visitors to go there only with a guide who has glacier experience. On Sólheimajökull the hikes start at the glacier car park, about two hours from Reykjavík.
Hikes on both glaciers run in every month; several listings say they go ahead in all weather. The ice caves need the cold months and the snowmobile days are summer products. If you do not know when you will travel, a hike is the booking you can keep.
The Tröll hikes on both glaciers take children from 8, and so does the airfield hike at Skaftafell.
The plain hikes at the Skaftafell bases run from $96 to $168. You are paying for a guide and gear for three to five hours, with nothing else bundled in.
Three hours if you want a first taste, four or five for a real crossing, seven and a half if you want to climb and walk about 8 km. On the Explorer, one traveller spent part of the day peering down into a moulin. That is the scale you buy with the longer days.
This is the choice most winter travellers face. You are comparing a walk on the surface with a walk to a hollow inside the ice.
| A glacier hike | An ice cave tour | |
|---|---|---|
| When it runs | All year | The cold months, roughly October to April |
| Fares | $96 to $256 | $159 to $242 |
| Youngest | 8 on the easiest hikes | 8, 10 or 14 by tour |
| Length | 3 to 7.5 hours | 3.5 to 6 hours |
| Where | Sólheimajökull and Vatnajökull | Vatnajökull only |
| What you see | Ridges, crevasses, moulins | A cave that changes every winter |
Compare the glacier hike tours
If you travel between October and April and a cave is the point, see the ice cave tours. Every cave tour is also a hike, so you give up nothing on the surface. In the rest of the year, the hike is the product.
You get the guide and the ice gear. The exact set varies, so read each card: the three-hour hike from the Tröll base lists helmet, harness and axe; the airfield hike lists axe, harness, helmet and crampons; the ice-climbing hike adds hiking boots. The Arctic Adventures and Local Guide hikes carry you to the foot of the ice in a 4x4.
You do not get lunch, and on most hikes you do not get boots. Tröll rents boots, waterproof jackets and trousers at 1,750 ISK each, and several operators insist on ankle-support boots. Driving yourself, you also pay the park’s regional fee, set out on the visitor guide.
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Fares | $96 to $256 per person |
| Length | 3 to 7.5 hours, including the approach |
| Youngest | 8 on the easiest hikes; 12 or 14 to climb |
| Meeting points | Skaftafell bases, the lagoon, the Sólheimajökull car park, Reykjavík |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
Book the hike before the bed. The Vatnajökull bases are 4.5 to 5 hours from Reykjavík, so you need a night near Skaftafell; our where to stay page covers it. Arrive 20 minutes early at the Tröll bases, because a late arrival may lose the place.
Check the glacier weather for the month you travel.
Five hours and about 8 km on an outlet of the ice cap, with a 4x4 to the foot of the glacier. Pick your date and see the meeting time before you pay.
Check availabilityNext: Choose your glacier in which glacier fits your trip, or price the day in what a glacier tour costs. Every fare sits side by side on Iceland Glacier Tours.