Glacier Hike vs Ice Cave vs Snowmobile: Which Vatnajokull Day to Book?

Side by side

The case for a glacier hike

A hike is the widest choice and the cheapest. It runs in every month, from the lodges beside the Skaftafell visitor centre and from the Tröll base at Hof. You wear crampons, carry an axe and walk among crevasses and moulins, with a guide choosing the route. The cheapest, the Arctic Adventures blue ice hike, costs $104.

Hikes differ mostly in time on the ice. A short one gives about an hour and a half to two hours. The five-hour Tröll hike costs $164 and climbs higher: Holden_P found the crowds thinned the higher the group went. Jacob_M’s advice: do not take the shorter hike if you can do the long one.

The case for an ice cave

A cave is the thing you cannot see in summer. In the cold months, the guides find caves, tunnels and canyons of clear blue ice. The Original Ice Cave drives you from the lagoon car park onto Breiðamerkurjökull by 4x4 and walks you to whatever the guides found safe that week.

Expect the cave to be smaller than the photographs. The Original Ice Cave makes no promise of a cathedral-style cave and warns you will share it with other groups. Steven_C found the jeep ride hard on motion sickness. If no cave is safe on the day, one operator offers a hike with 30% back, or a full refund on site.

The case for a snowmobile

The snowmobile is the only one of the three that takes you onto the ice cap itself, rather than an outlet glacier. A vehicle drives you up the mountain road from a base east of the lagoon, about 40 minutes for Carlos_L. You then ride for about an hour, with a stop at a mountain hut. It needs no fitness and no crampons.

It costs the most, at $262, and two people share a machine. A solo rider pays 10,000 ISK on top at the base, and the driver needs a licence. Laura_G suggests your own gloves for a better grip.

Fitness, nerves and motion sickness

The hike asks most of your legs. A short one is easy to moderate, but Neil_B found the Blue Ice Discovery hike harder than expected, so be fit enough to walk uphill for two hours. The cave asks less walking on some tours and more on others: the Original Ice Cave walks 1 to 5.5 km depending on where the cave is. The snowmobile asks for no fitness at all, but it is not recommended in pregnancy.

If heights or tight spaces worry you, the hike is the gentlest on the nerves, with open sky above you. If a bumpy ride makes you ill, take care with the 4x4 cave tours: Steven_C found the drive hard going.

What you bring for each

Whichever you pick, the gear that keeps you safe on the ice is in the fare. What you bring is what keeps you warm and dry.

Two more ways to meet the ice

Neither is on the ice, but both belong in the decision. The lagoon kayak puts you on the water among the icebergs for an hour and a half, from age 14 and for swimmers only, at $157. It suits you if a crampon hike sounds like hard work but you still want to be close to the ice.

The lagoon day from Reykjavík is for you if you have no car. It sees the icebergs and the black beach from the shore, never walks on the glacier, and takes 14.5 hours. Think of it as a view of the ice rather than an alternative to a hike.

Doing two in one trip

You can. A morning hike at Skaftafell and an afternoon cave at the lagoon fit one day in the cold months, with a half-price parking fee at the second car park. In summer, swap the cave for the lagoon kayak, from age 14. The snowmobile base is further east, so pair it with a night towards Höfn.

If time is short, skip the snowmobile: it is the longest detour. How to get there shows the bases in order along Route 1.

Which one, by traveller

• First time on a glacier, summer: Blue Ice Discovery, from $107.
• Winter, one activity only: an ice cave from the lagoon.
• Families with an eight-year-old: an Arctic Adventures hike or cave.
• Older travellers: Nan_X took elderly parents on a three-hour cave tour and found it easy.
• Speed over crampons: the snowmobile.
• No car: the lagoon day from Reykjavík, which never walks on the ice.

Before you book

Every tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours before it starts. Wear boots with ankle support for a hike or cave. Take the start time from your confirmation, and arrive 20 minutes early at the Skaftafell lodges, where the gear is fitted before the group leaves. The visitor guide covers the fees and the gear, the safety page the rules on the ice, and where to stay the nights between. The FAQs answer the rest.

Hike, cave or ride: the tours to compare

Jökulsárlón: The Original Ice Cave Tour on Vatnajökull

About three hours from the lagoon car park: a 4x4 onto the glacier, helmet and spikes, and a walk to a blue ice cave or tunnel in the cold months; from age 10.

From $169 per person

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Snowmobile tour on Vatnajökull

Three hours from the base east of the lagoon: a vehicle up the mountain road, overalls, helmet and gloves, and about an hour riding on the ice cap.

From $262 per person

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Skaftafell Adventure Tour - 5-Hour Expedition

Five hours from the Tröll base at Hof with a professional guide, all the safety gear and coffee and chocolates, up to 10 people.

From $164 per person

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