Vatnajokull glacier hike tours take you onto an outlet glacier of the ice cap with crampons, an ice axe and a certified guide, from bases around Skaftafell. You choose the length, from three and a half hours to five, and whether to add a climb up a wall of blue ice.
Three and a half hours from the Mountain Guides lodge beside the Skaftafell visitor centre, with departures through the day. All the glacier gear is in the fare, boots and rain gear rent on site, and groups stop at 15. From age 10.
From $107 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Gear up at the Arctic Adventures base, ride a 4x4 bus towards the ice and walk about 30 minutes to it, then hike about an hour and a half on an outlet glacier. The park fee is in the fare. From age 8.
From $104 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Five hours from the Tröll base west of Hofgarður, with harness, crampons, helmet and axe, and coffee and chocolates on the ice. The extra time buys crevasses, moulins and ice sculptures. Up to 10 people; boots rent at the base.
From $164 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
About four hours on the glacier itself, with a minibus from the Mountain Guides lodge to the ice and eight people at most. You need moderate fitness and must be 14. Boots and rain gear rent at the base.
From $230 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Hike onto the ice from the Tröll base, then climb a blue ice wall with your guide. Hiking boots come in the fare 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 cheapest hike starts at $104 with the park fee in the fare, 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 base by the Skaftafell visitor centre or at the Tröll base at Hof. You are fitted with a harness, a helmet, crampons and an ice axe, and a bus, a minibus or a short walk takes you to the foot of the ice. Then you walk onto the glacier 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.
Most hikes here go to Falljökull, a creeping glacier that falls from the caldera of Öræfajökull; the park tells you to go there only with a guide who has glacier experience. The Tröll ice climb goes to Svínafellsjökull instead. Your guide picks the route on the day, by what the ice is doing that week.
The caves need the cold months. A hike does not: the Skaftafell hikes run through the year, and Blue Ice Discovery leaves through the day. If you do not know yet when you will travel, a hike is the booking you can keep.
The Arctic Adventures hike starts at age 8, and Blue Ice Discovery at 10. You can bring a child onto the ice here earlier than on almost anything else sold on the glacier.
The plain hikes run from $104 to $230. You pay for a guide and the gear, with nothing else bundled in, and the dearest buys about four hours on the glacier with eight people at most.
Take three and a half hours for a first taste, or five for a real crossing. One traveller on the Tröll five-hour day saw the four-hour groups turn back while theirs went on to the ice wall. On the climb, another found one short wall of ice, which suited a first try.
This is the choice most winter travellers face: a walk on the surface, or 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 | $104 to $256 | $157 to $169 |
| Youngest | 8 on the Arctic Adventures hike | 8 on one cave; 10 where published |
| Length | 3.5 to 5 hours | 3 to 4 hours |
| Starts at | The Skaftafell bases | The Skaftafell bases and the lagoon car park |
| What you see | Ridges, crevasses, moulins, ice walls | A cave that changes each winter |
Compare the glacier hike tours
If you travel between October and April and a cave is the point, see the Vatnajokull ice cave tours. Every cave tour walks you across the glacier too, so you give up little on the surface. The rest of the year, the hike is the product.
You get the guide and the ice gear: crampons, a harness, a helmet and an axe or ice pick. The Arctic Adventures hikes add a 4x4 bus to the foot of the ice, and the Mountain Guides adventure a minibus. The Tröll days add coffee and chocolates. One Arctic Adventures hike includes a park fee.
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; the Mountain Guides and Arctic Adventures rent boots at 1,500 ISK. The ice climb is the one fare with boots in it. Driving yourself, you also pay the park’s regional fee, set out on the visitor guide.
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Fares | $104 to $256 per person |
| Length | 3.5 to 5 hours, including the ride and the approach |
| Youngest | 8 on the Arctic Adventures hike; 12 to climb; 14 on the longest |
| Meeting points | The Skaftafell visitor centre bases, and the Tröll base at Hof |
| Check-in | 20 minutes early at Tröll |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
Book the hike before the bed. The bases are 4.5 to 5 hours from Reykjavík, so you need a night nearby; where to stay covers it. At Tröll, a late arrival cannot be guaranteed a place or a refund.
Wind is what cancels a hike, more than rain. Check the glacier weather for your month, and keep a spare day in the trip.
About four hours on the glacier with eight people at most, and a minibus to the foot of the ice. Pick your date and see the meeting time before you pay.
Check availabilityNext: Plan the trip in the two-day itinerary, or price the day in the tour prices guide. Every fare sits side by side on Vatnajokull Tours.