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
Check AvailabilityVatnajokull Tour Prices: What Each Fare Buys and What You Pay on Top
Nobody sells a ticket to Vatnajökull. The price of the ice is the tour fare, and round it sit a parking fee, boot hire and your lunch. This guide sets out the fares by kind of tour, what they include, what you pay on top and why some cost twice as much as others, so the Vatnajokull ticket prices you compare mean the same thing.
Is there a glacier ticket?
No. The national park charges for camping, huts, permits and a regional fee at its car parks, and nothing for the ice. Anything sold online as a Vatnajökull ticket is a tour.
That matters for the sums. You cannot buy access and add a guide later, because the guide is the access. You are paying for a person, a vehicle and a set of gear for a fixed time.
What do the fares look like?
Every fare is per person, and every tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead.
| Kind of tour | Fares | Tour length | What you pay on top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacier hike at Skaftafell | $104 to $230 | 3.5 to 5 hours | Parking; boots on most |
| Ice climb and hike | $256 | 4 hours | Parking; boots included |
| Ice cave | $157 to $169 | 3 to 4 hours | Parking; boots |
| Snowmobile | $262 | 3 hours | A solo rider supplement |
| Lagoon kayak | $157 | 1.5 hours | Parking; food |
| Day trip from Reykjavík | $185 | 14.5 hours | Food; any boat |
What does every on-ice fare include?
A certified glacier guide and the gear to stand on the ice. The exact set differs. The Arctic Adventures hikes list crampons, an ice pick, a harness and a helmet, with a 4x4 bus to the foot of the glacier. The Original Ice Cave lists helmet and spikes and a 4x4 vehicle. The Mountain Guides cave lists crampons, an ice axe, a helmet and the vehicle to the ice.
A few fares add more. The Tröll tours include coffee and chocolates. The ice climb is the only tour whose fare includes hiking boots. One Arctic Adventures hike includes a park fee. The gear is explained on the visitor guide.
What do you pay on top?
Parking. The regional fee at Skaftafell and the lagoon is 1,110 ISK for a car with five seats or fewer and 1,440 ISK for six to nine. It is valid until midnight, and the second fee area on the same day is half price.
Boots and rain gear. Tröll rents boots, a waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers at 1,750 ISK each. The Mountain Guides rent boots at 1,500 ISK and rain gear at 1,000 ISK per item. Arctic Adventures rent boots at 1,500 ISK.
Food. No day tour here includes lunch. Carry it, and water.
Boots can stop you going. Arctic Adventures make
ankle-support boots mandatory and fit crampons to EU 35 to 50 only, and one lagoon cave
has no boots to rent at all. Check yours before you pay, on our FAQs.
Why does a longer hike cost more?
You buy more time on the ice and a smaller group. The Arctic Adventures hike at $104 gives you about an hour and a half on the glacier in four hours. Blue Ice Discovery at $107 gives you about three hours at Skaftafell and on the ice. The Mountain Guides adventure at $230 gives about four hours on the glacier, with eight people at most.
Divide the fare by the hours on the ice before you decide one is dear. On the five-hour Tröll hike at $164, one traveller walked more than 6 miles, much of it uphill. Another saw the four-hour groups turn back while theirs went on to the ice wall.
Group size moves with the fare too. Blue Ice Discovery and the Arctic Adventures hike take up to 15 people. The five-hour Tröll day takes 10, the Mountain Guides adventure 8 and the ice climb 6. The fewer people per guide, the more of the time on the ice is spent walking rather than waiting at the next step.
Why do ice caves cost more than a hike?
The caves run only in the cold months, they change every winter, and the lagoon caves are reached by 4x4 truck. The cheapest cave is $157, against $104 for the cheapest hike. The difference buys a cave, not more ice: on one lagoon cave tour you spend about an hour on the glacier and in the cave.
Before you pay the premium, read the ice cave season guide. Some caves are small, and the tours say so. The cave tours are compared on the ice cave tours page.
How does the snowmobile’s solo-rider supplement work?
The snowmobile tour costs $262 per person, with two riders to a machine. A group of odd size must book a solo rider, and riding alone costs a supplement paid at the base. One traveller put it simply: sign up alone and you also ride alone.
The supplement is 10,000 ISK. Two riders on one machine may weigh 180 kg together at most, and the driver needs a valid licence.
What is the cheapest way onto the ice?
The Arctic Adventures blue ice hike at $104, from age 8, with the park fee in the fare. Blue Ice Discovery costs a few dollars more at $107 and gives more time on the glacier.
Both need you to reach Skaftafell yourself. Without a car, the only tour from Reykjavík that reaches the ice is the eight-day trip round Iceland, from $2,675; the lagoon day at $185 never goes onto it.
How do promotions and refunds work?
The Arctic Adventures cave and the Original Ice Cave are both sold at special-offer fares. The price shown is the price you pay today, and it can rise when the offer ends. Book on the fare you see.
Every tour refunds in full if you cancel 24 hours ahead. Lateness is the exception: Tröll says a late arrival cannot be guaranteed a place or a refund, and the snowmobile treats a late arrival as a cancellation. If no cave is safe on the Crystal Cave tour, you choose a glacier hike with 30% of the fare refunded, or cancel on site for a full refund.
What does a day cost for two?
Fares only, for two people. Add the parking and any boot hire from the sections above.
| The day | Fares for two | Also budget for |
|---|---|---|
| A first hike at Skaftafell | Twice $104 | Boots, if yours lack ankle support |
| A longer hike with fewer people | Twice $230 | Parking, boots, rain gear |
| An ice cave at the lagoon | Twice $169 | Parking, warm layers |
| The snowmobile | Twice $262 | A solo supplement if you ride alone |
| The coach day from Reykjavík | Twice $185 | Food, any boat |
The cheapest glacier day for two is the Arctic Adventures hike, if you are already in the south-east. The getting there page covers the drive.
What do the rentals add up to?
At Tröll, boots, a waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers cost 1,750 ISK each, so the full set comes to 5,250 ISK a person. A hat and gloves combo is 3,000 ISK and a neck warmer 500 ISK. The ice climb is the exception: its fare includes hiking boots.
At the Mountain Guides, boots are 1,500 ISK and rain gear 1,000 ISK per item. If you own boots with ankle support and a waterproof layer, you pay none of it.
Is the lagoon day from Reykjavík good value?
The lagoon day costs $185 for 14.5 hours. That buys the coach, a guide, pickup in central Reykjavík and about 1 hour 35 minutes at the lagoon and the black beach. It includes no boat, no walk on the ice and no food.
One traveller was offered a boat ride at the start of the day as an extra. If you are alone and have no car, it is the cheapest way to see the lagoon. For two people with a hire car, driving costs less and leaves the pace to you. The Vatnajokull tours from Reykjavik page compares it with the eight-day tour.
What does the eight-day tour include?
The eight-day tour round Iceland starts from $2,675 per person, the lowest of its price tiers; larger parties pay less each. The fare includes seven nights, seven breakfasts, a minibus with a driver-guide, an ice cave on Breiðamerkurjökull, a glacier hike and a whale-watching trip from Hauganes.
Lunch and dinner are extra, and so are boots, a waterproof jacket and trousers, and luggage storage. Its glacier hike is on Sólheimajökull, on the South Coast, not on Vatnajökull.
Where these facts come from
- Pricelist: the regional fee and camping (national park)
- The outlet glacier the Skaftafell hikes use (national park)
- Ice caves and glacier walks, 26 September 2024 (national park, in Icelandic)
Tour prices: frequently asked questions
How much is a Vatnajokull glacier hike?
From $104 per person for the Arctic Adventures hike at Skaftafell to $230 for about four hours on the ice. The ice climb costs $256.
Is there an entrance fee for Vatnajökull?
No. The only official charge is the park’s regional parking fee at Skaftafell and the lagoon, valid until midnight.
How much does an ice cave tour cost?
From $157 to $169 per person. The caves run only in the cold months, roughly October to April.
Do I have to rent boots?
Only if your boots lack ankle support. Most bases rent them, but one lagoon cave has none to rent, so bring your own.
Does the snowmobile fare cover one rider or two?
Two riders share a machine at the listed fare. Riding alone costs a supplement paid at the base.
Is lunch included?
No day tour here includes lunch. The Tröll tours include coffee and chocolates, so carry your own food.
Can I get a refund?
Every tour refunds in full if you cancel 24 hours ahead. Arrive late at a base, and the fare may be lost.
Three fares that buy more than a first hike
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
Check Availability
Skaftafell Ice Climbing & Glacier Hike
Four hours from the Tröll base: a hike onto the ice and a climb up a blue ice wall, with boots in the fare and six people at most; from age 12.
From $256 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Decide whether you need a tour at all in Vatnajokull without a tour, or choose a base in Skaftafell or the lagoon. Every fare sits side by side on Vatnajokull Tours.