Ice cave - Adventures dream

by Glacier Trips · Ice caves · Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón

Fine on your own
Good with teenagers

from €270.48 per person

Next departure: Sat 24 Oct

Book Sat 24 Oct · €270.48 Other dates

Ice cave - Adventures dream — Glacier Trips

1 / 15

15 photos from Glacier Trips. Tap any one for the full-size original.

Duration
5 hours and 30 minutes
Difficulty
Moderate
Season
Sep – Apr
Pickup
Meet at the start point
Starts at
Jökulsárlón parking lot
Jökulsárlón (Glacier Lagoon), Höfn í Hornafirði
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
09:00, 09:30, 10:30
Minimum age
14
Cancellation
Free until 2 days before

About this experience

This ice cave tour is for those who want to get more out of their ice cave experience. On this tour, we visit less crowded ice cave and give you more time to see the amazing natural surroundings and the glacier itself. In some cases, we need to walk on the glacier to get to the ice cave. The tour can take 4 to 6 hours, depending on location and weather. We provide all the equipment you need for the glacier. Then we will drive on a super jeep as close to the glacier as we can, hike in the glacier area, sometimes we might need to walk on the glacier too, visit the ice cave and enjoy our time there. If you like photographing, we recommend this tour for you. All the ice caves are naturally made, so it is nature that decides how they are shaped and where they are located. Safety is our priority, so we will always choose the best Ice cave for every trip. The drive and the walk to the ice cave can, therefore, be different between days. If nature decides we are not able to go to the ice cave, we have other extraordinary alternatives for you.

Description from the operator, Glacier Trips. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Included

English speaking guide Customized Cars: We use one of our super jeep to get as close to the glacier as we can. Gear provided: Crampons, helmets, harnesses, ice axes when needed, first aid kit and headlamps if needed.

Good to know

Walking boots and warm socks. (we rent out hiking shoes if needed) Warm clothes: 2-3 layers of thin wool or fleece jumpers, windproof/waterproof jacket, wool or fleece trousers, windproof/waterproof trousers, hat, mittens. Sunglasses Camera

Please arrive at least 30 minutes before departure. A regional/parking fee applies at Jökulsárlón and is paid through Parka. Meeting point: Jokulsarlon (glacier lagoon / ice lagoon) GPS: Latitude: 64.048399 | Longitude: -16.179443

Cancellation for this tour

Free cancellation until 2 days before departure; no refund after that. If the operator cancels for weather or safety, you get a full refund or a new date.

If the weather cancels this tour

Iceland's weather is real. What usually stops this one is melt-water or unstable ice after a warm spell — the guide decides on the morning, and a cave can close for days. Here is exactly what happens to your booking.

1Glacier Trips decides, and tells us. Operators cancel when it is unsafe or pointless, and we back that call every time — we do not ask them to run anyway.
2We contact you by email, and by phone if your tour is the same or next day. You choose: another date if there is one you can make, or a full refund. There is no fee and nothing to argue.
3The refund goes back to the card you paid with, through Stripe, usually visible within a few working days. If this tour was one of several in your booking, the others are untouched.

What you do not get is the day back. If this is the only free day in your plan, put a spare day next to it — the planner leaves days free with the rest-day option. And if you want out because the forecast looks bad, that is your own cancellation: free until 2 days before departure, the operator's policy after that.

Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →

Why this one and not the cheaper one?

The nearest cheaper Ice Cave Sólheimajökull Experience - Meet on location from Glaciers and Waterfalls is €130 — €140 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.

	Glacier Trips · €270	Glaciers and Waterfalls · €130
How long it runs	5.5 hours	4 hours
Changing your mind	Free until 48 h before	Free until 24 h before
How hard it is	Moderate	Challenging

The €140 buys you 1.5 more hours out and free cancellation up to 48 h before. Whether that is worth it is your call — but that is what the difference is.

Who this is not for

Not for families with children under 14 — the operator will not take them, even with a parent.
Not available in summer; the operator runs it roughly September to April.

Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.

Why we list it

Glacier Trips is one of 207 operators we work with — chosen for reliability, honest descriptions and how they treat guests when weather changes plans. We don't list everything; we list what we'd book ourselves. The six checks every operator passes →

Read before you book

Best Glacier Hike in Iceland (2026): 5 PicksThe glacier hikes we would book ourselves in Iceland, on Sólheimajökull and in Skaftafell, with real adult prices, departure points and who each one is not for.
Best Ice Cave Tour in Iceland (2026): 5 PicksThe ice cave tours we would book ourselves, from the Vatnajökull caves near Jökulsárlón to Katla near Vík, with real prices and meeting points.
Boat tours in Iceland: the five kinds explainedWhale boats, aurora cruises, glacier-lagoon zodiacs, island ferries and sea angling. What each one actually is, what it costs, and which are worth a slot.

Reviews from our travellers

Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.

Reviews arrive the day after each trip — none yet for this one. After your tour we send one email asking how it was, and what you write goes here, unedited.

Ice caves — questions people ask

When can you visit an ice cave in Iceland?

Natural blue ice caves open from around November to March, when the glacier is cold enough for the meltwater tunnels to be safe. They form under Vatnajökull near Jökulsárlón, and the caves change every year. Two exceptions run all year: the Katla ice cave near Vík, which is dark ice striped with ash, and Into the Glacier at Langjökull, a man-made tunnel. If you want the glowing blue photos, come between November and March.

Can I do an ice cave tour as a day trip from Reykjavík?

Only the Katla cave. The South Coast and Katla ice cave tour (/experience/22559/) is about twelve hours from Reykjavík and back. The blue caves at Vatnajökull are five hours' drive each way, too far for a day, so operators sell them as two- or three-day tours (/experience/6131/, /experience/7358/) with a night near Jökulsárlón. If you are self-driving, stay in the Höfn or Skaftafell area and book the Crystal Ice Cave tour (/experience/17337/) from there.

Is the Katla ice cave as good as the blue ice caves?

Different, not worse. Katla's cave under Mýrdalsjökull is black and white, layered with volcanic ash, and open all year. It will not give you the glowing blue tunnel photos from Instagram; those are the Vatnajökull caves, November to March only. What Katla gives you is a shorter super-jeep drive from Vík (/experience/22558/) and availability in summer. If you are here between November and March and can reach Jökulsárlón, choose blue. Otherwise choose Katla.

Are ice caves safe?

With a guide, yes. Operators inspect the caves daily and cancel when meltwater, warm weather or ice movement makes them unsafe, which happens most often in November and March at the edges of the season. You wear a helmet and crampons and stay with the group. Never enter a glacier cave on your own. If your tour is cancelled for safety, you get a full refund or another date, and most operators try to substitute another cave first.

Hotels

Where to stay for this tour

From the cheapest to the top end of what is near Skaftafell, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site.

All hotels in Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón →

One checkout, any number of operators
Rankings are not for sale
206 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it

from

€270.48 per person

Glacier Trips's own price. 3% off the whole trip when you book two or more tours together, in one checkout.

Your date

The next departure we can see — change it if this tour is for another day.

Pick a date to check departures.

Departs09:0009:3010:30

Skaftafell: light 08:22–17:22, 8 h 59 min of daylight.

✓ Free cancellation until 2 days before
✓ Instant confirmation by email
✓ If Glacier Trips cancels for weather or safety: a full refund, or another date
✓ Card — Apple Pay or Google Pay where your device offers it — through Stripe; the charge is made in Icelandic krónur
✓ Price promise: Glacier Trips's own price, or we refund the difference
✓ One checkout, even with tours from several operators
✓ Vetted operator — the six checks every operator passes

Pairs well with

Add any of these to this tour and 3 % comes off both at checkout — about €14 on the cheapest pair. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.