Ice Cave and Glacier Walk into Blue Glacier Canyon
- 4–5 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Skip the crowds. Our small-group ice cave and glacier adventure brings you to less-visited spots inside Vatnajökull — Europe's largest glacier — where you can hear the silence of the ice and take your time for photos. Maximum 8 travelers per tour. Genuine small-group attention from our local guides — Stefan, Vigfús, Dana and Sindri — all based in Höfn and named by name in over 50 five-star reviews. All guides are AIMG-certified (Association of Icelandic Mountain Guides) in Ice Hard 1, 2 or 3, hold the AIMG Ice Cave course, and are Wilderness First Responders (WFR). You're on the ice with trained professionals — not part-time tour guides. This 4–5 hour adventure: walk on the glacier with crampons, explore blue canyons inside the ice, visit one or more naturally formed ice caves. Your guide reads conditions each morning and picks the best, quietest cave. All safety gear — crampons, helmet, headlight — included.
Inclusions
What's included
- Helmets & crampons
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Headlight - If needed
- Driver-guide
- Other Safety equipment if needed
What's not
- Clothes and Shoes
- Food and Snacks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transportation to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon (Meeting point)
Itinerary
We start from this area
All out tours are inside Vatnajökull national park
On the way between Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and the glacier, we drive past Diamond Beach (Fellsfjara) — a black sand beach where icebergs that have calved from the lagoon drift out to sea and wash back ashore, glittering against the dark volcanic sand. A perfect photo stop on the return.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 5238
- 43
- 30
- 20
- 11
Ratings come from 242 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Showing reviews written in English.
5We had a wonderful time...
We had a wonderful time on our tour with Fusey (spelling?!?) He was very knowledgeable and attentive to all of us in the group. I would highly recommend this tour, it is a bit strenuous and combines a lot of excitement with a tad bit of fear!
5Once in a lifetime experience
Steinar was such a great guide and this trek wa sjust incredible, well worth it. The ice caves are incredible beautiful, once in a life time experience!
5Loved it!
Amazing experience, Stephan went out of his way to give our small group (6people) an individual experience. He avoided other tour groups doing similar excursions. And we had a significant amount of time in the blue ice caves without other groups. Additionally, this tour was more extensive than that of other operators. It’s advisable that you’re a confident hiker and appropriately dressed.
5Fabulous Adventure
Absolutely wonderful! Amazing views of both the glacier and ice cave. Our tour guide, Stefan, was very friendly. Not only did he take the time to teach the science behind the glacier and its history, but also talk to us individually to get to know us better.
5A true highlight of our trip! An amazing experience overall!
If you enjoy the outdoors, fresh air, easy to moderate hiking and want to see unending stunning views, THIS is the tour for you. This was the first planned thing we did on our self driving tour of the southern coast of Iceland and it was definitely a highlight of our trip!!! Our tour guide, Claudia, was very knowledgeable, very personable and took GREAT photos of us with our own cameras, once we got to the actual cave. The hike itself was maybe 2-3 miles round trip, but it was filled with unending, breathtaking scenery! You are provided with a harness (just in case you fall, you aren't tethered to anyone or anything while hiking/exploring though), crampons or spikes, and a helmet, which you must wear for the full duration of the hike. The hike is up a slight incline but our guide was very kind and asked us to let her know if we needed to stop for a moment. On our way up, the sun was out and there was actually very little wind, so many of us were warm and were peeling off our layers. On the way down the wind picked up quite a bit but was very tolerable if you were dressed properly. I wore wool high socks, long underwear, leggings and snow pants on the bottom and a thermal undershirt, sherpa lined fleece flannel and a waterproof/windproof rain coat over that on top, along with a balaclava (just around my neck), knit hat and had my coat hood up and I was perfectly warm, even with the wind blowing! I also had on puffy mittens to keep my hands warm. Every bit of the hike was stunning and beautiful! The information about glaciers and ice caves was very interesting and the ice cave itself was so interesting and amazing with the sunlight shining through it! The cave itself was much smaller than I thought it would be. It's not a large or long cave that you walk through for a long distance. It's just on the edge of the side of the glacier where the glacier is melting from underneath. The space we went into was maybe 1000 square feet (but I'm not great at estimating size). We couldn't walk through it. We entered and exited at the same spot. It was more like a large room that we were able to go in and explore. It was still stunning and beautiful and made for amazing pictures! The only tricky thing was trying to get your pictures without other tourists in the background. They do try to limit the tour groups to only two groups in the cave at a time. Outside of our time in the cave, Claudia also took us to the edge of another cave that we couldn't go into because it was unstable, however we could still see the cool ice formations and take pictures from the outside edge of it. She also took us to a large crevice in the snow on the way down, which made for more great photos. One of my favorite parts of the hike outside of the cave and the amazing views on the hike was between the parking lot and the glacier was a small waterfall that you hike past and over. It was not a large waterfall, but it trickled into a very peaceful babbling brook. Overall I loved everything about our experience and was very thankful that we had great weather for our tour! I would definitely go on this tour again!
5Just Do It!
The entire experience was surreal. Stefan was an amazing guide and gave great information on the glacier as well as history of Iceland. The trek was difficult and arduous but when I completed it I felt the most fantastic sense of accomplishment. The endorphin rush helped too! The ice cave itself was majestic and awe-inspiring. I’ve never seen anything like it before and it definitely was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Look for our Super Jeeps with the Glacier Trips logo at the main south parking lot of Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon — by the gift shop and outdoor WC. Please arrive 15 minutes early.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 8 travellers
- Operated by
- Glacier Trips
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Subject to favourable weather conditions. If cancelled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund
- Due to the popularity of the ice caves, you can expect groups from other companies inside the cave at the same time as our groups. Be sure to look at your email and phone the day before the tour. There can always be last minutes change due to weather or other uncontrollable conditions. If the Ice cave is not accessible due to some reasons, we always offer alternatives, refunding price difference between activities. Please be advised that this tour starts from Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon.
How it compares in Höfn
- Its from-price is close to the median of the 31 experiences we list in Höfn.
- It is longer than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 3 of 31.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Höfn
Höfn is a small fishing town in south-east Iceland, set between a glacier-fed lagoon and mountains, and known for its langoustine.
Höfn stands on a low peninsula in south-east Iceland, with the broad white dome of Vatnajökull, Europe's largest ice cap by volume, rising beyond the lagoon and a ring of glacier tongues. The town is built around a busy harbour, and its name simply means harbour. Black sand, birds and wide skies surround it, and the Ring Road passes through, more than 450 kilometres from Reykjavík.
Special offers in Höfn
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
