Ice Cave Adventure

by Glacier Travel Iceland · Ice caves · Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón

Ice Cave Adventure — Glacier Travel Iceland

Would this be cheaper direct? No — we sell at Glacier Travel Iceland 's own price and take our commission from them, not from you. What you get here is one checkout across operators, one confirmation, and one place to change or cancel it. If you ever find it cheaper on their own site, tell us and we will match it or explain why we cannot.

  • Duration

    2 hours and 45 minutes

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Season

    Sep – Apr

  • Meeting

    Meet on location

  • Languages

    EN

  • Departs

    09:00, 10:45, 14:00

  • Minimum age

    3

  • Cancellation

    Free until 5 days before

About this experience

Ice cave tour in the Icelandic wilderness is one of the most wonders in the Icelandic nature. Our meeting point is at Glacier Lagoon parking lot. Always be on the meeting point 30 min before departure.

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

Where you go

  1. Meeting point on Glacier lagoon parking lot

Included

  • All necessary gear such as helmets(compulsory) and crampons (if needed).
  • Drive in a super jeep from Glacier lagoon, to the cave and back to Glacier lagoon.
  • A local English speaking guide.
  • You will meet the locals :)
  • We enjoy our tours as much as our guests in each tour :)
  • Icelandic nature and personal guiding is our thing :)

Good to know

  • Outdoor clothing based on weather conditions at the time of the trip. Such as hat, gloves etc.
  • Good shoes, suitable for hiking in snow.
  • Camera
  • Weather in Iceland can be unpredictable in the winter time and change swiftly so we advise you to spend the night before the tour, within one hour drive to Glacier lagoon.
  • Notice that the distance from Reykjavík to Glacier lagoon(Jökulsárlón) is 380km or about 4-5 hours drive in best conditions.
  • We do not arrange for any other transport than from Glacier lagoon, to the cave and back to Glacier lagoon.
  • For information’s on road conditions see vegagerdin.is and for information on weather see www.vedur.is

Cancellation for this tour

Free cancellation until 5 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.

  1. 1Glacier Travel Iceland 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 5 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 Perlan Ice Cave, Northern Lights Planetarium & Golden Circle Tour from BusTravel Iceland is €107 — €64 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.

Glacier Travel Iceland · €171BusTravel Iceland · €107
How long it runs2.75 hours10 hours
Getting thereYou make your own wayPicks you up
Changing your mindFree until 120 h beforeFree until 24 h before
How hard it isEasyVery easy

The cheaper tour is ahead on more of what we can measure. The €64 is worth it only if free cancellation up to 120 h before is what you want.

Sold out on your date?

Seats come back — a cancellation, or the operator adding a vehicle. Tell us the date and we will check once a day and email you if one opens. One email, then we delete the address; nothing else is ever sent to it.

Who this is not for

  • Children under 3 cannot join this one.
  • Not for last-minute planners — free cancellation ends 5 days before, longer than most tours here.

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

Why we list it

Glacier Travel Iceland is one of 154 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

Reviews from our travellers

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

No reviews yet from our travellers on 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.

  • One checkout, any number of operators

  • Rankings are not for sale

  • 153 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted

  • If it falls short, we fix it

Pairs well with

Everything here goes into the same basket and the same single payment, however many operators it comes from.

from

€171 per person

Check dates & book