Ice cave - Adventures dream
by Glacier Trips · Ice caves · Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón
- Fine on your own
- Good with teenagers
Would this be cheaper direct? No — we sell at Glacier Trips'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.
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Duration
5 hours and 30 minutes
Difficulty
Moderate
Season
Sep – Apr
Meeting
Meet on location
Languages
EN, ZH
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 will prepare the backpack with all the equipment (we provide). 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
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 Perlan Ice Cave, Northern Lights Planetarium & Golden Circle Tour from BusTravel Iceland is €107 — €157 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.
| Glacier Trips · €264 | BusTravel Iceland · €107 | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it runs | 5.5 hours | 10 hours |
| Getting there | You make your own way | Picks you up |
| Changing your mind | Free until 48 h before | Free until 24 h before |
| How hard it is | Moderate | Very easy |
The cheaper tour is ahead on more of what we can measure. The €157 is worth it only if free cancellation up to 48 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
- 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 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
- Boat tours in Iceland sort into five kinds, and only two of them are sightseeingWhale 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.
- Sólheimajökull, Skaftafell or Vatnajökull — which glacier hike to actually bookThree glaciers sell almost the same walk at different prices and distances. Which one fits your route, what 'easy' means, and what blue ice really requires.
- How tour cancellations work in Iceland, and what we backOperators cancel when the weather makes a tour unsafe, and we back that every time. Here's what happens to your money, and what counts as a cancellation.
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.
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