Private Glacier + Ice Cave Photoshoot Adventure
by Icarus Rising ehf · Ice caves · Glacier hiking · Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón
from €2,385.76 per vehicle
Next departure: Thu 22 Oct
1 / 30
Duration
5 hours
Difficulty
Moderate
Season
Sep – Apr
Pickup
Hotel pickup available at extra cost, or meet at the start point
Starts at
Ice Pic Journey, í Hornafirði, Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon, , Höfn í Hornafirði
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
12:00
Minimum age
8
Cancellation
Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 730 days of departure.
About this experience
We cannot wait to take you on the Private Glacier Hike and Ice Cave adventure. Your guide will drive you to Vatnajokull Glacier via a super jeep to begin your adventure. After a hike through an alien-like glacial tundra, we will arrive at the edge of the glacier where your guide will assist you in putting your crampons on. Geared up, we will explore both the lower and upper ice caves where your photographer will capture you inside these natural wonders.
Once through the lower cave, we will gear up for our hike on the glacier. With crampons on, we will hike to many different formations on the glacier including our famous crystal crevasses. The visuals you will see all around you will create an unimaginable experience as your photographer captures you amongst it. This tour involves approximately 5 to 6 km of hiking in total and is considered to require a moderate level of fitness.
At the end of your tour, we will edit your photo and you will get a photo package in ~14 days as the perfect souvenir to remember your epic adventure in Iceland.
Optional Add-On: Pickup/Drop-off out of Reykjavik is available for an additional 225,000 ISK per group. Adding this on will make your transport to/from the tour private we well. Pickup time would be ~7 am from your accommodation and the duration of the tour would change to approx. 15 hours. When this option is available it will be visible once you click ‘continue’ at the checkout.
Description from the operator, Icarus Rising ehf. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.
Where you go
- Private Glacier + Ice Cave Photoshoot Adventure
Included
- Certified Glacier Guide and Professional Photographer
- Glacier Equipment: Helmet, Crampons, and Harness (as required)
- Private Group
- 5 Professional Photos per person
Not included
- Food and Drinks
- Warm Layers
Good to know
✓ Water Bottle (Recommended) – You will have many spots to fill it up with glacier water.
✓ Proper Seasonal Clothing – Warm layers for freezing or wet conditions. Warm hat and gloves.
✓ Waterproof Jacket – Rentals are available under extras.
✓ Waterproof Pants – Rentals are available under extras.
✓ Hiking Boots – Water resistant is preferred. Rentals are available under extras.
- Participants must be in reasonably good health to embark on the tour they have booked. Pregnant individuals are not permitted on tours.
- Our standard age requirement for our Ice Cave tours is 8 years old.
- Ice caves are a dynamic ever-changing natural phenomenon. Each year, old ice caves melt and new ice caves appear. Photos that you see of the cave at any given time on our website or any social media will not necessarily mean that is what you will experience on your tour. This makes each experience unique and special for our guests.
- This tour involves approximately 5 to 6 km of hiking in total and requires a moderate level of fitness.
- Photo packages may sometimes take more or less than 14 days to edit. This is just our average turnaround time.
- Also be aware that if there is a request to have specific photos from the day, advance notice via email is required before the editing process begins.
- Our Cancellation Policy can be found here. Also, check out our FAQ page for more information.
- Children on Tours: Our IPJ team has specific policies concerning children, please reference our Terms and Conditions. Be aware, we require parents to bring car seats / booster seats to be put in our 4×4 vehicles before the departure time (please arrive early). Additionally, we also require parents to ensure their children are under control, calm, and listen to our guides directions at all times.
Cancellation for this tour
Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 730 days of departure. 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.
- 1Icarus Rising ehf 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 the cutoff shown above, the operator's policy after that.
Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →
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 8 cannot join this one.
- Priced per vehicle, so it is poor value for one or two people and good value for four or more sharing.
Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.
Why we list it
Icarus Rising ehf is one of 204 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.
One checkout, any number of operators
Rankings are not for sale
203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it
Pairs well with
Add any of these to this tour and 3 % comes off both at checkout. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.
David The Guide
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