Private Early Bird Ice Cave

by Icarus Rising ehf · Ice caves · Glacier hiking · Vatnajökull & Jökulsárlón

Beginners welcome

from €1,651.68 per person

Next departure: Fri 23 Oct

Book Fri 23 Oct · €1,651.68 Other dates

Private Early Bird Ice Cave — Icarus Rising ehf

1 / 31

31 photos from Icarus Rising ehf. Tap any one for the full-size original.

Duration
3 hours
Difficulty
Easy
Season
Sep – Apr
Starts in
Höfn
Pickup
Meet at the start point
Starts at
Ice Pic Journey
Ice Pic Journey, í Hornafirði, Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon, , Höfn í Hornafirði
Guide
Guided in English
Departs
08:30, 10:30
Minimum age
6
Cancellation
Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 730 days of departure.

About this experience

Get to the Crystal Ice Cave before all of the other companies and experience the serenity. Our Early Bird Ice Cave Tour has you waking up before everyone else and setting off toward the glacier to welcome the day. Your guide will lead you onto Vatnajokull Glacier and have you arriving at a much quieter ice cave with few to no people inside of it. Being one of the first to arrive at the ice cave allows you to enjoy a more personal experience with the ice. On top of that, your guide and photographer will be able to get that magical photograph of you inside the cave without the photobombing. Throughout the tour, you will learn about the history of Vatnajokull Glacier and how the ice works in Icelandic nature.

After the tour ends, your guide will professionally edit your photos and email them to you within 14 days. These photos will be the perfect souvenir and memory of your adventure in Iceland.

Optional: Pickup and drop-off from Reykjavík are available for an additional fee.

Description from the operator, Icarus Rising ehf. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Where you go

Early Bird Ice Cave

Included

Certified Glacier Guide and Professional Photographer
Glacier Equipment: helmet, harness, crampons
Private Tour
3 Shot Photo Package Included per person

Not included

Food and Drinks

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. For our Glacier Hikes , Glacier Ziplines, and private ice climbing tours the minimum age is 10 .
Arriving at an ice cave early never guarantees that we will be the only company or group there. Going earlier just gives us greater chances of having far fewer people inside the cave since most companies do not operate until 9 am or later.
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 Early Bird Ice Cave tour involves roughly 1-1.5 hours of total hiking. The terrain is very flat yet rocky and is relatively easy for a person of average fitness.
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 if you have further questions.
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 guide’s 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 →

Who this is not for

Children under 6 cannot join this one.
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

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 Höfn í Hornafirði, 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
203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it

from

€1,651.68 per person

Icarus Rising ehf'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.

Departs08:3010:30

Höfn í Hornafirði: light 08:13–17:17, 9 h 4 min of daylight.

· Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 730 days of departure.
✓ Instant confirmation by email
✓ If Icarus Rising ehf 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: Icarus Rising ehf'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 €55 on the cheapest pair. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.