Snowmobiling from Vík: Mýrdalsjökull or not?

Short answer: we don’t list a snowmobile tour on Mýrdalsjökull at the moment. If you’re based in Vík and want a snowmobile, the closest ride we sell is on Eyjafjallajökull, about an hour west, at Snowmobiling on Eyjafjallajökull, from €265. If you just want to get onto Mýrdalsjökull from Vík, the Katla ice cave is how we’d do it.

Why Mýrdalsjökull comes up

Mýrdalsjökull is the ice cap you see from Vík, sitting on top of Katla. It’s the fourth-largest glacier in Iceland and it fills the view east of Skógar. Snowmobile tours have run on it for years, mostly from the Sólheimajökull side, and older guidebooks and forum posts still point people there. We don’t hold one in our catalogue today, so we won’t pretend to sell one. If that changes, this page will say so.

What we do sell on Mýrdalsjökull is the ice cave. Katla Ice Cave & Super Jeep from Vík, from €219, three hours, minimum age 6. A super jeep takes you across the black sand to Kötlujökull, an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull, and you walk in crampons to a cave in the ash-streaked ice. It’s sold for the winter season. It’s slower and quieter than a snowmobile, and you get more ice for the money. The Katla vs Vatnajökull ice cave guide covers it properly.

The south coast snowmobile we do sell

Eyjafjallajökull is Mýrdalsjökull’s neighbour to the west, the volcano that stopped European flights in 2010. The snowmobile tour meets at a base camp at Brú by Road 249, which is the road towards Þórsmörk near Seljalandsfoss. From Vík, allow roughly an hour’s drive.

How it works, from the tour’s own listing:

• You get a snowsuit, helmet, gloves and a balaclava mask at base.
• A modified super jeep drives you up the mountain to the snowline, where the machines wait.
• About an hour of riding in convoy behind the guide. On a clear day you see the Westman Islands and much of the south coast.
• The whole tour takes two to four hours in winter. In other seasons it depends on how far up the snowline has retreated.
• Departures at 10:00 and 14:00. No pickup.

The price is per person on a shared sled, two to a machine. Solo riders and odd-numbered groups must book a single machine, and a wrong booking costs extra at the base. Drivers must be 17 or over and hold a full driving licence; learner’s permits and motorcycle licences don’t count. Passengers can be from age 6.

If you ride well already, there is a longer version: Highland snowmobiling, five hours, from €1,258, on a single machine, sold for summer. Your guide picks the route on the day. It’s a serious price for a serious ride. Most people don’t need it.

For the super jeep and hiking ways onto the same ice cap, see the Eyjafjallajökull guide.

Versus Langjökull

Langjökull, in the west, is where most snowmobile tours in Iceland run. It has a big flat plateau and more departures. Snowmobile on Langjökull, meet in Húsafell, from €244, is two hours from Húsafell, and you need a valid licence to drive.

The riding feels similar: an hour or so in convoy on a white plateau. The difference is geography. Húsafell is two to three hours from the south coast. If you’re sleeping in Vík, driving to Langjökull for a snowmobile is most of a day spent in the car. If you’re doing the Golden Circle or heading up to Borgarfjörður anyway, Langjökull is the easier one to fit in. Our Langjökull snowmobile vs glacier hike guide weighs that ride against walking.

Weather

Snowmobiles on the south coast glaciers depend on the weather up top, not in Vík. It can be calm and bright on the beach and blowing snow at the snowline. Operators move, shorten or cancel when it’s unsafe, and you get a refund or a new date. Book it early in your stay so there’s room to move it.

Our honest take

If you’re in Vík and a snowmobile is the point, drive the hour west and do Eyjafjallajökull at €265. It’s the nearest ride we list, it runs all year, and you’re on the road home anyway.

But think about whether you want a snowmobile or just want to be on Mýrdalsjökull. For the ice cap above Vík, the Katla ice cave at €219 gets you onto the glacier from town, with no licence rules and more to look at. The downside: it’s a walk, not a ride, and it runs in winter.

Don’t cross the country to Langjökull from Vík for an hour on a sled. The riding isn’t different enough to justify the drive.