An easy glacier hike on Sólheimajökull still means crampons and cold hands
What 'easy' means on Sólheimajökull, what you need to bring, how long you're on the ice, and which tour to pick from the glacier or from Reykjavík.
Sólheimajökull is the glacier tongue that comes down off Mýrdalsjökull toward the South Coast, about two and a half hours from Reykjavík between Skógafoss and Vík. It’s the easiest glacier in Iceland to walk on with a guide, which is why every South Coast trip either stops to look at it or puts you on it. “Easy” is accurate. It’s also relative.
What easy means here
It means no climbing, no ropes between people, and no previous experience. Any reasonably fit adult, and children above the operator’s minimum age, can do it. You walk from the car park along the lagoon for about twenty minutes to the edge of the ice. Your guide fits crampons to your boots and hands you a helmet, a harness and an ice axe. The axe is a walking stick with a hook; you won’t swing it.
Then you walk on the glacier for an hour or so. The ice surface isn’t smooth. It’s ridged, gritty with ash, and cut with crevasses and moulins, the holes where meltwater drains straight down. You stay behind the guide, walk where they walk, and stop where they stop. The gradient is gentle. The footing takes ten minutes to trust and then it’s fine.
What makes it not easy: wind off the ice cap that finds every gap in your jacket, feet that go cold if your boots are thin, and hands that go numb if your gloves get wet. And the crampons. They grip perfectly, and they also catch your other trouser leg if you walk with your feet close together. Everyone stumbles once.
What to wear and bring
Ankle-high hiking boots with a stiff sole. Trainers don’t take crampons, and operators will either rent you boots or turn you away. Waterproof trousers over warm ones, not jeans. Wet denim on ice is misery. A shell jacket, a fleece, a hat, and gloves you can afford to soak. Sunglasses; the glare off the ice is real even under cloud. A small pack for water and a snack. Leave the tripod.
The tours
If you’re driving, meet at the glacier. Nordur Travel Services’ Solheimajokull Glacier Guided Hiking Small Group Tour is three hours from €85, the lowest price on our list, with a 4.9 rating from a smaller base of reviews. Arctic Adventures’ Glacier Experience is four hours from €92, with a bit more time on the ice.
If you want more than a walk, Arctic Adventures’ Blue Ice – Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike & Ice Climbing is five and a half hours from €185. Same approach, then a rope, a wall of ice and a proper axe in each hand. Hard on the forearms. Good fun.
From Reykjavík without a car, Arctic Adventures’ Glaciers & Waterfalls / South Coast and Glacier Hiking puts a glacier hike inside a South Coast day: Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, the ice, and back, thirteen and a half hours from €177. The downside is the length. The upside is you don’t need to be anywhere the night before.
Weather cancels these. Heavy rain, high wind or poor visibility on the glacier and the guides call it. You get a refund or a new date.
Our honest take
Do the short walk, not the long day, if you can. Sleep in Vík or near Skógar, take the €85 or €92 hike in the morning, and have the rest of the day for the waterfalls at your own pace. If you’re stuck in Reykjavík, the 13-hour combination is honest value. It’s just a lot of coach for an hour on ice.
Skip the ice climbing unless you like the idea of it already. It’s twice the price for something that’s more sport than sightseeing. The tradeoff of the basic hike is that it’s a walk: an hour and a bit on a grey glacier with a guide who knows it. For most people that’s exactly enough.
