Sólheimajökull zip line: is it worth it?

Short answer: the zip line on Sólheimajökull is a normal guided glacier hike with one ride over the ice added at the end, and it costs from €325 against about €90 for the hike alone. If the ride is the thing you’ll remember, book it. If you mainly want to stand on a glacier, the plain hike does that for a third of the price.

What you actually do

Icarus Rising runs it from the Sólheimajökull car park on the South Coast, about two and a half hours from Reykjavík. It’s around four hours in all, with roughly two hours of walking. The first half is flat and rocky across the moraine to the ice. The second half is on the glacier in crampons, up a gradual slope for 20 to 40 minutes depending on the season. The operator rates it easy with moderate stretches, which matches what every Sólheimajökull hike is like.

Then you’re clipped into a harness and sent along the line above the glacier. The ride is the finale, not the main event: most of the four hours is the hike. A certified glacier guide leads the walk and a photographer comes along; five edited photos per person are included. Helmet, harness and crampons are provided. Warm clothes, gloves, waterproofs and boots are on you, and can be hired.

The rules that catch people out

Minimum six. The zip line needs at least six people to run, and the operator says plainly that public departures don’t go every day. The calendar shows dates year-round, but a booking on a quiet date may be moved. Book with a day of slack round it.

Age and weight. Minimum age 10, maximum 80, and a 100 kg limit per person on the line.

Cancellation. It costs 10% of the price to cancel at any time, even two years out. That’s stricter than most glacier tours, where you can usually cancel free until 24 hours before.

Getting there. The price is from the car park. The operator’s Reykjavík pickup costs 175,000 ISK per group, about €1,200, and turns it into a private tour. For most people that means driving yourself or combining it with a night on the South Coast.

Non-flyers. A “No Fly” ticket lets someone walk the whole tour and watch without riding. Useful if one of you wants the ride and the other doesn’t.

The versions

There are three. The summer Zip Line + Glacier Hike Adventure is from €325, four hours, up to 12 people with one guide per six. The Zip Line + Glacier Adventure Winter is from €325 too, three and a half hours, capped at 10 people, with a shorter climb on the ice. And the Exclusive private version is from €2,528 for a group of up to six, which for a family of five is about €506 each.

Against the plain hike

On the same glacier, Nordur Travel’s small-group Sólheimajökull hike is from €85 for three hours (May to September only), and Arctic Adventures’ Glacier Experience is from €94 for four and runs all year. You walk the same tongue, see the same crevasses and ash-banded ice, and wear the same crampons. What you don’t get is the ride or the photographer.

So the real question is whether a zip line over a glacier is worth about €230 a head to you. For a group of friends or a family with teenagers who’ll talk about it for a year, maybe yes. For a couple who want the glacier and a photo of themselves on it, no. Take your own photos on the €85 hike.

Our honest take

Book the plain hike. Nordur Travel’s small group or Arctic Adventures gives you the glacier properly for under €100. Book the zip line only if the ride is the reason you’re going, you’re all between 10 and 80 and under 100 kg, and you can be flexible on the date. If there are six or more of you, you remove the minimum-group problem and it becomes a much easier call. Do not book it from Reykjavík with the pickup; that’s over €1,000 before anyone has left the car park.