Zip line in Iceland: Vík, glacier or adventure park?
Iceland has three zip line options. The Nesjavellir park (€36) is the cheap one; the glacier zip line (€330) is the one you will remember. Here is the difference.
The short version
- Nesjavellir Adventure Park, 35 km from Reykjavík, is from €36 for two hours of ropes, a zip line, a free-fall and a giant swing. Minimum age 6.
- The Sólheimajökull glacier zip line plus hike is from €330, about four hours, minimum age 10.
- The Vík canyon zip line is from €102, about an hour and a half, four rides of 30 to 240 metres, minimum age 8.
- The Vík zip line shows no open dates in our data right now, so check before you build a day around it.
If you want a zip line and a good price, go to the Nesjavellir Adventure Park: Adventure Park in Nesjavellir is from €36 and 35 km from Reykjavík. If you want the zip line to be the reason you came, book the glacier one. The Zip Line + Glacier Hike Adventure is from €330, and the zip line is only part of it.
The three options are not the same kind of day, so here is what each one is.
Nesjavellir: ropes course and a zip line
This is a high ropes park in the geothermal valley at Nesjavellir, 20 km from Þingvellir. Three climbing levels at 1, 5 and 10 metres, a zip line, the Quick Flight free-fall and a 12-metre Giant Swing. Plan on two hours. The minimum age is 6, and children under 130 cm need an adult beside them on the course.
At €36 it is the cheapest by far, and it is a fine add-on to a Golden Circle day in a rental car. Free parking, free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and plenty of open dates. It is a playground, not a landscape. You are among trees and rope rather than ice.
Sólheimajökull: zip line on the glacier
The glacier version is from €330 for four hours, with a winter variant, Zip Line + Glacier Adventure Winter, at the same €330 and three and a half hours. You walk onto the glacier with crampons and a guide, then ride a zip line over the ice. Groups are small (10 to 12 people) and five photos per person are included.
The honest point: most of the price is the glacier hike. A plain guided hike on the same glacier costs far less, as the Sólheimajökull zip line guide works out. You are paying about €230 extra for one ride. The minimum age is 10. If you would rather not ride, a “no-fly” ticket lets you stay on the ice and watch. Cancelling costs 10% of the price, so do not book months ahead on a hunch.
Both run through the winter. Departures are frequent, with open dates on nearly every day of the next four months.
Vík: canyon zip line
A Zipline in Vik is from €102 for about an hour and a half. You hike up a river canyon at Grafargil and ride four lines from 30 to 240 metres. The minimum age is 8. Cancelling costs 5% of the price.
It is the best value of the three for the scenery. It is also the least certain: our availability snapshot shows no open dates in the next 120 days, so check the booking page before planning around it. Hiking boots are essential.
Which one for whom
For a family with children aged 6 to 9, Nesjavellir is the only one that accepts them all. For teenagers and adults on the South Coast, the Vík canyon is a cheaper way to get the zip line without the glacier price. For someone who wants a glacier in the day anyway, the Sólheimajökull tour combines both.
There is one more option, The Exclusive Zip Line Experience, but at about €2,566 it is a private booking and not a normal comparison.
Our honest take
Go to Nesjavellir if the zip line is the point and the budget is modest. Go to Sólheimajökull if you want a glacier day and the zip line is a bonus. Do not pay €330 for the zip line alone, because you are mostly buying a glacier walk.
Weather and wind can stop a line at short notice. None of these operators can promise you the ride, so read the cancellation terms before you pay.
