Best glacier hike in Iceland

What is the best glacier hike in Iceland?

For most travellers, a guided hike on Sólheimajökull. It is the closest glacier hike to Reykjavík, runs all year, and takes children from 8.

Here is how we would match the glacier to the trip:

• Self-drive on the South Coast: the Arctic Adventures hike from the car park. Like a hut with coffee and restrooms? Take the Icelandic Mountain Guides walk from their base camp.
• No car, staying in Reykjavík: the minibus day trip, with Seljalandsfoss and the black beach.
• Want a quieter group: the small-group hike, with Tröll and its new access route as the other choice.
• Teenagers and adults after a challenge: the hike with ice climbing.
• Families with young children: the glacier edge walk, no crampons.
• Already near Jökulsárlón: a hike on Falljökull from Skaftafell.

If you only do one glacier trip in Iceland, make it a full hike with crampons. Standing among crevasses is what people remember. The viewpoint alone is not the same.

Sólheimajökull or Skaftafell: which glacier should you hike?

Sólheimajökull if you start from Reykjavík or the South Coast; Skaftafell if you are travelling east anyway. The hikes are similar in length, price and minimum age.

Skaftafell is part of Vatnajökull National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. Most hikes there go onto Falljökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, from bases next to Route 1. Tröll puts Skaftafell at about 330 km from Reykjavík, 4.5 to 5 hours of driving, roughly twice as far as Sólheimajökull. That makes it a two-day trip or a stop on a Ring Road route, not a day out from the capital.

Which glacier in Iceland is the most beautiful?

For a hike, Sólheimajökull, for the black ash bands through its white and blue ice. For pure scenery, the icebergs of Jökulsárlón below Vatnajökull are hard to beat.

The German question 'Welcher Gletscher ist der schönste?' has no single answer, but here is ours. Sólheimajökull looks like nowhere else because of the ash: past eruptions have dusted it over the centuries, and the layers show as black stripes in the ice. The Skaftafell glaciers are wider and often bluer, with the peaks of Öræfajökull behind them, Hvannadalshnúkur (2,110 m), Iceland's highest, among them.

Jökulsárlón is a lagoon, not a hike, about three hours' drive east of Sólheimajökull. Icebergs from Breiðamerkurjökull float there and wash onto Diamond Beach. The Jökulsárlón day from Reykjavík covers it, and our guide to Iceland’s glaciers has the bigger picture.

Which glacier tours are there in Iceland?

Five main kinds: a standard guided hike, a hike with ice climbing, an easy walk to the ice edge, kayaking on a glacier lagoon and ice caves. Sólheimajökull has the first four from one car park.

• Glacier hike: 3.5 to 4 hours, crampons and axe, from age 8, from $104 (2026).
• Hike with ice climbing: 5 hours or more, ropes and two axes, from age 14, from $185 at the glacier or $203 with the Reykjavík option (2026).
• Glacier edge walk: 2 hours, no crampons, all ages, $73 (2026).
• Lagoon kayak: 3 hours in a drysuit below the snout, from $170 (2026).
• Ice cave: the Katla cave from Vík all year, from $196, or the Vatnajökull caves in winter.

Snowmobile tours on the ice caps and longer expeditions exist too, but they are a different kind of day, more machine than walking.

Is a glacier hike with ice climbing worth it?

Yes, if you are 14 or over, reasonably fit and want more than a walk. You get the hike plus several climbs on a natural ice wall on ropes, in a group of up to 8.

No experience is needed. The guide sets up a top rope, gives you two technical axes and teaches you to kick the crampon points in and stand up on them. Most people manage two or three climbs, starting on a small wall.

★★★★★

It was my first time ever climbing, and was 10/10. [...] We hiked to the glacier and we each climbed 3 times, starting with a small wall then moving onto a larger one (which we all did twice).

Self-drivers can take the 5-hour hike and climb at the Icelandic Mountain Guides base camp (4.9 from 14 reviews). Without a car, the Arctic Adventures hike and ice-climbing intro has a full-day option from Reykjavík with Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss. Your arms will feel it the next day.

The hike plus your first climbs up a natural ice wall on ropes, in a group of up to 8. Meet at the glacier or take the full day from Reykjavík.

★ 4.8 · 5.5 to 13 hours · from $203

Explore the glacier hike and ice-climbing intro → Tour details

What is the easiest glacier experience in Iceland?

The guided glacier edge walk at Sólheimajökull: 2 hours, about 2.5 to 3 km on mostly flat paths, no crampons and no minimum age.

The edge walk is a new Arctic Adventures trip from the same yellow bus as the hikes. A guide hands out helmets and hiking poles, follows the meltwater river to the lagoon and talks about the ash layers, the retreat and the volcano under the ice. You stop at the edge of the glacier for hot chocolate or coffee and cookies. Infants are welcome in a carrier, though the path does not suit strollers, per the listing.

It suits families with children under 8, grandparents and anyone who would rather not wear crampons. You do not walk on the ice, and that is the point. The parking fee is not included.

Glacier kayaking or a glacier hike: which is better?

A hike if you want to stand on the ice; the kayak if you want to see the ice front from the water. The kayak stays on the lagoon and does not go onto the glacier.

The lagoon kayak tour puts you in a drysuit and a sit-on-top kayak on the lagoon at the snout, between small floating chunks of ice when the glacier has calved. Icelandic Mountain Guides list it from May to October, with a minimum age of 14 on their own page. It is calm, quiet and good for photos. Wind makes it harder.

★★★★★

It was fun to experience seeing glaciers up close. The equipment was top notch and we stayed warm and dry the whole time.

Pack dry socks for afterwards: you walk across wet black rock to the water. Icebergs in this lagoon come and go, so treat them as a bonus.

Can you combine a glacier hike with an ice cave?

Yes, but usually on a different glacier. The Katla ice cave is in Kötlujökull, reached by super jeep from Vík, about 30 km east of Sólheimajökull, and runs all year.

A day on the South Coast can hold both: the hike on Sólheimajökull in the morning, then the Katla ice cave tour from Vík in the afternoon, 3 hours from Vík, from age 6. The cave is black and blue from the ash in the ice, and it changes from season to season.

The famous blue caves of Vatnajökull are a winter product: the national park keeps them closed in summer, and they run roughly October to April, conditions permitting. Where each cave is and how to pick one is in the ice caves guide.

Frequently asked questions