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Get ready to explore a real moving glacier on this beginner-friendly hike from Skaftafell. This tour takes you onto Falljökull, a stunning outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest ice cap. Walk across shimmering ice, peer into deep crevasses, and see dazzling ice formations up close. Your certified glacier guide will explain how glaciers move, change, and shape the land beneath them—turning every step into a new discovery!
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Your glacier adventure begins at Skaftafell Booking Center, right by the car park at Skaftafell Visitor Center in Vatnajökull National Park. After meeting your certified glacier guide, we’ll get you geared up and ready to explore.
A scenic 25-minute drive (11 km / 7 mi) brings you closer to Falljökull, the “falling glacier.” On the way, watch the soft greenery of Skaftafell give way to rugged mountains and icy landscapes, with Hvannadalshnúkur—Iceland’s tallest peak—towering nearby. After the drive, we’ll hike for about 30 minutes toward the glacier, surrounded by dramatic views on every side.
Once at the base of Falljökull, it’s time for the real adventure. We strap on crampons and step onto the glacier itself, a moving world of twisting crevasses, towering icefalls, and deep moulins that stretch into the ice.
Your guide will explain how glaciers like Falljökull and nearby Virkisjökull form, shift, and shape the land. You’ll see firsthand how these icy giants are slowly retreating—a powerful reminder of nature’s beauty and fragility.
You’ll spend about 1.5 hours on the ice in total, covering roughly 3 km (1.8 mi) and gaining 200–250 meters (650–820 feet) in elevation. This can change depending on conditions.
By the time you return to Skaftafell base, you’ll have crossed shimmering ice fields, touched ancient formations, and experienced one of Iceland’s wildest landscapes up close!
Your adventure starts at our Skaftafell Booking Center, located about 327 km (203 mi) east of Reykjavík. The closest towns are Kirkjubæjarklaustur (69 km / 43 mi west) and Höfn (130 km / 81 mi east). You can park at the Skaftafell Parking Lot, just steps away from the meeting point.
Meeting point
Skaftafell Booking Center - Wooden hut with the Arctic Adventures logo
Address: 785 Skaftafell, Iceland
Clothing and gear
Please bring warm outdoor clothing, waterproof pants, and a waterproof jacket. You can rent waterproof pants and jackets from us. Simply add these items when booking the tour.
Shoe size
For safety reasons, crampons are not available for shoe sizes below 35 EU, as they cannot be securely attached to smaller footwear.
Please note
If the tour is booked for a child, an adult must accompany them during both the transfer and the tour. Safety and supervision are essential when planning the tour for young participants.
Yes, the parking fee depends on your car category.
Category A - Passenger car, 5 seats or less: ISK 750
Category B - Passenger car, 6-9 seats: ISK 1,000
Motorcycles: ISK 300
You can always check the newest fees here.
Skaftafell is located about 330 kilometers from Reykjavík. See map for directions.
The main difference between these trips is that they take you to different locations on the glacier.
Our Glacier Explorer (5.5 hours) trip spends approximately 3 hours on the ice, exploring the magnificent ice-fall where it falls down from the Öræfajökull caldera.
The Glacier Wonders (4 hours) trip explores the easier part of the glacier which is lower and you will spend approximately 1 hour on the ice, giving you a fantastic but brief encounter to the highlights of Falljökull glacier.
Both trips start about 15 min driving away from our Skaftafell base camp. After the drive, we continue on foot following the retreat of the glacier for about 25-30 minutes where we set foot on the ice. Once there the 3.5-hour walkers spend their time exploring the features of the lower glacier and seeing spectacular views of the icefall. The 5.5-hour walkers explore the glacier more thoroughly and experience majestic pinnacles and deep crevasses. Both trips sometimes come across spectacular ice-caves but due to the nature of glaciers, this is not always the case.
The 5.5-hour walk requires a higher level of fitness and agility as you will be on your feet for a longer period of time and the terrain is more challenging.
Meet on location means traveling to the location of the tour yourself and then meeting our tour guides rather than being picked up and taken to the location.
Iceland is known for its colorful weather. It can sometimes show you all 4 seasons in one day.
Dressing for this sort of weather can be a challenge so we always recommend dressing in layers. 3 or 4 upper layers are highly recommended such as a light t-shirt (preferably wool) next to the skin, then a fleece or heavy wool garment, topped off with a waterproof windbreaker.
Jeans are not recommended for our trips as they become very heavy, cold and uncomfortable to wear when they get wet.
Lightweight hiking pants, track pants or long cotton pants are best and then wind/waterproof pants over. We also recommend using sunglasses and sunscreen even if it is cloudy due to the high UV and sunlight reflecting off of the glacier.
You will need sturdy hiking boots with ankle support that fit crampons for the glacier hiking tours. If you do not own a pair then we rent out good hiking boots as well as a waterproof raincoat and trousers.
We recommend bringing your own backpack on our full day or 1/2 day tours. It’s great to carry a small lunch and some extra clothing.
You can bring your camera along, and you should definitely bring one since the setting on the tour is full of amazing, scenic views.
This is, of course, a personal choice, we have often had pregnant women on our trips. We recommend you take a close look at our trip description and difficulty rating, they will hopefully give you a better idea. It is also good to contact your physician, pregnant women’s health can be quite different. Feel free to contact us if you have further questions or concerns.
We do not provide lunch on any of our trips, so we recommend you bring your own lunch (for the longer trips), snacks and a bottle of water (you can refill it on the trip).
Crampons are metal spikes that attach to the soles of your hiking boots, providing a secure grip on icy surfaces to prevent slipping. On all our glacier tours where you'll be walking on ice, we provide specialized glacier crampons—sturdier and designed for tougher conditions than regular ice spikes. Your guide will help you put crampons on properly before stepping onto the glacier, and they will be returned after the tour. You can learn more about crampons in this guide.
Yes, there is a specially trained and certified glacier guide on every glacier tour that we offer.
When glacier hiking you will be provided with an ice axe, crampons, harness and helmet. This will help you to complete the tour safely. The minimum shoe size to attach crampons is EU 35.
When snow stays long enough in one place it turns to ice. Over long periods of time, the ice layers up becoming huge blocks called glaciers. As there is a lot of snow in Iceland, it forms to create ginormous glaciers that sweep across huge masses of land. Iceland is home to Europe’s largest glacier named Vatnajökull. This Glacier Guide will also tell you everything you may want to know about Glaciers.
Rain is not uncommon in Iceland. However, we do not let the rain stop our tours. This is why having appropriate clothing is very important to keep you warm and dry. Nature is not something that we can control and therefore we need to adapt to the weather. If your safety is compromised by going on the tour, we will cancel and you will be fully refunded.
This guide to Glacier Hiking includes all the information you might need when preparing for a glacier hike.
