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About Tour

This tour takes you onto a living glacier with expert guides, stunning views, and a rare chance to try ice climbing on vertical blue ice. You’ll hike through crevasses, past surreal formations, and feel the power of Europe’s largest ice cap under your feet. A true bucket-list experience for anyone craving something extraordinary!

Highlights

  • Guided glacier hiking
  • Vatnajökull (‘’Water Glacier’’)
  • Falljökull ("Falling Glacier")
  • Ice climbing with expert support

Included

  • Guided glacier tour
  • Certified expert English-speaking guide
  • All necessary safety equipment
  • Specialized glacier gear: ice-climbing boots, crampons, ice axe, helmet, harness

What to bring

  • Waterproof jacket & pants (rentals available)
  • Small backpack
  • Reusable water bottle
  • Light synthetic quick-dry pants
  • Light sweater (wool or fleece)
  • Thin gloves, hat
  • Sunglasses
  • Food & drinks
  • Camera

Tour Snapshot

Availability All Year
Duration 6.5 hours
Departs From Skaftafell
Level Challenging
Minimum age 14 years
Ratio 1:6 Guide to client ratio
Meet on Location Yes
Pick Up No
Shoe Size From 35 EU Crampons unavailable for sizes under 35 EU.

From

235
Per
Adult

From

235
Book Now

Itinerary

Your glacier adventure kicks off at the Skaftafell Booking Center, where our certified guides are ready to lead you into one of Iceland’s most dramatic landscapes. After a safety briefing, we’ll get you geared up—crampons, helmet, harness, and ice axe included. You’ll look the part and be ready for icy adventure.

A short 20-minute drive (12 km / 7.5 mi) takes you to the base of Falljökull, the “falling glacier,” where the hike begins. This outlet of Vatnajökull is full of towering ice formations, deep crevasses, and surreal blue shades you won’t believe are real.

You’ll hike across the ever-changing glacier surface. Expect sweeping views, icy textures, and natural wonders that shift with every step. Keep your water bottle close—the glacier meltwater is some of the freshest you’ll ever taste!

Your guide will share stories and insights about glaciers’ formation, rapid changes, and what it’s like to work on Europe’s largest ice cap. And just when you think it can’t get better…

It’s time to climb! Your guide will choose the best ice wall or crevasse for the conditions, and you’ll get to test your skills on vertical blue ice. No prior experience needed—just a little courage and a sense of adventure.

The full experience lasts 4.5 to 5 hours on the glacier, covering around 8 km (5 mi) with 350–400 m (1,150–1,300 ft) in elevation. After the climb, we’ll return to Skaftafell—gear off, minds blown.

Meeting point

Skaftafell Booking Center - Wooden hut with the Arctic Adventures logo

Address: 785 Skaftafell, Iceland

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).

Clothing and gear

Please bring warm outdoor clothing, waterproof pants, and a waterproof jacket. Ice-climbing boots are included in the tour, so you don't need special hiking boots. 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.

Disclaimer

All day trips are undertaken at the participants' own risk. Arctic Adventures does not assume any responsibility for accidents that are caused by its customers or can be traced to their own actions. Participants have to sign a waiver before undertaking all trips stating that they realize that all outdoor activities carry an inherent risk.

If the tour is booked for a child aged 14 or older, an adult must accompany them during both the transfer and the tour. Safety and supervision are essential when planning the tour for young participants.

FAQ

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.

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. If you do not own a waterproof raincoat or trousers you can rent one during the booking process.

Sturdy ice-climbing boots are provided for this tour so you don't need to have or rent any shoes.

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, helmet and ice climbing boots. 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.

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