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The Best Vatnajökull Glacier Tour: Everything You Should Know

Vast sheets of ice cover many of the interior sections of Iceland, scraping and shaping the landscape. A glacier walk in Iceland is a must-have experience and there are many tour companies and options available. When we planned our visit to Iceland, we based our entire itinerary around taking a Vatnajökull Glacier tour.

In this post, you can find a complete overview of our glacier hike including what to expect and what to wear. I also spent hours researching the best Iceland Glacier tour and will share everything we learned to help you choose the best glacier tour for you and your group.

We did our glacier hiking tour during our visit to the South Coast of Iceland and our drive around the Ring Road of Iceland. On the same day, we also visited Diamond Beach and hiked to Svartifoss Waterfall.

Here is a link to the glacier tour we did in Southern Iceland: Skaftafell: Extra-Small Group Glacier Hike

Vatnajökull Glacier Tour
Vatnajökull Glacier Tour

Quick Overview of the Vatnajökull Glacier Tour

There are many different glacier tours and many of them offer a similar experience. We did the Iceland Glacier tour by Melrakki on Vatnajökull Glacier. We highly recommend this tour, but also give some more general information about the different tours to help you choose the best tour for you.

The Vatnajökull Glacier Tour starts from Skaftafell Airport. There is plenty of parking at the airport to leave your car. There are bathrooms inside the small airport that you can use for a fee. There is some excellent signage in the airport about the local area and it’s worth checking out.

Meeting at the Skaftafell Airport
Getting fitted for our equipment

From, you will get your gear for the glacier hike, including crampons, a harness, a helmet, and an ice axe. We boarded a 4×4 vehicle for the 15-minute drive to the base of the glacier. The drive was a bit bumpy but not too bad. After parking at the glacier, we walked across the glacier outflow and up onto the glacier where we put on our crampons. We spent about 2 hours on the glacier walking and pausing to learn about the shifting landscape.

As the final tour of the day, we had the glacier to ourselves. I would highly recommend booking their last tour of the day so you get this experience up on the glacier. After descending, we made our way back to the vehicle and returned to the airport. The entire tour took about 3 hours and was exactly as described.

Review of Our Experience on the Best Iceland Glacier Tour

We visited the Vatnajökull Glacier as a family of 5 with 2 fourteen-year-olds and an 11-year-old. Some Iceland glacier tours have a minimum age requirement, so make sure to check before you book. Our tour was just the 5 of us and one other couple. We did not find the tour strenuous at any point. It was truly one of the highlights of our entire month-long trip to Europe.

We’ve done a lot of winter hiking and are used to wearing microspikes, so putting the crampons on was relatively easy. Since we were all wearing soft hiking boots, we did stop several times to adjust our youngest daughter’s crampons. If you have a hard boot, this would be a better choice.

Approaching the base of the glacier on our Vatnajökull Glacier Tour

After arriving at the base of the glacier, the first part of the glacier walk looks just like you are on a normal hiking trail as the glacier is covered in dirt. Once you climb up out of this section (the steepest part of the glacier hike), you will be directly on the ice. Since we visited in late June, the ice was soft and wet. If you are visiting during the colder months, the ice will be harder and more slippery. At no point did we feel unsafe on the glacier and our guide describe the extensive training to become a glacier guide.

It was incredible to walk on the glacier and our guide stopped and pointed out things the entire way, giving us a unique perspective on the changing landscape. Our tour started at 3:00 pm, and at 4:30 the other tours had left the glacier and the only other people were a few ice climbers. Our guide also made a point of stopping at a few spots that were ideal for taking some photos

At the end of the tour, before we began to make our way back down the glacier, we stopped and drank some of the crystal-clear glacial runoff.

This tour was exactly what we were looking for!

The Vatnajökull Glacier

Vatnajökull Glacier is the biggest glacier in Europe and covers 8100 km2. The glacier is stunning and in 2008, Vatnajökull National Park was established. Most people who visit Vatnajökull, are hiking or climbing at one of the outlets, but the glacier includes massive glacier rivers, canyons, glacier lagoons, ice caves, and gorgeous waterfalls.

Vatnajökull Glacier also offers a snapshot of climate change. Over just the last few years, the glaciers have noticeably receded, and we could see evidence of the changing ice during our glacier tour. While the glacier is still about 1 km at the deepest point, scientists continue to watch this (and other) glaciers as the temperatures continue to increase.

Visiting this glacier is incredible and is a reminder of our responsibility to the climate.

Vatnajökull Glacier Tour with the lagoon in the background
Vatnajökull Glacier Tour with the lagoon in the background

What to Wear on Your Iceland Glacier Tour

What you wear on your Vatnajökull Glacier Tour depends on when you visit. We visited at the end of June on a rainy day. No matter when you visit, the glacier will be much colder and damper than the surrounding area. It’s helpful to dress in non-cotton layers so you can adjust your clothes based on the changing conditions as well as when you are ascending onto the glacier. Below is a list of the clothing we took on our tour:

  • Base Layers (non Cotton)
  • Fleece or synthetic down top (see an example of the puffy jacket we travel with)
  • Rain Pants
  • Rain Jacket (see the lightweight jacket we take with us when traveling)
  •  Socks 
  • Hiking Boots – stiff and waterproof are best. Since we were traveling and didn’t have space for a heavy pair of boots, we all wore lightweight hiking boots and had no problem. Your feet will get wet, so waterproof boots/shoes are a few options – see 7 Hiking Boots Under $100.
  • Backpack – we carried one backpack for the 5 of us with phones, a water bottle, and a few snacks.
  • Supplied by the Tour Company: crampons, helmet, harness, and ice axe

If you are visiting in the colder weather, you will want to add even more layers under your rain layers.

Vatnajökull Glacier Tour
What to wear: Vatnajökull Glacier Tour

How to Choose the Best Iceland Glacier Tour for You

While we loved the tour we chose, there are also lots of other options which may fit your group, your budget, or your itinerary better. Below are some of the different choices you will have when you are choosing a glacier tour

Which Iceland Glacier is Best for a Tour: Vatnajökull vs. Skaftafell vs. Solheimajokull vs. Langjökull Glacier

One of the things you will want to decide is which glacier to visit.

Vatnajökull is further from Reykjavik but is the largest glacier in Europe. It is also located near Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon which makes it easy to visit multiple interesting stops. For many of these tours, you will need to self-drive to the meeting point near the glacier. There are tour companies that offer transportation from Reykjavik. Be aware that it is over a 4-hour drive from Reykjavik. Also know that many of the other glaciers describe if tours are either a section or near Vatnajokull.

Closer to Reykjavik, you can more easily visit Langjökull glacier. This glacier is much smaller, but on a tour, you may not be able to notice the size difference. This glacier tour is best reached by snowmobile, so most of the tours are only during the winter months.

How Long do you Need for the Best Glacier Tour of Iceland?

Another common difference between the different tours is the length of the tour. You need at least 3 hours to visit the glacier. This gives you time to meet your group, try on your gear, drive to the starting point, and at least 1.5 hours on the glacier.

The longer tours give you more time on the glacier. I didn’t feel like we needed much more time for the glacier hike. If you are booking a longer tour, you may want to consider a glacier hiking tour combined with either ice climbing or exploring an ice cave.

Best Glacier Tours that Include Ice Climbing, Iceland

Many of the longer glacier tours include ice climbing (check out this tour that includes a glacial walk and ice climbing). Ice climbing involves using crampons and a special ice axe to climb the more vertical ice features. When you are ice climbing you will be roped up, much like rock climbing. Most of these tours require a slightly higher minimum age, so double-check before you book if you are visiting with kids.

Vatnajökull Glacier Tour
Vatnajökull Glacier Tour

Best Glacier Tour with an Ice Cave

It’s important to note that you can only visit an ice cave during the cold months of the year since, in the summer, the caves become unstable and dangerous. For this reason, you will only find ice cave tours available during certain times of the year.

This ice cave and glacial tour at Skaftafell get amazing reviews.

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