Guide · Choosing a tour

Choosing an ice cave tour in Iceland

Every ice cave tour in Iceland sells the same promise of blue ice, yet the start point, the walk, the season and the group size differ a great deal. Here is how the main tours line up.

Check availabilityfrom $195 · free to cancel

Editorial team, blue-ice-cave-iceland.comUpdated October 25, 20266 minutes to read21 sources

Bookable here: the tour Blue ice cave tour from Jökulsárlón 4.6 (961 reviews) 3 hoursSmall group, up to 14Helmets and crampons included from$195per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01Short and classic: The Jökulsárlón super jeep tours last about 3 hours and visit Breiðamerkurjökull.
02Year-round: Operators of the Katla cave near Vík list it as open in every month.¹ ²
03Near Reykjavík: The Langjökull tunnel meets at Húsafell, about 2 hours from the capital.
04Longer on the ice: Exploration tours from the lagoon walk 4-6 km and often see several caves.³
05This site's tour: Small group of up to 14, from $195, free cancellation up to 24 hours.

Very different trips hide behind the same photos

Search for an ice cave tour in Iceland and nearly every listing shows a figure in a blue tunnel. Behind those photos sit quite different trips. The first is the short super jeep tour from the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon to Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull. The second is the Katla cave in Kötlujökull, reached from the village of Vík. The third pairs a proper glacier hike with a cave, from Skaftafell or the lagoon. The fourth is the man-made tunnel inside Langjökull, which is not a natural cave at all.

Visit Iceland names exactly these regions when it lists where ice cave tours run: Vatnajökull in the south-east, the Katla outlet glacier in South Iceland and Langjökull in the west, with combinations that add glacier hikes, super jeeps or the lagoon.⁴ Which of them suits you depends less on the photos than on a few plain questions: where you will sleep the night before, which month you travel, and how much walking on ice you want.

Price differences are real but smaller than the differences in the day itself. The shortest lagoon tours start from $161 to $195, while the long exploration hikes start from $275 and up. Think of the extra spend as buying time on the glacier rather than a better cave, because nobody can promise which cave a given winter will produce.

A lagoon tour, step by step

How the 3-hour tour from Jökulsárlón runs

Meeting

At the lagoon cafeteria

You meet the guide next to the ticket office cafeteria, by the super jeeps.
45 minutes

Super jeep to the ice

The jeep drives to Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull.
Before the cave

Safety briefing

Helmets and crampons or micro-spikes are handed out if needed.⁵
100 minutes

On the glacier

A guided walk to the season's cave, with photo stops on the way.
45 minutes

Back to the lagoon

The jeep returns to the same meeting point.

The Jökulsárlón super jeep tours

This is the classic natural ice cave trip and the one this site sells. Its meeting point is next to the cafeteria at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon ticket office, and a super jeep drives 45 minutes each way to Breiðamerkurjökull, with about 100 minutes on the glacier in between. Walking totals 1-4 km depending on where the season's cave sits, including 1.5 km each way between the parking and the cave entrance.

Several operators run near-identical trips from the same lagoon, so it pays to read the small print. The busiest listing drives 20 minutes each way and spends 1.5 hours on the guided part, with a 15-minute walk over rugged ground. Another names Breiðamerkurjökull as its glacier and gives 30-45 minutes inside the cave. One more warns that you may share the cave with other groups.

The national park keeps an eye on all of this. The rangers who supervise Jökulsárlón every day of the year are also responsible for the ice caves in Breiðamerkurjökull, and some listings state that tours may be changed or cancelled when the park authorities judge conditions unsafe.⁶ For you it simply means the plan for the day can change at short notice, so leave some slack around the tour.

Reviews

How many travelers have rated each tour

reviews

Review counts of each GetYourGuide listing as recorded; a high count shows how often a tour runs, not that its cave is better.

Side by side

Ice cave tours by start, length and price

Tour	Starts at	Length	From
Blue ice cave, this site	Jökulsárlón	3 hours	from $195
Vatnajökull guided cave	Jökulsárlón	3 hours	from $164
Crystal cave & super jeep	Jökulsárlón	2.5 hours	from $173
Crystal blue cave & super jeep	Jökulsárlón	3 hours	from $174
Ice cave & glacier exploration	Jökulsárlón	5.5 hours	from $275
Hike to a remote cave	Jökulsárlón	6 hours	from $285
Katla cave & super jeep	Vík	3 to 12 hours	from $194
Skaftafell cave & glacier hike	Skaftafell	4 hours	from $162
Langjökull ice tunnel	Húsafell	4 hours	from $180
Katla cave & south coast	Reykjavík	12 hours	from $288

Lengths and start points from the listings; the price column shows where each tour begins, and your own date may differ.

The main choices

Lagoon, Katla or a long hike

From Jökulsárlón: Vatnajökull Glacier Blue Ice Cave Tour

This site's tour

Lagoon blue ice cave

From Jökulsárlón

Length: About 3 hours
Group: Up to 14
Price: from $195

See the tour

Most reviewed

Katla ice cave

From Vík

Reviews: 2,395
Group: Up to 14
Price: from $194

See the tour

From Jökulsárlón: Ice Cave and Glacier Exploration Tour

Most time on ice

Exploration day

From Jökulsárlón

Length: 5.5 hours
Group: Up to 8
Price: from $275

See the tour

Decision helper

Which tour fits your trip?

Pick the line that sounds most like you

I am staying near the lagoon in winter I travel in summer I only have Reykjavík as a base I want hours of real glacier walking I travel with small children

Jökulsárlón super jeep

The meeting point is at the lagoon cafeteria and the cave tour runs October to April.⁷

Katla from Vík

Katla operators list the cave as open in every month of the year.¹

A Katla day trip

The south coast tour from the capital lasts 12 hours with 27 pickup options.

Exploration or remote hike

These walk 4-6 km or up to 8 km on the glacier.³

The Langjökull tunnel

Its Classic tour has no age restrictions.⁸

You should never go on a glacier without experience or the proper equipment. Hiring a certified glacier guide with proper knowledge of the area is highly recommended.

Safetravel (ICE-SAR)Source 9

The Katla cave near Vík

The Katla cave lies in Kötlujökull, an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap that covers the Katla volcano.¹⁰ Its big advantage is the season: operators running it from Vík list it as available all year, though access can still be limited by weather or glacier conditions.¹ ² If your trip falls in summer, this is the natural cave that is realistically on the table.

Vík is far closer to Reykjavík than the lagoon, which makes Katla the usual choice for long day trips from the capital. The most reviewed Vík listing starts from $194 and is rated 4.63 from 2,395 reviews. A shorter Troll.is version spends 1 hour at the cave with 30 minutes on foot each way.

Expect a different look from the lagoon caves. Volcanic ash runs through the ice here in dark bands, and the tour descriptions sell exactly that contrast of blue and black. Some Katla listings warn that the tour is not for people afraid of the dark or prone to claustrophobia, which is worth taking seriously if a narrow passage would spoil your day.

Checklist

Check these before you book

In the listing

Free cancellation window and reserve-now option
Group size limit
Minimum age and height
Length of the tour and the walk

On your side

How you will reach the meeting point
Warm, waterproof layers and stiff boots
Travel insurance

Calculator

Price a tour for your group

Choose a tour and enter how many people are going

Lagoon blue ice caveThis site's tourfrom $195 Katla ice caveFrom Víkfrom $194 Skaftafell hikeCave and glacierfrom $162 Langjökull tunnelFrom Húsafellfrom $180

People 2

Total from$390

per participant from $195

Check availabilityfree cancellation

We take the cheapest GetYourGuide price of the ice cave tour you choose, multiply it by your group and convert it with the ECB daily rate; checkout on GetYourGuide has the final figure.

Video

How to visit the ice caves of Iceland

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Hikes that end in a cave, and the tunnel in Langjökull

If the cave is only half the point and you want real hours on the ice, look at the combined tours. From Skaftafell, Tröll Expeditions spends 2 hours hiking on Falljökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, and fits crampons, harness, helmet and ice axe at its base. From the lagoon, Ice Explorers' longer exploration tour walks 4-6 km and typically visits two or more ice caves.³

At the far end of that scale, a remote-cave hike from Jökulsárlón asks you to be fit enough for 8 km with uphill sections and lasts 6 hours. These tours cost more and need more from your legs, but they also spread the group across a larger piece of glacier, which tends to mean fewer people in front of your camera.

The Langjökull tunnel is a different product altogether. Into the Glacier describes a man-made tunnel 500 meters long, cut high on the ice cap, and says it is maintained year-round, unlike the natural caves.¹¹ ¹² It works well for families: the Classic tour has no age restrictions.⁸ What it cannot give you is the shifting, wild shape of a natural cave carved by meltwater.

Group size, age limits and private trips

Group size changes the feel of a cave more than almost anything else. This site's tour is limited to 14 participants, the Skaftafell hike to 12, and the longer lagoon exploration tour to 8. On its own pages, Ice Explorers gives 12 people per guide for the cave tour and 8 per guide for the exploration tour, adding a second guide when a group grows.⁷ ¹³

Age limits differ just as much. The lagoon tour sold here is not suitable for children under 7 or anyone under 135 cm, while Ice Explorers sets 13 as the minimum age for its winter exploration tour.¹⁴ Arctic Adventures' Skaftafell hike sets a minimum age of 8, and its crampons only fit shoe sizes 35-50 EU.

A private ice cave tour in Iceland is mostly a question of who rides in the jeep. Katlatrack's own page, for instance, lists its private Katla tour at 3 hours, available all year, for 1-12 persons per guide with no minimum age.¹⁵ A private trip will not change which cave the guide can safely use that day, but it does let you set the pace for photos.

How to pick the right one for your trip

Start with geography. Ice Explorers puts the lagoon meeting point around 370 km east of Reykjavík and does not recommend driving out from the capital on the day of the tour.¹⁶ ¹⁷ If you are staying near the lagoon, Höfn or Skaftafell, the short super jeep tours fit easily into a day. If your nights are in Reykjavík or on the south coast near Vík, Katla is the realistic natural cave.

Then check the month. Ice Explorers runs its cave tour from October to April, and Visit Iceland gives the typical ice cave season as November through May, with the exact dates moving with temperatures and weather.⁷ ¹⁸ Outside that window the lagoon operators switch to glacier walks, and Katla and the Langjökull tunnel are the cave options listed for every month.¹⁹ ¹ ¹²

Finally, be honest about what you want from the ice. People looking for the best ice cave tour in Iceland often mean the most blue, but blue depends on the year's cave, the light and the snow, and listings say plainly that the same ice looks bluer or paler as the weather and the snow cover change. Choose by start point, season and walking, book with free cancellation, and let the guides find the cave.

This winter's cave

Next winter's caves will look different.

Pick a date between October and April and see the ice as it is this season.

See datesfrom $195 · free to cancel 4.6 · 961 confirmed reviews

You ask,we answer.

Which ice cave tour is the shortest?

The Jökulsárlón super jeep tours. Most last about 2.5-3 hours from the lagoon, with a short jeep ride and a walk of up to a few kilometers.

Can I see a natural ice cave in summer?

Usually only at Katla. Katla operators list the cave as open all year, while the lagoon caves are a winter product from October to April at Ice Explorers.¹ ⁷

Is the Langjökull ice tunnel a real ice cave?

It is real ice, but man-made. Into the Glacier says its tunnel is man-made high on the ice cap, while natural caves are typically found at glacier edges.²⁰

How many people go on a tour?

It depends on the listing. This site's tour is limited to 14, the Skaftafell hike to 12 and the longer lagoon exploration tour to 8.

Can children join an ice cave tour?

From 7 on this site's tour. It is not suitable for children under 7 or anyone under 135 cm; the Langjökull Classic tour has no age limit.⁸

Do I need my own crampons and helmet?

No. This site's tour includes helmets and crampons or micro-spikes, and a safety harness if needed.

Will the cave look like the photos?

Not exactly. Ice Explorers says its caves change from season to season and even within a season, as old ones disappear and new ones form.²¹

Sources