Which Ice Cave Tour in Iceland Is Right for You?

By midwinter there are dozens of ice cave tours competing for your attention, and the listings all start to read the same. The awkward part is that they are not interchangeable. A cave near Vík is a long drive from a cave at Jökulsárlón, the minimum ages differ, and some of these tours put you on the glacier for an hour before you ever see ice overhead.

We offer four ice cave tours. This is a plain comparison of them, so you can work out which one fits your route, your dates and whoever you are travelling with.

The short version: if you want the glacier hike as much as the cave, take Skaftafell or Sólheimajökull. If you are travelling with children under ten, the Secret Ice Cave from Vík and the Blue Ice Cave from Jökulsárlón are great options. If you are in Iceland outside the winter season, the Secret Ice Cave is the only one that runs all year.

• Skaftafell Blue Ice Cave Tour & Glacier Hike: from Skaftafell, 3.5 hours, moderate, minimum age 10, October to April.
• Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike and Ice Cave Exploration: from Sólheimajökull, 3.5 hours, minimum age 10, November to April.
• The Secret Ice Cave: from Vík, 3 hours, minimum age 6, runs all year.
• Blue Ice Cave Tour from Jökulsárlón: from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, 3 hours, easy, minimum age 6, small group of up to 14, winter season.

Best for: walkers who want real time on the ice, not just inside it.

The Skaftafell Blue Ice Cave Tour & Glacier Hike is the one to pick if the hike matters to you as much as the cave. You fit crampons at the edge of an outlet glacier in Vatnajökull National Park and walk up onto it properly, crossing ridges and crevasse fields, before dropping into the caves and tunnels the meltwater has cut underneath. It is rated moderate rather than easy for that reason, and the minimum age is ten.

Skaftafell sits a long way east of Reykjavík, so this works best if you are already staying in the southeast or driving the Ring Road rather than making a day trip of it.

Best for: a glacier hike and a cave without driving the whole South Coast.

Sólheimajökull is the closest of these glaciers to Reykjavík, which makes the Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike and Ice Cave Exploration the most manageable of the hiking options if you are based in the city or working your way east. The glacier tongue is heavily crevassed and scattered with volcanic ash from Mýrdalsjökull above it, so the ice here reads grey and striped on the surface and startlingly blue once you are inside.

One honest caveat: the cave section here runs when conditions allow. The glacier hike goes ahead either way, but the cave is not guaranteed on every departure.

Best for: families, and anyone visiting outside the winter months.

The Secret Ice Cave is the unusual one in this list, because it runs all year. It leaves from Vík and heads up towards the Katla volcano beneath Mýrdalsjökull, across black sand and moraine, in a vehicle built for the ground. Three hours, minimum age six, and no glacier hike to speak of, the walking here is short.

Ash layers from Katla's past eruptions run through this ice in dark bands, so it looks different from the clear blue caves further east. If you are in Iceland in July and someone has told you ice caves are a winter thing, this is your workaround.

Best for: small groups, mixed ages, and anyone already going to the glacier lagoon.

The Blue Ice Cave Tour from Jökulsárlón is our newest offering, and the gentlest. You meet at the glacier lagoon, travel out onto Vatnajökull in a modified 4x4, and walk a short distance to the cave mouth. Groups are capped at fourteen, which makes a noticeable difference inside a confined space, and the minimum age is six.

Since Jökulsárlón is on most South Coast itineraries anyway, this is the easiest ice cave to bolt onto a day you were already spending there. Note that transport to the lagoon itself is not included, you make your own way here.

Work backwards from your constraints rather than from the photographs, which all look pretty incredible.

• Children under ten: Secret Ice Cave or Jökulsárlón. The other two start at ten.
• Visiting in summer: Secret Ice Cave, which is the only one running outside the winter season.
• You want to hike on the glacier too: Skaftafell or Sólheimajökull.
• Based in Reykjavík with one day: Sólheimajökull is the closest by some distance. The southeastern caves make for a very long day out and back.
• Already staying in the southeast: Skaftafell or Jökulsárlón, whichever your dates allow.

One thing applies to all four. These are natural caves, not the engineered tunnel bored into Langjökull, and nature does not run to a schedule. Every autumn the meltwater carves something new and every spring it collapses. A cave that was magnificent in January can be closed by February, and the colour of the ice changes with the daylight and the cloud on the day you happen to walk in.

That is why guides inspect the caves continuously through the season and why a tour can be called off at short notice. It is also, frankly, the reason to go. You are looking at something that will not exist in a year and your experience will always be unique on that day.

If you want the full picture before you book, read what to expect on your first ice cave tour, or browse all of our ice cave tours in Iceland.