Ice Cave Tours from Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Two operators run natural ice cave tours out of the Jökulsárlón car park, both three hours, both onto Breiðamerkurjökull, and both within three dollars of each other at $161 and $164. The difference is the minimum age, the size of the group and how much walking sits between the vehicle and the ice. Neither will name your cave in advance, and this page explains why that is honest rather than evasive. The rest of the ice cave tours on Vatnajökull sit on the homepage.
About the Tour
Listed as 3. The spread depends on how far that season's cave sits from the road
Per person, all glacier gear included, nothing to pay at booking
The tour leaves the tarmac at the lagoon car park and drives glacier track
The guide picks the route on the day; general fitness is enough, no experience needed
Split into small parties on the ice so everyone gets time inside the cave
Not suitable for anyone with mobility impairments
Check Dates at the Lagoon
Live availability for the $161 departure. Dates open in autumn once guides have been inside that winter's caves, and the first weekends of the season go early.
Which of the Two to Book
The $161 tour, if you want the longer walk
This is the tour run by the outfit that opened cave tourism at this lagoon, and it reads that way on the ice: the group is around ten, the vehicle is a modified 4x4 rather than a coach, and the walk between the truck and the cave runs anywhere from one kilometre to five and a half depending on where the season's feature sits.
It carries 4.6 from 1,129 reviews. Minimum age is 10, and the listing rules out anyone with mobility impairments, which is a straight consequence of that walk.
Book this one if you would rather be on the glacier for longer and do not mind the uncertainty about distance.
The $164 tour, if you want the shortest version
Three dollars more, three hours, and a lighter walk. The listing sells it as hunting down the newest caves, which in practice means the guides go where the fresh openings are that week rather than to a fixed site.
It sits at 4.2 from 2,171 reviews, the largest review count of any cave tour on this glacier, and that combination is worth reading carefully rather than avoiding.
Why 4.2 is not a warning
Ratings on cave tours track cave size more than they track operators. A winter with a wide, tall chamber produces fives; a winter where the best surviving feature is a low tunnel produces threes from people expecting the photograph they booked from.
With 2,171 reviews, the $164 tour has run through several of both. A 4.2 built over that many seasons tells you more about the range of what nature provides than a 4.9 built on eighty reviews from one good winter.
What you should read instead is the guide scores. Both tours here sit above 4.6 on guiding.
Both Tours from the Lagoon
Same glacier, same car park, same season. Pick on walking distance and minimum age.
from $161 
from $164 What You Actually See
A cave, a tunnel, or a canyon
The $161 listing says this in its own words, and it is the most useful sentence on either page: the blue feature can be a cave, a tunnel or a canyon, and it changes shape and size from season to season.
All three are the same phenomenon at different stages. Meltwater cuts a channel through the ice in summer; whether the roof survives the autumn decides whether you walk into a chamber, a tube, or an open slot with walls two storeys high and sky above.
Nobody knows which you will get until the guides have been in. That is why no operator sells you a named cave, and why anyone who does is selling a photograph rather than a booking.
- Cave: a roofed chamber, the version in most photographs
- Tunnel: a tube you walk through, often the longest of the three
- Canyon: roof gone, walls of blue ice on both sides, open above
- All on Breiðamerkurjökull, the outlet glacier feeding the lagoon
- The feature is rescouted every autumn and can close mid-season
The colour is real, the saturation is not
Ice that has been compressed for centuries has no air bubbles left in it. Bubbles scatter light evenly and read as white; take them out and red gets absorbed as light travels, so what comes back is blue.
In a bright chamber it is genuinely deep, closer to swimming-pool water than to sky. In a low tunnel on an overcast January morning it can read grey-green. Most listing photographs have been pushed a stop or two in editing.
Guides carry headlamps for the darker sections, and both tours hand them out.
How the Three Hours Run
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15 min before
Jökulsárlón car park
Meet at the main lagoon car park next to the cafeteria, 370 km east of Reykjavík on Route 1. Look for the large 4x4 and the guide. GPS 64.0479, -16.1790.
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0:00
Gear and briefing
Helmet and crampons handed out and fitted, plus a headlamp on the darker features. Boots must be waterproof and above the ankle; rentals are available at the meeting point.
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0:15
Onto the glacier track
The modified 4x4 leaves the tarmac and drives moraine and outwash toward Breiðamerkurjökull. Reindeer show up along this stretch often enough that guides stop for them.
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0:45
The walk in
Between one and five and a half kilometres on foot, chosen by the guide for that day's conditions. Crampons go on at the ice edge.
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1:30
Inside the feature
Twenty to forty minutes in the cave, tunnel or canyon, with time set aside for photographs without the rest of the group in frame.
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2:30 to 4:00
Back to the lagoon
Return walk and drive. Finish times move with the walk in, so leave the rest of the afternoon loose.
Before You Book
What is included, and what is not
Both tours provide the technical gear. Warmth and footwear are yours, and footwear is what gets people turned away, because crampons need a stiff sole and an ankle to clamp onto.
- Included: certified glacier guide, helmet, crampons, headlamp where needed
- Included: the 4x4 transfer from the car park to the ice
- Not included: waterproof hiking boots above the ankle, rentable at the meeting point
- Not included: food, drink, and any transport to Jökulsárlón itself
- Not included: photographs, though most guides take them for the group anyway
Not suitable for
The $161 tour sets a minimum age of 10 and rules out mobility impairments outright. Check the age on the $164 tour at booking, because it is set per departure.
- Children under 10 on the $161 departure
- Anyone with a mobility impairment, on either tour
- Anyone who cannot manage up to 5.5 km on uneven ice and moraine
- Trainers, jeans, or cotton layers of any kind
Season, weather and getting your money back
Natural caves here run November to March. Wind cancels departures, and a mid-winter thaw can flood a cave and close it for the rest of the season.
Both tours cancel free up to 24 hours ahead and take no payment at booking. Guides make the call in the morning, so put the cave on your first free day in the southeast rather than your last. A cancellation on your final morning buys you a refund and no cave.
Two companion guides are worth a look before the morning itself: what to wear on an ice cave tour and the best month to come.
Where You Meet
Questions About These Two Tours
How much is an ice cave tour from Jökulsárlón?
$161 for the three-hour tour with the operator that opened cave tourism here, and $164 for the shorter-walking alternative. Both include a certified guide, helmet, crampons and the 4x4 transfer from the lagoon car park onto the glacier. Neither takes payment at booking, and both refund in full up to 24 hours before departure.
Which ice cave do these tours visit?
Whichever one is safe that morning, on Breiðamerkurjökull. Guides scout the drained meltwater channels each autumn and reassess them daily through the season, so a tour sold in November may run to a different feature by February. The listings describe it as a cave, tunnel or canyon precisely because the shape changes. If a page promises you a specific named cave, it is quoting a photograph rather than a booking.
How far do you walk on the ice cave tour?
Between one and five and a half kilometres on the $161 tour, decided by the guide on the day according to where the season's feature sits and what the ice is doing. The activity level is rated easy to moderate with no glacier experience needed, though you do need general fitness and boots that crampons will clamp onto.
Can children do the ice cave tour at Jökulsárlón?
From age 10 on the $161 departure. Younger children are ruled out by the walking distance and the uneven ground rather than by the cave itself. If you are travelling with under-tens, the super jeep tours from the same lagoon take children from age 6, because the vehicle covers most of the distance.
How far is Jökulsárlón from Reykjavík?
370 km east on Route 1, which is about five hours of driving in good conditions and longer in winter. There is no scheduled public transport to the lagoon car park. Most people booking a cave sleep in the southeast the night before, in Höfn or one of the guesthouses along the road, rather than starting from the capital in the dark.
What Recent Guests Wrote
Thanks to our guide Damian, on April 14 my daughters and I spent an unforgettable day on the glacier and had a truly unique experience. Our guide was knowledgeable, engaging, and attentive.
Sam was an excellent guide! Very knowledgeable and helpful. Would highly recommend again.
Great and unique experience! The guide was knowledgeable and a surprisingly great photographer!
Quotes reproduced from the GetYourGuide listings for these two tours, shortened with an ellipsis where marked.