Skaftafell Blue Ice Cave & Glacier Hike Review
Every other cave tour on Vatnajökull drives you to the ice and walks you the last stretch. This one puts four hours on Falljökull with crampons and an ice axe, and a blue ice cave sits inside that rather than at the end of it. It costs $164.83, takes twelve guests per guide, and starts from the Skaftafell base camp rather than the lagoon. It is the tour to book if the walking is the point and the cave is the reward. Compare it against every Vatnajökull glacier tour we track.
About the Tour
The longest cave tour on this glacier, and most of it is spent walking
Per person, within four dollars of the shorter cave-only tours at the lagoon
From the Skaftafell base camp to the foot of Falljökull
On top of the helmet and crampons, because this one is a proper hike
Small enough that the group stays together on the crevassed sections
Two years lower than the walking cave tours at Jökulsárlón
Check Dates at Skaftafell
Live availability for the $164.83 departure on Falljökull. Winter mornings sell out first at weekends, and guides reassess the cave the morning of every tour.
Why This One Is Different
You get the glacier, not just the cave
The cave tours from Jökulsárlón are built around a chamber: drive out, walk in, look, walk back. This tour is built around Falljökull, an outlet glacier tumbling off the ice cap above Skaftafell, and the cave is one stop on a four-hour route across it.
That means crevasses, meltwater channels cut into the surface, sinkholes and the ridged blue ice between them. You are roped into a harness and carrying an ice axe, and the guide picks a line through terrain that changes week to week.
At $164.83 it costs roughly what a three-hour cave-only tour costs at the lagoon. The extra hour is free, in effect, and it is the hour that makes the day.
Twelve guests per guide, and why that matters
The listing caps the group at twelve per guide. On a flat cave approach that number is invisible. On a crevassed glacier it decides how often the whole line stops while somebody at the back finds their footing.
Twelve is the point where a guide can still watch everyone and still answer questions. Reviews for this tour keep naming individual guides, which is what happens when the ratio works.
The tour carries 4.6 from 848 reviews, and the guiding sub-score sits at 4.9, the highest of any tour on this glacier.
Who should not book it
Anyone who wants the cave and nothing else. Four hours of glacier walking with a harness on is more than some people want from a winter morning, and the cave-only tours at Jökulsárlón do the same chamber in half the time for a few dollars less.
It is also the wrong tour if your day is tight. Skaftafell sits 70 km west of the lagoon, so the two do not combine into one afternoon.
What You Walk Through
Falljökull, one feature at a time
The name means falling glacier, and it earns it: the ice pours off the plateau through a narrow gap and breaks up as it goes, which is why the surface here is so much more interesting than a flat outlet.
The route changes every season and often between weeks, because the features the guides walk you past are moving. Ash bands running through the ice are eruption layers from the volcanoes under the cap.
- Crevasses, some narrow enough to step, some you walk around
- Meltwater channels grooved into the surface, blue at the bottom
- Moulins, the shafts where surface water drops into the glacier
- Black ash bands folded through the ice from subglacial eruptions
- The blue ice cave itself, on a route chosen that morning
Learning to walk in crampons
Steel points bite into glacier ice with a crunch that feels wrong for about five minutes. The guide walks the group through it on flat ice first: weight through the whole foot, short steps, no shuffling, no crossing your feet.
Nobody arrives knowing this. The listing is explicit that no prior experience is needed, and the minimum age of eight tells you how technical it really is.
The ice axe is mostly a walking aid and a hand to hold. You are not climbing anything.
How the Four Hours Run
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30 min before
Skaftafell base camp
Check in at the Arctic Adventures base camp at Skaftafell, on Route 1 about four hours east of Reykjavík. Parking is at the national park visitor centre.
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0:00
Fitted for the ice
Crampons, helmet, harness and ice axe issued and fitted by the guide. Waterproof boots above the ankle are required and rentable here.
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0:20
4x4 bus to the glacier foot
A short transfer from the base camp to where the moraine meets Falljökull.
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0:45
Onto the ice
Crampons on at the edge and a briefing on how to walk in them. The group moves in a line on the route the guide scouted.
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1:30
Crevasses and channels
The middle of the hike: crevasse edges, meltwater grooves and ash bands, with the guide stopping to explain what formed each one.
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2:30
The blue ice cave
Time inside the chamber, with the group staged so photographs are not full of other people.
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4:00
Back at base camp
Return across the ice and the transfer back. Gear is handed in at the base camp.
Before You Book
What is included
Everything technical, plus the transfer from the base camp to the glacier foot. Warmth and boots are yours.
- Included: certified glacier guide, maximum 12 guests per guide
- Included: crampons, helmet, harness and ice axe
- Included: 4x4 bus from Skaftafell base camp to the foot of Falljökull
- Not included: waterproof hiking boots above the ankle, rentable on site
- Not included: food, drink, and the drive to Skaftafell
Not suitable for
The age floor is 8. Beyond that, the limits are about four hours of walking on uneven ice rather than anything technical.
- Children under 8
- Anyone who cannot manage four hours on foot, some of it on slopes
- Anyone with a mobility impairment
- Trainers, jeans, or cotton base layers
Season, weather and refunds
The cave runs November to March. The glacier hike underneath it runs all year, and outside cave season the same operator sells the hike alone at a lower price.
Wind is what closes departures, and guides can shorten a hike that has already started when the upper glacier turns. You cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, pay nothing at booking, and get a full refund whenever the operator calls it off.
Where You Meet
Questions About This Tour
How much is the Skaftafell blue ice cave and glacier hike?
$164.83 per person for four hours, which includes a certified glacier guide, crampons, helmet, harness, ice axe and the 4x4 bus from the Skaftafell base camp to the foot of Falljökull. Nothing is charged at booking and the tour cancels free up to 24 hours ahead. Boots are the one thing you supply, and they can be rented at the base camp.
Is this harder than a normal ice cave tour?
Longer rather than harder. It runs four hours against three for the cave-only tours at Jökulsárlón, and most of that extra time is spent walking on Falljökull with crampons and a harness. The technique takes about five minutes to learn and the minimum age is 8, so the demand is stamina rather than skill. If you want the cave without the hike, book from the lagoon instead.
Which glacier does the Skaftafell ice cave tour visit?
Falljökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull that drops off the ice cap directly above the Skaftafell base camp. The name means falling glacier, and the way the ice breaks up as it pours through the gap is what gives the route its crevasses, meltwater channels and moulins. The cave forms in the lower part of that same ice.
How far in advance should I book?
Weekends across the season and the whole of the Christmas fortnight sell out weeks ahead, and February half-term goes the same way. Midweek mornings in November and March are the easiest to get. Since nothing is charged at booking and cancellation is free up to 24 hours out, holding a slot early costs nothing.
Can you do this tour in summer?
The glacier hike runs all year, the cave does not. Natural ice caves on Vatnajökull open in November and close at the end of March, so a summer booking on Falljökull is a hike past crevasses and blue ice hollows with no chamber to enter. The same operator sells that version from around $98.
What Recent Guests Wrote
My guide on this tour was truly amazing, friendly, knowledgeable, funny, just perfect, well the activity was amazing and I'm truly grateful to be able to see mother nature at her best.
It was an unforgettable experience […] But what truly made it stand out was our guide Guillaume. He was very knowledgeable and sharing fascinating insight. He was also genuinely helpful and attentive, always making sure everyone felt comfortable and included.
Iga was very knowledgeable and funny. She made the trip so much more fun.
Quotes reproduced from the GetYourGuide listing for this tour, shortened with an ellipsis where marked.