Extreme Blue Ice Cave Tour

An extreme blue ice cave tour into Vatnajökull glacier, meeting at Jökulsárlón. A Super Jeep takes you onto the ice, then you hike with your guide to one or more natural blue ice caves, with all safety gear provided.

• A guided walk into one of Iceland's famous blue ice caves inside Vatnajökull
• A Super Jeep ride onto the glacier as part of the tour
• All safety gear provided: helmet, crampons, harness and headlamp
• Small groups of up to about 10 guests
• Meets at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, so it is easy to combine with a lagoon visit

Your day, stop by stop

1Jökulsárlón meeting pointMeet your guide at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon car park, 20 minutes before departure.

You meet your guide at the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon car park, 20 minutes before the 9:30 departure. The tour starts here, so it is easy to add time at the lagoon before or after.

Read our Jökulsárlón guide →

2Safety briefing and gear fittingHelmet, crampons, harness and headlamp fitted before heading onto the ice.

Your guide goes through the safety plan for the day and fits everyone with a helmet, crampons, harness, headlamp and ice axe before you board the Super Jeep. All of the equipment is included.

Gear · helmet, crampons, harness, headlamp and ice axe provided

3Super Jeep onto the glacierA modified Super Jeep drives you onto Vatnajökull.

A modified Super Jeep takes you from the lagoon area up onto Vatnajökull, a drive of about 20 to 30 minutes that saves a long walk in.

Drive · about 20–30 minutes

4Glacier hikeA guided walk across the ice to the cave, in crampons.

A guided walk across the ice to the cave, in crampons. Your guide sets a pace that suits the group and points out features of the glacier along the way. The difficulty is moderate, so you need normal, reasonable fitness for walking on glacier ice.

Difficulty · moderate; normal, reasonable fitness needed

5Blue ice caveTime inside one or more natural ice caves.

Time inside one or more of the natural ice caves in Vatnajökull. The caves form and change naturally each year, so the exact cave and route depend on conditions on the day. You spend about 45 minutes in the main cave, and a second cave may be visited if conditions allow. The tour runs from October to April.

Time here · about 45 minutes in the main caveNote · a second cave may be visited if conditions allow

About the extreme blue ice cave tour

This tour goes further into Vatnajökull than a standard ice cave visit, combining a Super Jeep ride with a glacier hike to reach natural blue ice caves. It meets at the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon car park, so it pairs well with time at the lagoon itself before or after.

After a safety briefing you ride in a modified Super Jeep onto the glacier, then fit crampons, a helmet and a harness for the walk to the cave. Ice caves in Vatnajökull are natural and change from year to year, so your guide chooses the route and cave based on the day's conditions, and may visit a second cave if time and conditions allow. Expect to spend around 45 minutes inside the main cave.

This is graded moderate rather than easy: you need normal, reasonable fitness for glacier walking in crampons, and there are no toilets once you leave the lagoon car park. It runs only in winter, from October to April, when the ice caves are stable enough to enter safely, and is not recommended for pregnant travellers.

Weather on the glacier can change quickly, and winter daylight is short, so allow some flexibility around the exact start time and route on the day.

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