Explore the surreal landscape of Iceland's Solheimajökull Glacier during this day trip from Reykjavik. Join your guide for ice hiking and climbing on top of this ancient ice formation, enjoying spectacular views of its constantly changing blend of colors and shapes. Then make a stop at the thundering Skogafoss waterfall, one of the country’s largest waterfalls. Your glacier adventure includes an expert glacier guide, introduction to ice climbing, round-trip transport from Reykjavik as well as all necessary safety gear needed.

Small group experience, limited to 8 people per guide, ensuring a more personalized experience
Day trip to Iceland's Solheimajokull Glacier
Enjoy an adventurous glacier hike with your expert guide
Admire the rugged, ever-changing ice formations and soak in the picturesque views of the area
Try your hand at ice climbing, with all necessary safety equipment included
Beginners are welcome as no prior ice climbing experience is needed
A visit to Skogafoss waterfall, one of Iceland's largest waterfalls
Round-trip transport from Reykjavik

What's Included

Small group guarantee, ensuring a more personalized experience
A guided glacier hiking tour on Iceland's Solheimajokull Glacier
All necessary glacier gear needed
An introduction to ice climbing

Food & drinks
Gratuities
Hiking shoes (can be rented for a small fee)

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

Sólheimajökull
Sólheimajökull, 871, Iceland
In good conditions the ride from Reykjavik takes just over two hours without stops, with poor weather or road conditions, the journey will take longer. The distance from Reykjavík is approximately 158 km (98 mi). GPS 63°31’00.48″N, 19°22’00.12W(WGS84).

Start time

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Experience the surreal natural landscapes of Iceland during this day trip to the country’s Solheimajokull Glacier, offering time for ice hiking and climbing during your visit. It’s the perfect chance to immerse yourself in the rugged outdoor beauty of this incredible island.

Start your excursion with pickup at 8:30am from authorized pick up points in Reykjavik, continuing on a scenic drive by mini-bus to the glacier, which is located in the country’s southwest. Upon arrival, meet with your glacier guide, receive a short safety briefing and get your gear for the day’s activities. Then head out onto the surface of this rugged ice formation.

Your journey takes you over the surface of the glacier’s ice tongue, so-called because it sticks out from the glacier’s main body as it crawls toward the ocean. Enjoy breathtaking views of the glacier’s rugged surface and the surrounding landscape, exploring this unique ice formation’s numerous crevasses, cracks, ridges and sink holes accompanied by your guide. Soon you’ll reach an ice wall, allowing you the chance to engage in some ice climbing. Using your included crampons, ice axes, and safety ropes, make your way up this sheer vertical wall, taking time to soak up the surreal environment and sublime views from above.

Finish your glacier adventure with a stop at Skogafoss waterfall on the way back to Reykjavik, one of Iceland’s largest and most impressive waterfalls, as it dumps millions of gallons of glacial melt water into a stream and the ocean beyond. Your glacier adventure tour ends with a Reykjavik drop off.

Myrdalsjokull Glacier

Then it’s time to hit the ice! You’ll hike out into the majestic ice wonderland, with its astonishing networks of crevasses, ridges, ice walls, moulins, and blue-hued frost. Your friendly and knowledgeable guide make sure you are always safe on the ice and share some fascinating and fun glacier facts with you. This is a frozen world, but did you know it is always moving? You may even hear the ice cracking as it adjusts beneath you!

4 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Solheimajokull Glacier

Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Iceland’s 4th biggest glacier. The glacier tongue is a rugged, raw and ever-changing hub of ancient frozen water; truly a phenomenal place.

4 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
This tour is a small group experience tour limited to 8 participants per guide
Minimum age is 14 years old
It is recommended to bring warm outdoor clothing, waterproof jacket and pants, packed lunch, head-wear, gloves and good hiking shoes
Please note that jeans are not appropriate for a glacier hike

No prior ice climbing experience is needed to participate in this tour
Hiking shoes, waterproof jacket and pants can be rented from the operator for a small fee
Not wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

about cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

If you don't have good hiking shoes you can rent a pair onsite.

Reviews

4.5

202 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 202 reviews

Glacier Hike

mgbdc, Jun 2019

Undeniably one of the best things I’ve ever done. This was my second trip to Iceland. The first trip was interesting but this trek was a challenge. Most thanks goes to Arhol our guide from Scotland. Perfect combination of patience, humor and skill. We scaled an ice wall with crampons and aces at the end. Don’t go with anyone but him. Everyone on the trip was made to feel like they could do it. The company was great too. If you don’t go to the geysers do this. What a memory. Thanks Athol for the wee help!

Amazing experience

Dahyana_V, Jun 2019

This tour was absolutely fantastic. Our guide, Athol, was encouraging and knowledgeable about the glacier and the climbing. I was impressed by how well he guided everyone and kept a watchful eye on the people who weren’t as experienced. It was the absolute highlight of my trip. Amazing all around. Highly recommend it.

Fantastic experience. Simon was our...

mslg13, Sep 2018

Fantastic experience. Simon was our guide and he was awesome. He made us all feel safe and comfortable on the climb. He even took us into an ice cave. The small group aspect is a big plus. If you don't have good hiking shoes you can rent a pair onsite. Well worth it.

Great experience!

Marcel_F, Aug 2018

The guide was very informative and fun. He did a very good job of explaining the basics of ice climbing. He also showed us the viking push up, very cool! Highly recommend this tour.

Amazing!

VIVIANA_D, Jul 2018

The landscape, the guide, the group, the overall experience was AMAZING Will do it again as soon as I come back to Iceland

Me and my girlfriend took this tour...

Sebastian G, Apr 2018

Me and my girlfriend took this tour in March and it was the highlight of the holiday other than seeing the Northern lights of course. Simon was our guide, he was excellent. As someone who has experienced a lot of mountain guides, there are few better than Simon in my experience, he kept the tour moving at a comfortable pace for all the group while keeping safety as number one, he also took the time to explain features of the glacier and was clearly very passionate about what he was doing. A credit to the industry! To add to his impressive repertoire as a tour guide, there was also a French couple on our tour, and fortunately for them they got Simon as a guide with his experience from working in France meant he spoke enough French to give instructions in both English and French. When on the glacier there was chance to get used to wearing crampons and practised on a small ice incline. One thing that I would suggest if you are considering this tour at all is HIRE THE BOOTS. I made the mistake of being the typical arrogant male, thinking my boots would be ok, but I can say that those with the boots found this bit easier, although it wasnt impossible for me to get up, you must be steadier than others due to the encumbrance of the softer boots. My girlfriend hired the boots and walked up like a mountain goat. The walk on the glacier itself is no harder than the walking you do in England, the only difference really is that you have crampons on. Once we had reached the climbing destination on the glacier, Simon went above and beyond other tour guides that were up on the glacier with us with regards to safety. He was the only guide that I saw that made a clear boundary that the group should stay behind unless on the rope climbing. Further, he drove a second ice screw in for a partners/other members of the group to carabiner in its a little unnerving watching the other groups stood over a potentially 300ft moulin without anything stopping you from falling straight down onto to take photographs beyond the barrier safely.

Highly recommend this tour. Don't...

Lauren K, Apr 2018

Highly recommend this tour. Don't think there were any issues whatsoever. Lovely group of people and the tour guide was very knowledgeable.

My tour guide was amazing and so...

Cymone C, Mar 2018

My tour guide was amazing and so accommodating, and customized the tour for the group.

Really amazing excursion, it was...

Amber B, Mar 2018

Really amazing excursion, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience! Our guide was very informative, understanding, and fun. He let us have breaks and moved at our pace. Book this tour!

This tour was amazing! Very cool...

Michelle_S, Mar 2018

This tour was amazing! Very cool - even though it rained the entire day for us! The tour guides went above and beyond and were awesome!!! This was a really great deal - moneywise. You definitely feel as though you got your money's worth and more. The views were breathtaking and getting to experience the ice climbing was a once and a lifetime experience for me. There is a lot of walking - be prepared!

One of my favorite and memorable...

Angela P, Jan 2018

One of my favorite and memorable days. Definitely a must if you're headed to Iceland. I felt so safe and had a blast.

This tour was amazing. Our guide...

monks_hood8, Dec 2017

This tour was amazing. Our guide Röggi is the best guide ever. We got 2 freebie stops (seljalandsfoss and skogafoss)! The activity itself was fun. The ice climbing looked daunting at first but every single person in our group went and reached the top.

This was one of the coolest things...

kkonopka12, Nov 2017

This was one of the coolest things we experienced in Iceland. We wanted to do more than just look at things/visit places, and this was the perfect tour for that. Hilmar our guide was very knowledgeable, and led us on a great hike. The ice climbing was a truly unique experience, and Hilmar made sure we were comfortable, and had enough time to enjoy it. Our group was small only 4 which provided us with a more personalized experience. Would highly recommend this tour for anyone looking for an adventure.

This was an awesome experience-our...

WILLIAM D W, Nov 2017

This was an awesome experience-our guide zedke was amazing- instead of just a climb he took us to a moulin which we rappelled into the hole and then ice climbed out- truly great experience and then weather was per

This tour was spectacular! We spent...

Jenna_G, Sep 2017

This tour was spectacular! We spent 2 weeks in Iceland and hiking/climbing the glacier was one of our most favorite activities! I would rate it as challenging so be prepared to walk on uneven tourain in crampons. Wear layers and rent the boots to help you climb.

I signed up to do the Ice climbing...

Taylor B, Jul 2017

I signed up to do the Ice climbing and spent a fair amount extra to do so. My girlfriend and I got to do the actual climbing for about 20 seconds each we scaled an ice wall that was maybe 5 meters high and since not everyone in our 6 person group could do it, we did not do any more climbing. This was a HUGE LETDOWN and not worth the money. I will be asking for a partial refund. if you do this excursion be aware that your experience can be hugely affected by the others on your tour. We hiked for a few hours and it was very beautiful however, we didn't actually get very far because our guide felt the need to take a pick-axe to carve little steps throughout the glacier at every turn. We spent a lot of time getting battered with ice debris for what seemed like the creation of a useless little path. The guides were NOT Icelanders. Information they provided on the bus and during the tour was very unimpressive they read the sign for us at the start of the hike and then gave us very basic glacier insights that a 5 minute wiki search could get you. The bus driver had poor English speaking skills and gave information that conflicted with other tours we attended. I personally would have preferred no commentary for the drive, as none of the names of places were pronounced properly and the facts weren't all current. The glacier was beautiful, the air was fresh, it was not too cold don't over dress. I recommend you rent the boots from the provider, i did not and regret it for the climbing they are stiff like rock climbing shoes and help a lot. Pack a lunch, as everywhere food is pricey. We also stopped at some waterfalls on the way back to Reykjavik, they were very nice and brightened our mood from the hike. I would not recommend this based on the price and the poor experience we had, however the other tour group seemed to have a good time. The glacier is open to the public and requires no permit to go on we would have had a better time hiking alone BUT you need the proper gear. The guides had radio contact with each other therefore it was probably better for safety doing a guided hike.

great trip, limited ice climbing so...

Allison and Kyle, Jun 2017

great trip, limited ice climbing so if thats your main goal, reconsider ice hiking was amazing even with the limited ice climbing.

Best day of our trip. Exciting...

Dwenstrup, Jun 2017

Best day of our trip. Exciting without being overly scary. A good amount of exercise without being exhausting. Awesome guides Swan and Boris!!!! Everything you'd expect, plus many more surprises I won't spoil.

This was really good, but I thought...

Lubaba, Jun 2017

This was really good, but I thought it was more of the same thing after a while. I would recommend instead of walking on the ice for most of the time, may be do some other short hiking trails and have a longer stop at the waterfall. Overall, I still enjoyed it. Tour guides were very good, very knowledgeable. It was a good trip for us since we didn't rent a car during our stay in Reykjavik.

By far our group's favorite activity...

alexandra.nugen, May 2017

By far our group's favorite activity we did in Iceland. Could not recommend enough. The guides were knowledgeable, fun, and made sure we were safe at all times.

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