Ice Explorers Ice Cave and Glacier Exploration Tour: What to Know Before You Book

What to expect on the Jökulsárlón ice cave and glacier tour

The Ice Cave and Glacier Exploration Tour is Ice Explorers' longest trip onto Breiðamerkurjökull, the outlet glacier behind Jökulsárlón. A super-jeep takes you from the lagoon to the ice, and a guide leads you through one or more natural ice caves and on a walk across the glacier in a helmet, harness and crampons. It started from $275 per person when we checked, for about 5.5 hours.

The calendar below shows which dates still have space. The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start; a cancellation on the day is not refunded.

Natural ice caves form inside the glacier and can only be visited with a guide, so there is no independent version of this trip. They are also seasonal. Visit Vatnajökull, the regional tourist board, gives the ice cave season as mid-November to mid-March, and the caves themselves change from one winter to the next.

Guides are rated 4.8/5 on the listing, and transportation also 4.8/5. Reviewers describe crevasses and moulins between the caves, and Javier is the guide they name most often. One reviewer says the guide took the group to a remote cave instead of the busier one near the car park, and another, in March 2025, named their cave as the Sapphire Cave and described it as very large.

Value for money is the lowest of the three scores, at 4.5/5.

Four practical points about this tour:

• The glacier walk is sometimes shorter than the 4 to 6 km the listing describes. Several reviewers walked less than they expected, and one estimated about 2 km.
• Groups can be larger than 8, because Ice Explorers adds a second guide when more than 8 people book. Reviewers describe groups of 12 to about 15, and one in March 2026 described 28 people in two super-jeeps.
• The number of caves varies. Some groups see one cave, others two or three, and a couple of reviewers outside the main season did not go inside a cave at all.
• Food, drinks and hotel transfers are not included, so you need your own lunch and water for the day.

The listing's own description says the caves visited change through the season and that groups are 8 per guide. Close to nine in ten reviews give five stars, and fewer than one in ten is below four stars.

The tour makes the most sense if you want a long day on the glacier as well as a cave. If the cave is the main reason to go, a shorter tour costs less.

Other ice cave and glacier tours around Vatnajökull

Ice cave tours also leave from Skaftafell, 35 to 40 minutes west of Fjallsárlón, and glacier walks run on Breiðamerkurjökull and Falljökull through the year. Tours across Vatnajökull National Park are listed below.

How the ice cave and glacier day runs

You meet at 10:00 beside the café at Jökulsárlón, where the guides fit helmets, harnesses and crampons. The super-jeeps leave at 10:30 and drive to the edge of Breiðamerkurjökull.

From there the day is on foot. The listing rates the walk as medium difficulty and gives the distance as 4 to 6 km, depending on the group and the conditions. Reviewers describe uphill sections with plenty of breaks, and several say the pace suited people of ordinary fitness. One reviewer describes a packed-lunch stop on the ice.

Reviewers put the whole trip at 5 to 6 hours, and the jeeps bring you back to the lagoon in the afternoon.

How much glacier walking you get

The listing describes 4 to 6 km on the glacier. Reviewers in late winter and spring report less: one estimated no more than 2 km at the end of February, and several others said they had hoped for more time walking on the ice. One reviewer in October 2024 said their trip took about 4 hours.

Reviewers who complained about the price tie it to this. A March 2025 reviewer saw one cave and one crevasse in five hours of good weather, and another in April 2025 felt the walk was short for the price. The listing says the distance depends on the group's pace and the conditions.

Many reviews describe a fuller day: an October 2025 reviewer saw three caves, and another a guide who took the group further once they had finished the planned route quickly. A good day here is a long walk with more than one cave. A short walk with one cave can make the $275 price harder to justify.

Is the Jökulsárlón ice cave and glacier tour worth it?

Yes, if you want a cave and a long glacier walk in one trip and can go between mid-November and mid-March. The $275 price covers the super-jeep, the guide, the safety gear and about 5.5 hours on and around Breiðamerkurjökull, but not lunch, drinks or boots.

If the cave matters more than the walk, or the walk could turn out shorter on your date, the 4-hour Skaftafell tour costs $156. With children aged 8 to 12, Fjallsárlón's own 3.5-hour tour is the one that accepts them. If you are staying at Fjallsárlón, allow about 10 minutes to drive to the meeting point at Jökulsárlón.

How we put this together

We have not taken this tour ourselves. This page is based on the operator's GetYourGuide listing and on reviews at every star rating, read in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish and Swedish, with the lower-rated ones read in full. We checked the listing, its price and its rating on 11 October 2026; both can change. We earn a commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you.

Comparing every ice cave option around the lagoons? Read our ice cave guide for seasons, what to wear and the Fjallsárlón tour.