What to Do in Iceland with Family

Wondering what to do in Iceland with family? Loads of outdoor activities and diverse wildlife offer endless opportunities for quality family time. Browse our favorite things to do in Iceland with kids, based on what your family is interested in!

Do you want to be one of those cool parents kids brag about at school? Take your family rafting tour! Just imagine sitting on a raft with your family and paddling through the exhilarating Icelandic landscape. Float through rugged canyons, past natural hot springs and a green oasis. Your kids will remember this experience for many years to come.

Rafting is a great opportunity for family bonding as teamwork plays a big role in this activity. Your kids will quickly learn that only one paddler makes the raft spin in circles, while a team of paddlers working together makes it a smooth and fun ride!

No rafting experience is required for this tour. If your children are over 6 years old, sail on the gentle West Glacial River in Northwest Iceland and enjoy nature with the best possible company. 

On this tour, a super jeep will take you and your family past towering mountains and massive ice caps all the way to Kötlujökull Glacier.

Strap on your crampons and step on the icy paths along the South Coast. A short hike will lead you to the entrance into a natural ice cave. The strips of blue and black colors inside the cave tell a long history of volcanic eruptions. Kids will be excited to hear it!

Allow children to feel like true explorers when they discover smaller, recently formed caves. Katla Ice Cave tour is a great choice for families with kids over 6 years old, looking to learn about Icelandic glaciers first-hand.

Any Disney’s Frozen fans around? Visiting Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and a crystal ice cave must be on your family’s bucket list. If your kids ever wondered what Queen Elsa of Arendelle’s home looks like, they’ll love this trip!

Hit the South Coast to feel like in an icy fairytale. You’ll see large chunks of ice float on Jökulsárlón lagoon and rest on a nearby black sand beach, glittering in the sun like diamonds.

On this family-friendly excursion, step inside the crystal ice cave that features all shades of sapphire blue and snow white colors. The short tour is the best choice for families with younger children, from 6 years up, who seek to witness the immense power of ice.  

Make the most of your day in Iceland! If your children are over 8 years old, take your family on this action-packed day tour! Begin your day visiting the iconic Golden Circle. Explore all three of the famous sights — Thingvellir National Park, Geysir Geothermal Area, and Gullfoss Waterfall. 

Later, take a thrilling snowmobile ride on the second-largest glacier in Iceland, Langjokull.

To top it all off, go on an exhilarating Northern Lights hunt in the evening and enjoy a natural light show in the sky.

This Golden Circle, snowmobile and Northern Lights tour from Reykjavik invites you to experience the best of the country in one day. No doubt, this adventurous day will stick to your family’s memory for many years to come!

Explore the icy surface of Iceland while hiking on Sólheimajökull Glacier near the South Coast. Strap on your crampons and go on an adventure where your kids will learn about the power of ice and see large sinkholes, called moulins. Every little explorer over the age of 8 will enjoy this Sólheimajökull glacier hiking experience! 

To make this trip even more special, stop to see Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls on your way back to Reykjavik. Seljalandsfoss is one of the very few waterfalls that you can walk behind! Skogafoss is nearly 200 feet (60 m) tall and you can climb the steps to the top of the fall for breathtaking views.

Landmannalaugar hiking tour is a fine choice for hikers with all levels of experience, making it a perfect pick for a family vacation. 

Put your hiking shoes on and step onto one of the finest hiking trails in the world. The Landmannalaugar hiking tour takes you to the starting point of the famous Laugavegur Trek. The path is surrounded by colorful rhyolite mountains and takes you through Laugahraun lava field. To have a full Icelandic experience, finish the day with a relaxing soak in a natural hot pot.

The tour is available to children from 10 years old, and the hike takes around 5 hours. Whether you want to introduce your children to the world of hiking, or simply wish to explore the landscape of Icelandic Highlands, this tour is a great option.

Adults get excited once they see whales, so you can only imagine what kind of feelings this sight brings to kids! 

Watch majestic whales jump out of the water right before your eyes. You’ll hear sounds you’ve never heard before as you watch them simply going about their normal everyday lives, while you stand there on a boat with your breath taken away. Nothing matches this experience!

Join a whale watching tour in North Iceland together with your loved ones (over 10 years old) and share this magical moment of watching marine wildlife in their natural habitat.

Looking for an action-filled family vacation? Meet charming Icelandic horses and surge through rapids of the white water Hvita River! 

Begin your day riding pure-bred Icelandic horses through lava fields, past geothermal pools, and wetlands. Icelandic horses are intelligent and full of character. You’ll realize it as soon as you meet them and, beware, it’s likely your children will want to take one home. It’s impossible to resist their charm!

If you think that horseback riding was exciting, wait till you get to Drumbó base camp for white water rafting! You’ll sail near the famous Golden Circle route, right by the Gullfoss Canyon, with raw, rugged landscapes all around you. Prepare for extreme action and don’t even dream of getting out dry!

This rafting and horse riding combo tour doesn’t require any experience and is available to anyone over the age of 11. 

Iceland’s certainly not short of swimming pools. Almost every town has one, and there’s plenty of natural hot pools to plunge into. The best part about swimming pools on family holidays is that most have special shallow pools for young children as well as exciting water slides, giving kids plenty of fun. 

Visiting public baths runs deep in Icelandic culture, and people here really know how to relax soaking in hot water. Along with swimming pools, you can often find hot or cold water tubs, various types of saunas, and sometimes snack bars or cafés. Pools are open all year and you can visit them with children of various ages, just make sure to check specific pool’s websites before you go.

This multi-day Ring Road tour is the ultimate tour in Iceland. Depending on how many days you wish to travel, choose the best option for you (6, 7, or 8 days), and hit the road. 

The Ring Road goes around Iceland and right by the most famous sights, including the Golden Circle, Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Dalvik in North Iceland, Vatnajokull National Park, and many more.

Along with sightseeing, the tour offers great activities suited for travelers of all ages. From a glacier hike to whale watching and bathing in geothermal pools, this tour has it all. 

Ring Road tour is available all year round, to everyone over 8 years old. The itinerary varies from season to season, but a great time with your family is always guaranteed!

There’s no doubt that Iceland is a great destination for a family vacation with plenty of activities to choose from! Are you a team of explorers or an adventurous bunch looking to bond over a white water rafting trip? Whatever you prefer, Iceland’s got something for you! 

Share this blog post with your family and find out what they want to do on your next vacation in Iceland!