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Step inside a naturally formed ice cave within Vatnajökull glacier on a guided winter day tour from the iceberg-filled Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. Hop into a modified Super Jeep, ride out to the glacier’s edge, and take a short walk to the cave with your local glacier guide.
Shaped by meltwater and winter freeze each season, the Crystal Ice Cave reveals deep blue colors, textured walls, and smooth ice formations. It’s an easy, safe, and fascinating way to experience Iceland’s glaciers up close!
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Your adventure begins at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Southeast Iceland. This glacial lake is filled with icebergs that calve from Vatnajökull and drift slowly across the water before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.
From the lagoon, you’ll board a modified Super Jeep and head out to Breiðamerkurjökull, one of Vatnajökull’s outlet glaciers. After a short walk, you’ll reach the entrance of a naturally formed ice cave and follow your local glacier guide inside.
Inside the cave, you’ll see smooth walls and vivid colors, from translucent blue ice to white or ash-grey streaks and textured layers. Your guide will explain how these formations develop and share fascinating insights into glacier history. Don’t forget your camera—this is one of Iceland’s most photographed winter experiences.
The tour lasts about 2–3 hours and ends back at the lagoon.
Tip: Winter road conditions can affect travel times, and the trip from Reykjavík—normally around 5 hours—may take longer. To shorten the drive, consider staying closer to the glacier, such as at Adventure Hotel Hof.
Formed by meltwater streams that carve tunnels inside the glacier, the Crystal Ice Cave freezes into a new shape each winter. Some seasons it feels spacious and open, while others it’s narrow and winding—but every cave has its own character and unique details. The cave may also form in different areas of the ice cap from year to year. Most ice chambers are found on the southern side of Vatnajökull and its outlet glaciers.
The striking blue color you may see inside the cave is the result of time, pressure, and nature’s own filtering process. As glacier ice slowly moves and compresses over centuries, air bubbles are squeezed out, making the ice clearer. This dense ice filters more light, creating the calm, blue, otherworldly glow inside.
What you see may differ from photos depending on the season and weather, and that’s part of nature’s magic. Colors may range from deep blue to white or grey, based on light, snowfall, and how the cave has formed this year.
Iceland is known for unforeseeable weather. It is likely that you can see all 4 seasons in one day.
Dressing for that kind of weather can always be demanding, so we suggest dressing in layers. 3 or 4 upper layers are highly recommended, for example, a light t-shirt (preferably wool) next to the skin, then a fleece or heavy wool garment topped off with a waterproof windbreaker.
Jeans are not recommended for our trips as they are not suitable for the weather conditions, they become very heavy, cold and uncomfortable to wear when they get wet.
Lightweight hiking pants, track pants or long cotton pants are convenient and wear wind/waterproof pants over them. There is high UV and sunlight reflecting off on the glacier so we highly recommend using sunglasses and sunscreen even if it is cloudy.
You will need sturdy hiking boots that fit crampons for the glacier hiking tours. If you do not own a pair then we rent out suitable hiking boots as well as a waterproof raincoat and trousers.
It is good to bring your own backpack on our full-day or half-day tours. It’s the best carry-on for a small lunch, extra clothes, and other necessary items.
The scenery on the tour is full of stunning, breathtaking views that you’ll almost definitely want to capture forever, so you should definitely bring your camera along. Your tour guide will also be happy to take your photo.
This is surely a personal choice, we do not deny pregnant women on our glacier trips but we highly recommend you to take a closer look at our trip description and difficulty ratings, they will hopefully give you a better idea. We also recommend you to contact your physician, as pregnant women’s health can be quite different. If you have any further questions or concerns then feel free to contact us.
Crampons enable you to walk on the glacier ice without slipping. They are metal spikes that we attach to the soles of your hiking shoes.
Yes, we have specially trained and certified glacier guides on every glacier tour that we offer. And for our 3rd party tours we only partner with operators that meet our quality and safety standards.
Yes, we provide you with all the necessary glacier gear for our glacier hiking tours. Ice axes, crampons, harnesses, and helmets are provided. This will help you to complete the tour safely. The minimum shoe size to attach crampons is EU 35.
Iceland is known to have a lot of snow and when the snow stays long enough in one place than it turns to ice. Over long periods of time, the ice layers up becoming huge blocks called glaciers. It forms to create ginormous glaciers that sweep across huge masses of land. Iceland is home of the largest glacier in Europe that is called Vatnajökull. The Glacier Guides can tell you more about and everything you need to know about the Glaciers.
Rain is common in Iceland but we never let the rain be in our way to go forward with our tours.
That’s why we highly recommend appropriate clothing so you can stay warm and dry.
Nature is out of our control and therefore we need to adapt to the weather. Your safety is our priority so if your safety is compromised by going on the tour then we will cancel it and you will get full reimbursement.
