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Want to experience Iceland’s bluest ice cave in years? Then step into a crystal ice cave at Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier, to explore the country’s best shades of icy blue from the inside out.
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This tour starts from Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, one of Iceland's amazing natural wonders. There you'll meet your friendly tour guide, and hop into a super jeep for a ride to the foot of one of Vatnajokull's outlet glaciers! Once there, we embark on a short walk to the ice cave.
After a short hike (approx. 20-30 minutes), we'll step into the magical ice world to admire the dazzling crystal ice cave. The cave glints with many wondrous colors, from sapphire blue to brilliant white. Your guide will tell you all about Iceland's ice caves and their majestic structures.
The crystal ice cave of Vatnajokull Glacier changes with each passing winter. So every year you join our tour, you'll see an entirely different ice cave!
Make sure to wear warm winter clothing, a hat that fits under a helmet and last but not least, don't forget your camera.
After this blue ice experience, we head back to the location where you were picked up, hoping that this tour will bring you memories that you treasure for a lifetime. A truly unique experience that should not be missed on your visit to Iceland!
The color and transparency of the ice caves has everything to do with time, pressure, and secrecy. The weather and sun with its damaging ultra violet rays transforms the outer surface of glacial ice into whitish ice.
As the glacier travels and winds its way down the slopes of mountain ridges, the air bubbles trapped in the ice are squeezed out, and the size of the ice crystals increases, making it clear. The real beauty of the centuries old compressed ice of a glacier lies underneath the damaged outer surface.
This intense blue color can be seen for example in ice caves and on floating icebergs that reveal their lower side when they have recently rolled over or split in two.
Your tour guide is a highly qualified mountain guide expert, and ice cave expert. It's in his hands to decide each time which cave is best to visit depending on weather conditions and other issues.
New caves are searched for and discovered each autumn, to be visited in the winter. They are normally found in various different locations on the south side of glacier Vatnajokull and its outlets.
Sometimes the caves are very special, sometimes not as special, but become very special in the right light and conditions. Some caves we find are very stable and we can go in there in any weather, but others are less safe and we might not even go there at all, even if they are very beautiful.
Some of the caves are only accessible in temperatures below zero, such as when there is water on the ground that needs to be frozen all over in order for us to walk into the cave.
Note: The actual view of an ice cave may look different from pictures since ice caves are a natural phenomenon and are constantly changing. How they look may vary depending on the season, time of the day, lighting, and other factors.
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.
