South Iceland · Mýrdalsjökull · Katla
Sólheimajökull is a tongue of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap above the Katla volcano, about two hours from Reykjavík. Strap on crampons and walk with a guide over blue ice striped with black ash, past crevasses and moulins.
Glacier hikes
In the centre, the most-booked hike on the glacier: meet at the car park and walk onto the ice with a certified guide. On the left, the full day from Reykjavík; on the right, the hike with an ice-climbing intro. Every card opens a full tour page.
From Reykjavík
★ 4.811 hoursFree cancellationA minibus day from Reykjavík: the guided hike on Sólheimajökull, Seljalandsfoss on the way and the black beach at Reynisfjara. All the glacier gear is included and nobody has to drive.
Most booked
★ 4.7About 4 hoursFree cancellationCrampons, helmet, harness and ice axe on, then a walk up the moss valley and onto ash-striped blue ice with a certified guide. You meet at the glacier car park; a Reykjavík pickup option exists.
Ice climbing
★ 4.85.5 to 13 hoursFree cancellationThe standard hike plus your first climb up a natural ice wall on ropes, with two axes. Meet at the glacier for a half day, or take the full day from Reykjavík with two waterfalls.
From the base camp
★ 4.83.5 to 5.5 hours
New route
★ 4.74 hours
Small group
★ 4.74 hours
All ages
New2 hours
On the lagoon
★ 4.73 hours
Climb at the glacier
★ 4.95 hours
Ice cave
★ 4.63 hours from VíkCompare
Two questions sort most of it: do you start at the glacier or in Reykjavík, and how much time on the ice do you want? After that it is age, fitness and whether you would rather climb, paddle or stay at the edge.
| Tour | Starts from | On the ice | Best for | Length | From | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike, Meet at the Glacier | Sólheimajökull car park (Road 221) | Full hike, about 6 km in all | A first glacier hike for self-drivers, age 8 and up | About 4 hours | $104 | Book |
| Glacier Hike Day Trip from Reykjavík | Reykjavík pickup | Full hike plus South Coast stops | No car: the hike and two South Coast sights in a day | 11 hours | $190 | Book |
| Glacier Hike & Ice Climbing Intro | Car park or Reykjavík pickup | Hike plus a natural ice wall | Trying ice climbing with no experience, age 14 and up | 5.5 to 13 hours | $203 | Book |
| Guided Glacier Walk from the Base Camp | Icelandic Mountain Guides base camp | Full hike | Tea, coffee and restrooms at the base camp | 3.5 to 5.5 hours | $104 | Book |
| Tröll Glacier Hike on the New Route | Tröll base, Sólheimajökull | Full hike, 2.3 km access each way | Coffee, chocolate and the longer quiet approach | 4 hours | $116 | Book |
| Small-Group Glacier Hike | Sólheimajökull car park | Full hike | A local guide and a smaller group on the ice | 4 hours | $120 | Book |
| Glacier's Edge Walk with Hot Drinks | Arctic Adventures base, car park | To the ice edge, no crampons | Families and anyone who prefers to stay off the ice | 2 hours | $73 | Book |
| Kayaking on the Glacier Lagoon | Sólheimajökull car park | On the lagoon, not the ice | Paddling the lagoon below the snout, May to October, age 14+ | 3 hours | $170 | Book |
| Glacier Hike + Ice Climbing at the Glacier | Icelandic Mountain Guides base camp | Hike plus an ice wall | Ice climbing for self-drivers, age 14 and up | 5 hours | $185 | Book |
| From Vík: Katla Ice Cave & Super Jeep | Vík, behind the Icewear building | Another glacier: Kötlujökull | A black-and-blue ice cave, all year per the listing | 3 hours from Vík | $196 | Book |
Every trip here cancels free up to 24 hours before. Boots are included on some hikes and rented on others (ISK 1,500 at Arctic Adventures); parking at the glacier costs ISK 750 (2026).
Before you book
Sólheimajökull is one of the tongues that spill off Mýrdalsjökull, the fourth largest glacier in Iceland. Under that ice sits Katla, a volcano that last erupted in October 1918 and that the Icelandic Met Office watches day and night. The black bands in the ice are its ash, laid down by old eruptions and carried down the glacier.
The glacier is about 8 km long and ends in a lagoon at the top of Road 221, a short drive off Route 1 between Skógafoss and Vík. You can walk the trail to a viewpoint on your own; on the ice you go only with a certified guide, and the tours bring the crampons, axe, harness and helmet.
How far the glacier front pulled back between 2010 and 2021, measured every autumn by pupils from Hvolsskóli school.
The trail is open to everyone; the ice, the ridge and the lagoon edges are for guided groups only.
In 2026 groups walk up to about an hour from the car park before the crampons go on.
Most hikes from 8 or 10, ice climbing from 14. The edge walk takes all ages.
Ankle-high hiking boots are a must; rent them on site if needed. Bring rain gear and gloves.
Your hike
The standard guided hike from the Sólheimajökull car park, about 3.5 to 4 hours in all.
Safety briefing at the base camp, then helmet, harness, crampons and ice axe. Boots to rent if you need them.
StartUp the moss-covered valley to the ice, up to about an hour in 2026 on the new access routes.
First hourCrampons on, then ridges, crevasses, moulins and blue ice with ash bands, at the guide's pace.
1.5 to 2 hoursThe same way out to the car park, then on to Skógafoss, 15 minutes west, or Vík.
Last hourPlan your trip
Driving yourself, coming from Reykjavík, staying in Vík or travelling with children: one tab each.
Where it is
Road 221 (Sólheimajökulsvegur) turns off Route 1 between Skógafoss and Vík; the car park and the base camps are at its end, about 4 km in.
Every meet-at-the-glacier tour on this site starts here, at the huts and buses of Arctic Adventures, Icelandic Mountain Guides and Tröll. From the car park the trail runs up the valley to the ice. The Katla ice cave starts in Vík instead, and the Reykjavík day trips collect you in the city.
Around your trip
When to go, what guests wish they had known, what is nearby and the fine print.
South Iceland
Two hours from Reykjavík, a glacier you can walk on with a guide.
Check availabilityGuest reviews
★★★★★A great hike to the glacier (about 1 hour), then across the glacier (about 1.5 hours), a total of 7 km. The hike is not too demanding and was manageable for everyone in our group.
★★★★★Our guide Svenii was brilliant. He went over & above to make sure we were safe. He was very professional & knowledgeable. The hike to the glacier was so exciting. We are reasonably fit aged 58 & 66
★★★★★Awesome! Daniel was an excellent guide. He took great care of us, was fun, and led us on a great adventure-experience, exploring the glacier and ice climbing.
★★★★★We particularly liked the fact that the guide also took us into the crevasses, naturally with the safety measures or safety equipment in place. And climbing out of the crevasses was also a special experience.
★★★★★This hike really exceeded our expectations! Our guide Lucas was great, super knowledgeable and set a perfect pace with our group. We were so glad we went ahead despite the bad weather.
★★★★★It was fun to experience seeing glaciers up close. The equipment was top notch and we stayed warm and dry the whole time. Great memories!
★★★★★As first-time climbers, we had tons of fun! Our guides, Bart and Carla, made us feel safe at all times. Climbing up and down the beautiful blue crevasses of Sólheimajökull was one of the most amazing experiences of our trip.
★★★★★Best tour of my whole trip. Dont plan much for nighttime because its a long day. And it is definitely a lot of walking but nothing crazy at all.
★★★★★The chance to see a glacier above the volcano with its ice caves is something indescribable, as is all the surrounding scenery that you see during the Jeep ride.
One more day
Further east, below Vatnajökull, the lagoon where the icebergs float and the beach where they wash up.
The long day east to Jökulsárlón, the iceberg lagoon below Vatnajökull, and Diamond Beach across the road, with stops on the South Coast. A boat on the lagoon is an option. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
IcebergsDiamond BeachBoat option
The guide
A glacier you can reach on a day trip, guiding companies at its foot and a route that changes with the ice. Here is how to read the hikes.
Sólheimajökull is not a glacier on its own. It flows south off Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap that covers the Katla volcano, and runs about 8 km down a valley to a lagoon. Its ice carries bands of black ash from past eruptions, which is why photos of it look striped. The meltwater river is nicknamed the "stinking river" for its sulphur smell, gas from geothermal water under the ice.
It is shrinking fast. Pupils from Hvolsskóli school have measured the front every autumn since 2010, and between 2010 and 2021 it pulled back 408 metres. A lagoon now fills the space, and the walk from the car park to the ice gets longer almost every year.
The ice has crevasses, moulins and ridges, and they keep changing. In July 2026 the Icelandic Met Office warned that a new lagoon had left a thinning ice ridge as the way onto the glacier, with deep cold water on both sides and rockfall from the slope above. Access was kept open, and the message since then is plain: on the ice only with a certified guide.
The guided tours handle that for you. They choose the route each day, fit the crampons, axe, harness and helmet, and turn back when conditions call for it. The most-booked hike meets at the car park; the day trip collects you in Reykjavík.
The standard hike gives you about 1.5 to 2 hours on the ice. Ice climbing adds a natural ice wall on ropes, from age 14. The kayak tour stays on the lagoon below the snout. The "Katla ice cave" is not on Sólheimajökull at all: it is in Kötlujökull, another tongue of the same ice cap, reached by super jeep from Vík.
Most hikes run all year. Summer brings about 21 hours of daylight and time for Skógafoss and Vík after the ice; late December has about four, enough for the hike and little more. The blue ice caves people picture are a winter product in the far east, on Vatnajökull, roughly October to April.
Guides
In-depth guides to the questions people ask most before booking. See all guides.
The Sólheimajökull hikeThe walk in, the ice, the gear and the 2026 conditions, step by stepBest glacier hike in IcelandSólheimajökull or Skaftafell, climb, paddle or stroll: who should pick which
Glacier hike cost2026 prices at the glacier, from Reykjavík and with ice climbing, plus the extras
Ice caves in IcelandKatla from Vík all year, the Vatnajökull caves in winter, and what a Sólheimajökull hike does not include.
From ReykjavíkThe drive, the parking, a day trip or your own car, and Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and Reynisfjara on the way.Iceland's glaciersThe names and what they mean, Vatnajökull, the volcanoes under the ice, Jökulsárlón and Diamond Beach.From the blog
This year's conditions, winter on the glacier and Reynisfjara's warning lights. All posts.
Conditions at the glacier 2026The July warning, the new routes onto the ice and what it means for your booking.
Glacier hiking in winterShort days, what still runs, layers and boots, Route 1 and the ice cave season.
Reynisfjara safety 2026Sneaker waves, the warning lights and the lower red threshold since August 2025.FAQ
Straight answers to what people ask most about hiking Sólheimajökull and Iceland's glaciers.
For a first glacier hike near Reykjavík, Sólheimajökull: it is about 160 km away, the guided walks run all year and the ice is striped with black ash from old eruptions. Skaftafell on Vatnajökull is the bigger ice further east. The full comparison is in the best glacier hike in Iceland.
On Sólheimajökull, meeting at the glacier, from about $104 on GetYourGuide (2026). A day trip from Reykjavík with the hike starts from about $190, ice climbing from about $185, and the easy edge walk from $73. Boots are often extra. See what a glacier hike costs.
You can walk the trail to a viewpoint near the ice edge on your own, but not onto the glacier. Safetravel and the Icelandic Met Office warn of crevasses, an unstable ice ridge, deep cold lagoons and rockfall, and the advice since July 2026 is clear: on the ice only with a certified guide.
A standard guided hike takes about 3.5 to 4 hours from the car park, of which roughly 1.5 to 2 hours are on the ice. In 2026 the walk to the ice itself takes up to about an hour. With ice climbing, plan for 5 hours; from Reykjavík, a full day of 11 to 13 hours.
Most Sólheimajökull hikes take children from 8, some from 10 or 12. Ice climbing usually starts at 14. For younger children, the glacier edge walk welcomes all ages and needs no crampons.
Guided hikes with crampons, ice climbing on natural ice walls, ice caves, kayaking on glacier lagoons and snowmobiles on the ice caps. On Sólheimajökull you can hike, climb, walk to the edge or paddle the lagoon; the ice cave near Vík is on Kötlujökull.
Not on a normal hike. The "Katla ice cave" tours start in Vík and go into Kötlujökull, another tongue of the same ice cap. Caves on Sólheimajökull form and vanish; Icelandia sells a separate cave tour there when its guides find one. More in ice caves in Iceland.
Two areas. Near Vík, the Katla ice cave in Kötlujökull is visited all year by super jeep. In the far east, the blue caves of Vatnajökull, around Breiðamerkurjökull, open roughly October to April, conditions permitting, and close in summer since a cave collapsed in August 2024.
Jökull is Icelandic for glacier, which is why so many names end in it. Vatnajökull means "glacier of lakes" and Eyjafjallajökull the glacier of the island mountains, the Eyjafjöll.
Vatnajökull, about 7,700 km² in 2021 and roughly 8% of the country, with an average thickness of about 400 m. Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap that feeds Sólheimajökull, is the fourth largest. See Iceland's glaciers.
In the south-east, below Vatnajökull, about 4.5 to 5 hours' drive from Reykjavík and about three hours east of Sólheimajökull. Diamond Beach is the black-sand beach across the road, where icebergs from the lagoon wash ashore.
Sneaker waves: much bigger waves than the rest arrive without warning and pull people into the sea. A warning light at the beach has shown the risk since 2022, and the red threshold was lowered in 2025. Stay well back from the water.
Ready to book
Free cancellation on every trip on this site.
More: the hike with ice climbing · the edge walk for all ages · the Katla ice cave
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