Reviewers are harder to please on a glacier than anywhere else on this site, and yet this is the category where they rate the guides highest: 4.7 and 4.8 across four listings. The reason is simple. On an aurora night the sky decides whether you had a good time. On the ice, the guide does, and Icelandic glacier guides are certified, roped-up professionals who spend the winter walking the same crevasse fields.
Picked and checked by Björn Einarsson, Icelandic guide, against each operator's live listing
Which glacier hike in Iceland is best?
Sólheimajökull: Blue Ice Glacier Hike is the pick for most winter visitors, rated 4.7 across 1,417 GetYourGuide reviews, with three hours on the ice, certified glacier guides and safety gear included. It meets at the Sólheimajökull car park or runs with a transfer from Reykjavík, which keeps the day to a sane length. Skaftafell's small-group hike matches it at 4.7 across 601 Viator reviews and walks better ice, but it starts four hours east of the city and carries no Reykjavík pickup at all.
The four Iceland glacier hikes worth booking
Three of these walk Sólheimajökull, the outlet glacier that reaches down almost to the South Coast road. The fourth is out at Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park, and its logistics are a different animal. Every one of them includes the hardware: crampons, a helmet, a harness and an ice axe. What you rent, and where the bus does or does not collect you, is where they genuinely differ.
Most reviewed glacier hike here
Best all-round glacier day: the biggest review sample in the category, three full hours on the ice, and a choice between driving yourself or being collected
Sólheimajökull: Blue Ice Glacier Hike near Vík (about 3 hours on the ice)
4.7across 1,417 GetYourGuide reviews
Meets at the Sólheimajökull car park by the big yellow school bus, or runs from Reykjavík with transfers if you are not driving
Certified glacier guides and safety gear are included in the price, so there is no separate hardware charge on the day
Runs year-round, conditions dependent, and carries the listing's "Top rated" badge
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Arctic Adventures. The 4.7 is the listing's current GetYourGuide figure. Glacier walks are cancelled when the ice or the weather says so, and no operator will argue with that call.
Booked 10+ times last week
Best ice, worst logistics: a group capped at 12 on Vatnajökull's edge, with no Reykjavík pickup on this product at all
Skaftafell Glacier Hike 3-Hour Small Group Tour
4.7across 601 Viator reviews
Maximum 12 people, meeting at the Tröll Expeditions Skaftafell meeting point, then a short drive to the glacier outlet
Certified glacier guide, helmets, harness and ice axe are included, and so are coffee and chocolates at the end
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and reserve now, pay later is offered on the listing
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Troll Expeditions. Hotel pickup from Reykjavík is explicitly excluded, as are food, drinks and the rental of hiking boots, waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers. Skaftafell is about four hours east of the city, so most people reach it inside a multi-day winter package rather than as a day trip.
#1 most booked in Vík
Best for a longer walk in a smaller party: four hours, capped at 15, on the same glacier as the top card
Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike: Small Group Blue Ice Adventure (about 4 hours)
4.8across 547 Viator reviews
Meets at the Sólheimajökull glacier parking lot with a small-group guarantee, maximum 15 on the rope
Glacier crampons, helmet, harness and ice axe included; hiking shoes and waterproof gear are rentable extras, not part of the price
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, reserve now and pay later, and the listing currently shows "Badge of Excellence" and "High interest"
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
Operated by Arctic Adventures, the same company as the top card, on the same glacier. You are paying for the extra hour and the smaller group, not for different ice.
Ice climbing included
Best single day out of Reykjavík: waterfalls on the drive, a hike on the glacier, and a swing at an ice wall on a rope, in a group of no more than eight
Operated by Arctic Adventures. Because it takes in both big waterfalls, it doubles as a light South Coast day. Food, drinks and hiking boots are excluded, and boots can be rented.
Opens the operator's official listing, where the live price and open times for your date are shown.
Comparing the four glacier hikes
Ratings, review counts, group caps and inclusions as shown on each operator's live listing. Prices are not printed here because they move by date and currency; the listing shows the real one.
Hike
Platform
Rating
Length
Group cap
Reykjavík transport
Sólheimajökull Blue Ice
GetYourGuide
4.7 (1,417)
About 3 h on the ice
Not stated
Transfer option available
Skaftafell small group
Viator
4.7 (601)
3 h
12
None on this product
Sólheimajökull small group
Viator
4.8 (547)
4 h
15
Meet on location
Sólheimajökull hike + ice climb
GetYourGuide
4.8 (448)
Full day
8
Round-trip from Reykjavík
The column that decides most bookings is the last one. Sólheimajökull sits directly on the ring road roughly two hours from Reykjavík, so a hike there fits inside a normal winter day even when there are only five or six hours of usable light. Skaftafell does not, and pretending otherwise is how people end up driving black ice in the dark. Without a car the honest choices narrow to two: the Reykjavík round-trip listed above, or a South Coast day tour that stops at the same Sólheimajökull car park for a look from the path.
Two glaciers, two completely different days
Meeting points and gear splits taken from the live listings. Distances are road distances from Reykjavík.
Hike
Meeting point
From Reykjavík
Gear included
Rentable extras
Who it suits
Sólheimajökull Blue Ice
Sólheimajökull car park, by the yellow school bus
About 2 hours by road
Certified guide plus safety gear
Not itemised on the listing
First-timers who want the standard, well-trodden version
Skaftafell small group
Tröll Expeditions Skaftafell meeting point
About 4 hours by road
Guide, helmets, harness, ice axe, coffee and chocolates
Crampons, helmet, harness, ice axe, ropes, transport
Hiking boots
People without a car who want one big day
Read the rentable column before you pack. Two of these listings exclude waterproof trousers and proper boots, and rent them at the meeting point, which is fine until fifteen people are queueing for kit in a car park at minus three. Our winter packing guide covers what actually keeps you dry on ice, and if you are weighing up driving to the glacier yourself, the self-drive versus guided comparison is the honest version of that argument.
What a glacier hike actually involves
The car park. Boots checked, crampons handed out, harness on. Guides look at footwear first, because a soft trainer will not hold a crampon and you will be sent to the rental table.
The moraine walk. Fifteen to twenty-five minutes over grey rubble and dead ice before you reach anything white. This bit is ugly and everybody underestimates it.
Crampons on. A short lesson: walk flat-footed, feet apart, stamp rather than step. It takes about four minutes to learn and it is the whole technique.
On the ice. Ridges, sinkholes, blue meltwater channels and ash layers from old eruptions running through the ice like tree rings. The guide picks a route that changes week to week.
The optional wall. On the ice-climbing product, a roped-up attempt at a short vertical face with axes. Most people get up it. Nobody looks graceful.
Back down. Gear returned at the car park. On the Reykjavík product the bus then drives you home in the dark, which in January starts around half past four.
A representative sequence on Sólheimajökull. Exact timings vary by operator and by what the ice is doing that week.
What a recent hiker said
Amazing time on the glacier, such a great experience. Our guide was Lucas who was brilliant. Would definitely recommend
Beth, February 2026, GetYourGuide, Sólheimajökull Blue Ice Glacier Hike
That is the shape of most of the 1,417 reviews on that listing: the guide gets named, the ice gets an adjective, and nobody complains about the weather. That is the Sólheimajökull Blue Ice hike, 4.7 across those 1,417 reviews, and it is the one to check what it costs for your dates if this is your first time on a glacier. Compare it with the aurora tours, where a quarter of the reviews are really weather reports, and you can see why glacier hiking rates a full half-point higher across this site.
Where these glacier hikes go
Sólheimajökull is an outlet tongue of Mýrdalsjökull, the ice cap that sits on top of the Katla volcano. It is signposted off the ring road between Skógafoss and Vík, and the car park is a short gravel spur from the main road. Skaftafell is a different proposition entirely, out on the southern edge of Vatnajökull.
Sólheimajökull is roughly two hours' drive from Reykjavík, just before Vík, which is about 190 km from the city. Skaftafell is a further two hours east again. Before you drive either in winter, check road.is for live conditions, because the South Coast closes in high wind more often than visitors expect.
Hold a date on the ice
Three of the four hikes here cancel free up to 24 hours before, and two of them let you reserve now and pay later, so putting a date in the diary costs nothing while you work out the rest of the week. Winter departures do get pulled for weather, and every operator reschedules or refunds when they make that call.
Yes, and winter is the normal season for it. The Sólheimajökull hikes run year-round, conditions dependent, and the Skaftafell small-group walk operates through the winter too. What changes is daylight and weather: in December you have about four hours of usable light in Reykjavík, so a morning departure matters, and high wind on the South Coast cancels more departures in January than in July.
Do you need experience to hike a glacier in Iceland?
No. All four listings here are guided walks with certified glacier guides who fit your crampons, teach the walking technique at the ice edge and pick the route. You need to be steady on your feet for a couple of hours over uneven ground, and you need footwear stiff enough to hold a crampon. Each listing states its own age and fitness requirements, so read that section before you book for a child or an older relative.
What do you wear for a glacier hike in Iceland?
Warm layers under a waterproof shell, waterproof trousers, gloves, a hat, and stiff walking boots that cover the ankle. Not trainers: crampons need a firm sole to bite into. Two of these listings rent boots and waterproofs at the meeting point, which is worth pre-booking rather than assuming. Jeans are the classic mistake, because they hold meltwater against your legs for the rest of the day.
Is Sólheimajökull or Skaftafell better for a glacier hike?
Skaftafell walks more dramatic ice, on the edge of Vatnajökull, in a group capped at 12. Sólheimajökull is easier to reach and carries far more reviews, 1,417 on the top listing alone. The deciding factor is where you are sleeping. Skaftafell is about four hours east of Reykjavík with no pickup on that product, so it makes sense only if you are already staying out that way.
Can you do Skaftafell as a day trip from Reykjavík in winter?
Not sensibly. Skaftafell is roughly four hours each way, and in midwinter you have four to eight hours of daylight to spend, so almost all of the driving happens in the dark on roads that ice over. The Skaftafell listing here does not offer Reykjavík pickup for exactly that reason. If you want that stretch of the country, book it inside a two or three-day package that includes the hotels.
What happens if a glacier hike is cancelled for weather?
You get moved or refunded. Icelandic operators cancel glacier departures when wind, rain or the state of the ice makes the route unsafe, and that call is made by the guiding company, not by you. Three of these listings state free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, which also lets you pull out yourself when the forecast turns ugly the day before.
Is a glacier hike safe in Iceland?
With a certified guide and the supplied gear, yes; alone, no. Icelandic glaciers hide crevasses and moulins under snow bridges, which is why every listing here includes a rope, a harness and a helmet, and why walking out onto the ice without a guide is what search and rescue teams spend their winters warning people about. Official safety advice is published at safetravel.is.
