Glacier Adventure: Ice Climbing Vatnajökull

Embark on a thrilling glacier hike and ice climb in Skaftafell. Scale ice walls, explore crevasses, and experience Vatnajökull’s raw beauty with expert guides.

Duration: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Skaftafell - We begin your glacier adventure at the Skaftafell Booking Center, where our expert guides await to introduce you to this icy wonderland.
    After a briefing on the tour and safety rules, ensuring you’re informed and prepared,and gearing up, we embark on a 20-minute drive to Falljökull glacier.
    Brace yourself for a scenic hike,…
What's Included
  • Small Group Guarantee
  • Guided Glacier Hike
  • Glacier Gear (Crampons, Ice Pick, Helmet & Ice Climbing boots)
What's Not Included
  • Food and Drinks
  • Warm, waterproof clothes (waterproof jacket & pants available to rent for a fee)
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

This activity offers a thrilling combination of glacier exploration and ice climbing on Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull. Participants have the opportunity to scale towering ice walls and descend into crevasses, experiencing the raw power and beauty of the glacier up close. Led by experienced guides, adventurers receive personalized instruction and…

Location
Arctic Adventures (Skaftafell Base Camp)
The tour departs from the Arctic Adventures Booking Hut, located on the parking lot of Skaftafell National Park. Skaftafell National Park is located just off of the main ring road, on road #998. Skaftafell is approximately 4.5-5 hours east of Reykjavik and 1.5 hours west of Höfn.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(19 Ratings)
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Kimmellc
Oct 25, 2025
Great Experience! - I took this tour with Sara and had the best time! She went above and beyond to make sure everyone was comfortable and having fun. Definitely feel like we made the most of this experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T4587dmmichaelp
Oct 15, 2025
Your best day in Iceland - If you are interested in an adventurous, physical activities this tour is a must do! You also need to ask for Martin as a tour guide. Martin is hilarious, knowledgeable, a great photographer, and an incredible teacher. His genuine love of the glaciers is infectious. Thanks to him (and as he predicted before our tour started), this was our best day in Iceland.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Qingyuan
Oct 4, 2025
Love it! - Christian is the best! Professional, kind and warm. The ice climbing and hiking experience is pretty good. A bit challenging and lots of fun.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Excursion08200913869
Sep 18, 2025
Extreme ice climbing and hike - BOOK IT!! - We booked the Xtreme Ice Climbing and Hike tour not really knowing what to expect, and it turned out to be way more fun than we imagined! The ice climbing was absolutely legit—challenging, exciting, and so much better than we thought it would be. I traveled with my fiancée and two other adult family members, and every one of us was so glad we decided on this adventure. Our guide, Sarah, was the best. She’s clearly super skilled and knowledgeable, and she made us feel completely safe and confident throughout the day. Her guidance and encouragement really made the experience even more enjoyable. Not to mention she's clearly as badass. If you’re on the fence about booking this tour, do it—you won’t regret it. We’ll be talking about this one for a long time!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Sep 13, 2025
Adventure pure - We have booked this adventurous tour well in advance and we’re super excited. Our guide Sara equipped us with all necessary gear and led us safely throughout the glacier. We had four climbs included which were increasing in its height (and depth :D) and difficulty. As Sara said in the beginning you won’t remember the first climb then you did the last. Combined with hiking on the glacier we had so much fun and it was our highlight in Iceland. I would recommend to book the extreme one as it’s unforgettable. Thanks again to Sara !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y9408gssimont
Sep 12, 2025
Amazing! Choose the Sara guide - Incredible, the Sara guide was perfect, I recommend 100% for all the sensations you can have and the beauty of the scenery! If you know your excursion will be amazing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
782lynah
Aug 7, 2025
XTREME GLACIER HIKE IS A MUST-DO! - I solo-ed out on the XTREME GLACIER HIKE TOUR and it definitely lived up to its name! Our tour guides, Christian and Darragh, were fantastic! They made sure we had all the proper equipment, made aware of all the safety precautions, explained the terrain, and hiked us through Vatnajokull Glacier.. and most excitedly, had us safely ax-climbing and repelling on the glacier. In less words, I was scared sh*tless but 1000% recommend experiencing this! If you want to get out of your comfort zone, this is the best place to be, a once in a lifetime experience!! Thanks so much Christian, Darragh, and Arctic Adventures! HAD A BLAST and a memory I'll NEVER FORGET!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mattcockerill
Apr 21, 2025
Fantastic day ice climbing with Pavel - We had an incredible time learning to ice climb on Vatnajokull with Pavel. He was great fun and also a great teacher, making sure the whole group enjoyed their day. He was extremely knowledgeable about the glacier and also gave us plenty of recommendations for the rest of our Iceland trip. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elena_c
Mar 17, 2025
Amazing ice climbing adventure! - We did the ice climbing with our guide Pawl who was incredible—-honestly one of my favorite outdoor experiences! 5 climbs, one small and very safe free climb, beautiful glacier, small intimate group. Pawl was incredibly knowledgeable about the glacier, things to do around the area and in Iceland and was very very safety conscious. Highly recommend, will def do this again! For reference, I’m moderately fit and my 66 year old dad is fit and was still able to participate and have fun!
Review provided by Viator
Nadia
Feb 7, 2025
Beautiful and good trip - Really good and nice experience to walk on the glacier and see the beautiful ice caves. Our guide Darragh was very pleasant and skilled, and he told a lot about the Glacier. Can highly recommend this trip
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $248
up to 6 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).