There are so many wonderful things to do in Iceland, how do you choose what to do? After four trips to this extraterrestrial Arctic world, I have to recommend doing the ice cave tour! How many times in your life can you go inside a glacier on top of an active volcano? I did a lot of research about this tour because the whole thing just intrigued me. Here’s why I decided on the ice cave tour, and why you should too!
An Ice Cave in Iceland Isn’t Something You Can Do Without a Guide
There are warnings and notes everywhere all over Iceland, Iceland blogs, and tour guide websites NOT to ever go on (or in) a glacier alone. Glaciers are constantly moving, breaking apart, forming new cracks and crevices, and melting or becoming thinner in some places. Walking on glaciers is extremely unsafe without a guide who knows the glacier well. Walking inside or under a glacier is even more dangerous because it could cave in at any moment. Also, because the glacier is on top of an active volcano, you run the risk of exposure to carbon dioxide, chlorine, fluorine, and bromine from the volcano. In fact, our guide told us a man died just this year from exploring a glacier in Iceland’s highlands alone without the proper oxygen equipment.
If I haven’t scared you enough, book the trip. Icelandic guides know these glaciers and lands well. They know the roads to get you there, even if they’re covered in 6 feet of snow. They know how to quickly and safely put on crampons to avoid slipping on the ice. The know where the best ice caves are. And they know where and when to go to avoid falling icicles and collapsing walls. They will take you to the biggest, bluest, best ice caves! But even getting to the ice caves would be almost impossible without a tour guide.
More Expensive = Less Common
Look up any blog post on Iceland and you’ll see Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Thingvellir National Park, Diamond Beach, and the Glacier Lagoon. How often do you see photos of the beautiful ice caves inside glaciers in Iceland? At more than triple the cost of the popular Golden Circle tour, most people will opt out of Iceland’s ice cave tours. It’s also recommended to go inside the ice caves in winter, spring, or fall because in summer there are too many icicles melting and dropping from the ceilings.
Even though #Iceland's ice cave tours are pricey, they are well worth the cost. Share on XEven though it’s pricey, it’s well worth the cost. If you’re really looking to go off the beaten path and do something not many people have done, try the ice caves. Choose a small tour company for a small group. Choose an unpopular day or time to be the only ones on the tour! James and I booked a Thursday at 9:00 a.m. with a meeting point in Vik and we had a private tour with Katlatrack Adventure Tours; just our tour guide and us! We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
Beautiful Pictures
What really sold me on this tour was the beautiful photos I kept seeing on blogs and on Instagram. Following a bunch of Iceland photo Instagrams definitely helped sell me on another trip to Iceland and booking this tour. The photos are just incredible!
Iceland's ice caves are Instagram-worthy! Share on XSurprisingly, the ice isn’t clear or blue like I expected. Some of it is, of course. But because it sits on top of a volcano, the volcanic ash from eruptions every 50ish years embeds itself into the ice creating huge sheets and layers of black ice. Even though parts of it look like rock, it’s solid black ice. Other parts look like a layer cake, layering black, gray, white, and clear ice on top of each other. Finally, some of the inside walls of the ice cave are pure blue. The colors are just spectacular! Make sure you have a good camera for awesome photos inside the cave.
Where Else Can You Explore Ice Caves?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of going inside a glacier before. Maybe in Antarctica or Russia or somewhere else exotic, but I’ve only ever heard of it in Iceland. With such cheap flights to Iceland now too, it makes it so much easier to get there. Go ahead snowbirds, enjoy your beaches. You’ll never find an ice cave to explore in Aruba! If you want to do something totally unique and awesome, go to Iceland and explore the ice caves under the glaciers.
My Recommendations
I went on the ice cave tour in early April, the last week it was open. It was gorgeous weather: bright and sunny, mid 40s temperatures (5-10 C), and barely any tourists as it’s Iceland’s low season. In the low season, some tour companies offer discounts as well. Plus, you’re more likely to get a private tour, like we did. The earlier the better, so you can get it out of the way and move on to other things in the afternoon, plus people are more likely to sleep in and go to later tours. And finally, rent a car and meet on location in Vik. The meeting time will be later than the pickup time in Reykjavik, and the cost will be dramatically lower.
Review of Katlatrack Adventure Tours
Katlatrack was founded in 2009. It’s a smaller tour company that offers more tours geared towards Southern Iceland. You can explore the ice caves, go under the volcano, visit the hidden mountains, or schedule a custom tour all from Vik (or from Reykjavik for an additional cost).
Our guide with Katlatrack was very knowledgeable about the area. He was full of fun facts (one of my favorite was pointing out the location where Star Wars: Rogue One was filmed – insert giddy school girl jump here). He told us stories and folk tales about days of yore in South Iceland. And he played some really pump-up music to get ready to explore the ice caves!
The guide was also very quick and capable at helping us get our crampons on, and chose the right size just based on a quick glance. He was fast to offer his photography services so we could both be in pictures together, and he knew just the right angles to get the best colors. He also got us to the cave fast, before any other tour groups showed up. Overall, we felt like we were riding with a friend out to a fun adventure. Except we were in Iceland driving over fields of snow and between mountains to a huge glacier. Incredible!
Have you been ice caving in Iceland? What did you like? What didn’t you like? What’s stopping you from booking this adventure today?! Talk to me about it in the comments below!
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P.S. You might also enjoy Snorkeling the Freezing Waters of Silfra or Chasing Waterfalls in Iceland