3 hours Easy Level Glacier Hike
Skaftafell

Availability: Whole year

Take a guided walk on Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier, and experience one of Iceland’s most remarkable natural landscapes. Your certified glacier guide will lead you across the ice, pointing out unique formations and explaining the geology and history of this massive ice cap.

This tour offers more than just stunning views, it provides a rare opportunity to see a glacier up close at a time when these formations are rapidly changing. 

Exploring Vatnajökull gives insight into what much of the world looked like at the end of the last Ice Age, around 12,000 years ago, and a chance to witness a landscape that may not exist for future generations. 

The tour starts at Hof, where you’ll meet your glacier guide 20 minutes before departure. At the meeting point, you’ll be fitted with all the essential safety equipment: helmet, harness, crampons, and an ice axe. Once you're ready, the group will head out toward the glacier.

A short ride in the Tröll Bus brings you closer to the ice. From there, it's roughly a 20-minute walk to the glacier's edge. This approach route has changed over the years due to melting ice, and your guide will point out several striking features along the way, such as exposed bedrock shaped by glacial movement, a visible moss line on the surrounding slopes showing the glacier’s former height, and a meltwater lagoon that holds the last remnants of retreating ice.

At the glacier's edge, your guide will demonstrate how to walk safely with crampons and go over key safety instructions. The hike then begins across Falljökull, one of Vatnajökull’s most dynamic and scenic outlet glaciers.

During the tour you'll explore a variety of glacial features, deep crevasses, moulins, glacier mice (small moss-covered formations), and dramatic icefalls. The constantly changing landscape offers a unique look at the power and fragility of Iceland’s glaciers.