ITINERARY
Meeting with your Guide
For this Private Winter Glacier Zipline + Ice Cave Adventure, you will meet your guide at the Glacier Lagoon parking lot in Vatnajokull National Park. The official address for this location is: í Hornafirði, Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon, 781 Höfn or you can simply type this location in Google Maps. It is important to be aware that this is a 5+ hour drive (one way) from Reykjavik so it is always recommended to stay at an accommodation closer to this meeting point.
It is best to arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled tour so you can use the restrooms since there will be none at the glacier. Your guide will be right across from the restrooms in the bus parking lot. You can look for the logo on our 4×4 vehicle amongst the other companies.
Drive in 4×4 to Vatnajokull Glacier
From the Glacier Lagoon parking lot, you will hop aboard one of our 4×4 vehicles and head towards the glacier. About 10 minutes into your journey, you will turn off onto an F-Road and make the bumpy journey toward the glacier. From the road to the glacier parking lot, this will take roughly 20-30 minutes to reach. As you drive, your guide will teach you the history of the surrounding area as you enjoy a scenic ride through an ancient glacier plain.
Hike to the Ice Cave
Once you arrive at the glacier parking lot, your guide will begin handing out your gear for the tour. This includes crampons, an ice axe, a harness, a helmet with a headlamp, and hiking boots if you rented them. Once everyone has their gear, you will take a 30-minute hike to the edge of the glacier. The hike is relatively easy for most and will have you walking on flat, yet slightly rocky ground the entire way. We will always go at the pace of our guests so you can take your time and enjoy the walk as your guide leads the way.
Arriving at the Iceland Crystal Ice Cave
Upon arriving at the edge of the glacier, you will be greeted with a massive cavern in front of you with a river running underneath it. You have finally reached our Crystal Ice Cave! Also regarded as the Sapphire Ice Cave, this cave varies each year in its shape, location, and size. This is because the cave is always melting away and reforming naturally during the summertime. That is why you will always get a unique experience when going into it because it will never be the same as it was on that day.
Ice caves are a dynamic ever-changing natural phenomenon. Each year, old ice caves melt and new ice caves appear. Photos that you see of the cave at any given time on our website or any social media will not necessarily mean that is what you will necessarily experience on your tour. This makes each experience unique and special for our guests.
Before entering the cave, your guide will help you put on your crampons. After your guide instructs you on how to put them on, your guide will go over a safety briefing about walking on the glacier and exploring the cave. It’s important to understand and follow these rules and to ask any questions that you may have before stepping foot on the ice.
Exploring the Crystal Ice Cave
Entering the ice cave will be an unreal and otherworldly experience for most people. Your eyes will slowly adjust to the crystal blue walls of the cave and showcase its hidden beauty. As your guide leads you deeper into the ice cave, they will take their camera and photograph you in the best locations and angles. Having explored and photographed these caves hundreds of times, they will have the best insight at getting you amazing photos while you relax and enjoy the cave without worry.
As you are enjoying the ice cave, your guide will teach you about its formation and composition. You will spend roughly an hour inside the cave, exploring all of the different areas. Normally, these caves will have multiple chambers that you will be able to explore as you go deeper into the cave, however, this can vary from year to year. After everyone is happy with their photos and experience inside the cave, we will exit and make our way onto the glacier.
Glacier Hike to the Zip Line
Next, you will put your crampons into the ice and make your way onto Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier. Hiking on the ice is definitely a unique feeling and may take some getting used to but by the end of the tour, you won’t want to take your crampons off! As you hear the crunch below you, you will march forward and follow your guide up the glacier toward the direction of the moulin where you will jump on the zip line. Throughout this, your guide will show you different formations on the glacier known as moulins or deep glacial holes. All while admiring the barren landscape around you, you will feel like you are in a different world.
SPECIAL NOTE: It will be colder than you think up on the glacier. Therefore, it is very important that you have dress appropriately for our Private Winter Glacier Zipline Tour. As it’s windy and exposed on the glacier and especially at the Zipline while you’re waiting your turn. Feel free to jump back to our How to Dress blog post to guide you!
Private Winter Glacier Zipline
After making your epic jumps on the zip line, you will head back up the slope and off the glacier knowing that you are one of the few that got to experience something so special here in Iceland.
Return to the Glacier Lagoon
You will finish the tour with a hike back to the glacier parking lot and a 30-minute drive back to the Glacier Lagoon where you will say goodbye to your guide and have memories of an amazing day inside of Vatnajokull National Park.
