A Must-Do Iceland Glacier Hike

This glacier hike was one of the highlights of our amazing four day trip to Iceland. You never know what that AH-HA is going to be when you embark on your vacation. I knew this was going be good, but it was GREAT! I cannot compare the feeling of walking on a glacier to anything I have ever experienced.

How to did it

We booked an all day Solheimajokull Glacier Hiking and South Coast Tour with Guide to Iceland. The glacier hike portion was operated by Icelandic Mountain Guides. This part of the tour was about three hours. You can get to Solheimajokull Glacier in your own vehicle — it is about two hours from Reijkavik. However, we were driving the Golden Circle on our own the next day so we decided to let someone else do the driving this time!

You can find more information about the overall tour and our trip itinerary at: Four Summer Days in Iceland (coming soon).

The glacier hike

The bus tour dropped four of us off at the base while the rest of the group went to a beach and lunch. If they only knew what they were missing! We met our guide and got our gear: a harness with an ice pick and crampons. We wore gym shoes and hiking boots but our guide lent us better hiking boots. You walk to the glacier without the crampons. We did use the ice pick while climbing the ice stairs up to the top of the glacier. Nonetheless, is an easy hike.

You could walk to the glacier and up for some photos — but I would not go farther than that without a guide. You want a certified guide because they know where it is safe to go out on the glacier. Our guide showed us where the old route up to the glacier is now melting into the lake.

The top of the glacier was stunning. It is so much bigger than it looks from the distance. Along the way you will learn interesting facts about glaciers and the area’s history. The icing on the cake was doing push-ups to get down and drink pure glacier water. We also went in an icy blue cave and peered into a deep sink hole while our guide held on our harness.

They also offer climbing tours on the glacier. NEXT TIME!