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The Katla Ice Cave Tour brings you on an incredible excursion through 800-year-old caves, blue glaciers, black sand beaches, magnificent waterfalls, world-famous sights, and so much more. Explore Iceland’s landscape by a Super Jeep and on foot on this unforgettable day tour.
Your adventure starts when your guide picks you up at the Katlatrack meeting point (N1 gas station). From there, you’ll have an exhilarating Super Jeep ride through the private back road of Vík to reach the glacier area.
This will be an offbeat experience that will show you the quieter, authentic side of Iceland, far away from the crowds and the mainstream tours. As local guides, we spend more time than anyone else exploring this landscape and we know where all of the best ice caves hide!
As always, your safety is paramount on our tours. Visitors should never risk exploring an ice cave without a highly experienced guide, so after fitting you up with some of our loan equipment (a helmet, headlamp and some crampons for your shoes), we’ll provide a full safety brief before making our way to the cave. After a short (10-15 minute) walk across the glacier, we’re ready to enter our ice cave!
The first stop is at the front of Kötlujökull – the Katla outlet glacier. Kötlujökull is actually part of the famous Mýrdalsjökull glacier – the fourth largest glacier in Iceland.
From here, you’ll take a short glacier hike across the ice to explore your first ice cave. You’ll marvel at the magnificent colors and textures inside the ice cave, and the stunning shapes and crystal clear blue ice will leave you in awe. Your ice cave guide will share the history of the ice caves of Iceland and explain how it was formed. You’ll learn how the volcanic eruptions of the Katla volcano caused the ash and sand to combine with the ice, to form the incredible shades of black and blue that appear almost like ‘dragon glass’. There will be plenty of ice cave photo opportunities, and plenty of time to ask questions and learn all you wish to know about these magnificent icy structures.
After some time in the main cave, you’ll take another short glacier walk as we hunt for secret waterfalls and hidden glacier canyons. You may have heard that visiting an ice cave is a “Once in a lifetime experience” – this couldn’t be truer, and we love nothing more than sharing this very unique experience with our guests! Iceland’s ice caves are constantly shifting and changing with the seasons, so the caves that you will experience on your glacier tour will never exist in the same form again. We are always scouting the glacier ice for new and hidden caves, so we know exactly where to find the most spectacular (and the safest) ice caves to show you on our tours. Some of these caves are on private land that can only be accessed with our guides, so it is also possible that your tour will include a visit to a secret ice cave. You’ll also explore one or two other ice caves, depending on the weather and ice conditions on the glacier.
After this incredible ice caving adventure, you’ll head back to the super jeep for our next destination: a private black sand beach. You will already be very familiar with Iceland’s most famous black sand beach, Reynisfjara, and we definitely recommend that you explore this beach in your own time. With us, you’ll visit a lesser-known black sand beach that you can explore and enjoy in privacy – far away from the tourist crowds!
Finally, your Super Jeep will take an exciting detour through the wild terrain to visit the actual film set from Star Wars Rogue One. You’ll see exactly where the opening scenes were shot as your guide shares all of the behind the scenes details. You’ll then go to some more filming locations such as Transformers, Noah, and Oblivion. Along the way, you will also enjoy some other memorable sights from the comfort of the Super Jeep, including the historical promontory of Hjörleifshöfði (named after one of the first Viking settlers in Iceland), the distinctive Reynisdrangar sea stacks, and of course, the beautiful local area around Vík.
The following is important information applicable to our tour. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us by email or phone, we are here to make your tour exceptional!
Operation:
This tour is operated by our trusted partner.
Pick up:
Pick-up is available from Town Hall of Reykjavík, Tjarnargötu 11 or Hlemmur Bus Stop. It might take up to 30 min for our guides to reach your pick-up point, so please wait patiently for us to arrive. As much as possible be prepared and ready to go.
Booking:
Our day tours are very popular and we have many days when all the available seats are booked out. Please book your tour early to avoid disappointment. You can book this tour online using the booking form or just call our office. We typically respond to phone calls from 8:00 AM to 17:00 PM GMT – if you do not reach us, please send an email and we will reply to your message as soon as possible.
Prices:
All prices are per person. We accept payment by major credit and debit cards with no additional fees. Gratuities are not included.
Tour itinerary changes:
At all times your safety is our first priority. You can expect any kind of weather in Iceland. For this reason, the tour itinerary may be subject to change the sights without notice or the tour might be canceled due to weather, or other unforeseen circumstances. Ice cave tours are weather dependent and they get canceled with short notice due to safety or weather reasons. After a heavy rain previous days before the tour, the cave sometimes gets full of water. It can also be too warm for us to enter the caves, the ice can be unstable and not safe to go under. If the timing changes, we will need your valid mobile phone number to contact you and inform you of the time change. Please don’t forget to fill out your phone number on the booking form. If the tour is canceled, you can choose to receive a full refund or to reschedule your tour for another day. We make every effort to avoid any such changes wherever possible.
What to bring:
CLOTHING
Appropriate footwear and suitable outdoor clothing must be worn at all times. We reserve the right to refuse participation if not correctly equipped since this will put the clients at risk. In case of refusal, the refund will not be possible.
Feet
– Woolen socks
– Good waterproof hiking boots with good ankle support
Lower body
– Baselayer- wool or synthetic (no cotton!)
– Light and comfortable hiking trousers softshell for example (no jeans!)
– Wind and waterproof trousers
Upper body
– Full sleeve base layer wool or synthetic (no cotton!)
– Thin fleece or similar
– Thick warm fleece, or puffy jacket down or synthetic, or just a nice warm jacket.
– Wind and waterproof jacket.
Hands
– Gloves. It´s good to have two pairs.
Head
– Warm hat/beanie that might work under a helmet.
Note: beanie’s with pompom are not recommended since the pompom does not go
under the helmet.
– Buff or balaclava or neck gaiter.
– Sunglasses
Medical conditions:
Please note that this tour may not be suitable for those with claustrophobia. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Payment and cancelation:
Full payment is required at time of booking to secure your place. We require 24 hrs notice of cancellation for a refund. Any cancellation made within less than 24 hours prior to departure will be fully charged.
Authorized Tour Operator and Travel Agency certified by the Icelandic Tourist Board, a proud member of the Icelandia family. Tours offered on this website are sold under the license of Ferðaskrifstofa Kynnisferða.