Katla Volcano Ice Cave Tour from Vik

amazing hike

Wow. this was the best day of our trip to iceland. Thor was an amazing guide. the ice cave was incredible!! You get crampons and a helmet to hike the glacier which really helped with the hike. the hike itself was about a mile total, not bad at all.

Excellent tour and guide

The whole tour was great, from start to finish. The driver was very safe and knowledgeable, it a must do tour.

ice cave exploration

I learned more about glaciers during the tour. It was amazing to be walking on a glacier and see how massive it was. I will say the pictures online give an impression of a large cave that you will be hiking through. Reality is the actual cave portion that you walk through is maybe 100 meters. It was still fun to do, just do not set your expectations that you will be walking through an ice cave for any long period of time.

A Unique, Icy, Hiking Adventure

Tour started on time, and our tour guide was local, very friendly and knowledgeable about the area and history. Started with a 30 minute off-road ride in a super jeep to the base of the glacier. Tour guide provided information about the surrounding landscape during the ride. Tour guide provided a helmet and crampons for the hike, also went over the best techniques for walking on the ice safely. Tour included hiking up and down the glacier, and visiting an ice cave. The ice cave visited changes weekly depending on the melting rate of the cave and glacier. The views were amazing. I loved learning about the structure of the glacier, and how it changes so rapidly was eye-opening. I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants to interact with the Icelandic landscape on a deeper level.

Awesome experience

The views were otherworldly and breathtaking; climbing around an actual glacier was something I never imagined doing but now recommend to everyone I know!

Wonderful Catla

It was a perfect day, totally worth it seeing the unique glacier mixed with lava!!! Amazing photos in the cave and best of all our guide Helgi the Aquaman!!!

Amazing adventure

Awe inspiring, amazing adventure. Our tour guide, Thor, was interesting and informative and helped make the outing an experience we will never forget. One recommendation is to get to the meeting point early - the super jeep ride was extremely bumpy and we were the last to arrive and thus left to sit in the back row which amplified the rough terrain.

Awesome experience!

Very cool experience during our time in Iceland! Beautiful views all around and the ice cave was awesome. Very relaxed tour with an awesome guide!

Book This Company!

This was AMAZING! Highly recommend! The jeep ride out was worth the trip in and of itself and confirmed the fact that these glaciers should only be explored with an expert! A very fun day learning about the volcano, the glacier, and the science and history of it all. The guides are knowledgeable, accommodating and professional. This was a great option for our family of 4 and I would recommend them to anyone considering this.

Great afternoon experience on the glacier.

Highly recommend! We had a great guide (Hawk) and the glacier was very interesting. A couple hours of driving for an hour on site, but worth it. Great drive out, too.

Awesome experience

This was a great experience . We were able to see the beautiful ice cave, and the weather was perfect. Our guide was informative.

Go for it !

What a great experience we had. It was fun, knowledgeable, exciting, moderate active, our guid was vwry fun! We went on a big truck through raugh areas to the volcano, had a beautiful walk to the top of the volcano, walked down to the heart of the volcano, had a walk through the ice cave, and took bunch of pictures. It is a beautiful scenery. Bring some water with you, in case you get thursty walking up top and of course don't forget the camera!

Amazing and frustrating

Amazing this eye of ice but probably the last time (year) for me amazing and frustrating that this will survive because of the glacier melt

It was an amazing...

It was an amazing experience driving through the volcanic landscape and then climbing to the beautiful ice caves.

See a glacier from the outside and inside!!

You will get to ride in a vehicle that can take you where most others will never go! After walking about 20 minutes you will strap some crampons on your shoes and head to the glacier. The views are stunning both outside and in. It is an amazing experience!

Favorite Excursion

Out of all of the excursions we did, this was my favorite! It was beautiful scenery from Reykjavik to Vik. The Bristo was easy to find and we ate there afterwards. It was really good. There are bathrooms at the pick up point, you will want to stop there prior to the tour. The tour picks you up in white enclosed jeeps. The drive is about 30 minutes to the caves. Once we went off road it is bumpy, but beautiful seeing snow covered mountains, volcanic rock/dust and the glacier. The ice caves are truly amazing!! It is a pretty good walk up hill to get to the crampons. Once we got those on it was much easier to walk on the ice and snow. The wind is an issue when it comes up, so be sure to wear rain/wind pants as an extra layer of clothing. It is so cool when you get up into the caves! I have nothing but praise for our tour guides. They both went above and beyond their normal duties to help with my grandson who has balance issues and has to hold on to someone on uneven surfaces. When the wind came up it was more than my husband and I could handle, we were trying to keep ourselves up. They took over and he said it was a great experience!

Amazing Ice Cave & Waterfalls Day with Vjeran

Went with guide Vjeran and he's awesome. Great knowledge of Icelandic history which he shared with us during the drive, great skill driving in the challenging conditions we encountered, organized, and helps everyone to feel comfortable and included.

DO NOT USE if you might have bad weather!

DO NOT USE them!!! They will not refund even when the main website used by Iceland tells you not to travel. We really wanted to do this tour but received warnings from Safetravel.is to not go from Reykjavík to Vik where the tour was. We explained this to Arctic Adventure and they said they have a no refund policy as it was less than 24 hrs. How are we supposed to know when road closures will occur? Should I have put myself and my friend in danger to get there? We are taking the loss of a lot of money and are very disappointed!!

Fun!

Great experience! The drive and the walk were a lot of fun and the ice cave was incredible up close. Robert was a great host and very knowledgeable.

Good tour, very interesting

Good tour and guide. Very interesting to learn about how the ice caves are formed and how the glaciers change

Fun and amazing glacier/ice cave tour

Incredible place, very surreal views. Highly recommend doing this tour. The ride was also super fun and bouncy. It was a tight space in the van to get in/out and I would not recommend this tour if mobility is an issue. Our guide Alex helped make the experience fun. We went on a sunny day so the waterproof clothes were not needed, but the van seats and helmets were still wet from the rain on the previous day so it was nice to have waterproof pants just for that.

Unreal Experience

I don’t remember where I learnt about this ice cave tour from but I knew I wanted to do it. I was fortunate to book it at the hotel Ranga the day before. My husband and I were skeptical and very nervous the day of the activity but it turned out to be one of the most amazing things we did in Iceland. We did it with katlatrack and our tour guide was amazing. The glacier was beautiful and to be surrounded by that much ice was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or experienced. I hiked through knee high water to get into a smaller cave. It wasn’t that cold. We even drank some of the glacier water.

Katla Ice Cave

Was an awesome experience. Highly recommend doing it. Our guide was great too. Be sure to wear warm clothes.

DO NOT skip this! Fabulous adventure!

Such a unique experience- and so fun! Do not miss the opportunity to explore the ice caves-the tour -and our tour guide- were great!

Beautiful, super fun and really interesting!

Quite something to see - so glad we did it. The tour guides were fantastic - knowledgeable and super funny! The melting glacier was breath taking… after a 20minute ride to Katla in a super jeep it’s an easy 10min hike to the entrance. You get your crampons and then head into the cave with which had lots of wooden bridges to cross over the ice and running water. This could be scary for some and older travelers could find it a bit tricky but the guides were there to assist all they way. It was not cold at all! Ended up taking a few layers off as the trip continued. All in all great experience!

Fun day!

Fun day! Our Guide, Franklin, kept us entertained and informed. The Ice Cave is amazing and only time I’ve been able to walk INTO a glacier. We had plenty of time to explore and take photos. Also visited the Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls. Would have loved to spend more time at the waterfalls and do some hiking, but chose the tour so we didn’t have to drive ourselves. Mini bus was comfortable and easy.

Amazing

Walking in the cave/tunnel to have a great experience. And we had a great guide in Alex who was very informative.

Other-worldly

The meeting place in Vik was not not clear - we just had an address and were a bit confused until we found other groups congregating around the back of the shopping centre. The guide Jon (sp?) was friendly, relaxed, and knowledgeable. The drive to the foot of the glacier in the superjeep was great, with a scenic stop in the way. The ice cave itself was awesome and other-worldly. A lot of work evidently goes into preparing the walkways over crevasses, but people who have a fear of heights might have trouble. The only negative was that I felt a bit rushed inside the cave, as space is limited and other groups needed to enter/leave

Fantastic tour and excellent guide

The Ice Cave tour was excellent from start to finish! The ride in was a fun, bumpy experience with great views and interesting scenery. The tour itself was very well organized and a once-in-a-lifetime experience (literally, as the ice is always changing). They provided the right equipment and had bridges and ice stairs constructed to make it easily accessible. Helge, our guide, was very knowledgeable, helpful and had a great sense of humour. Even the weather was great!

Beautiful glacier but terrible tour company

The guide had no patience. He was probably a nice guy, but didn’t seem happy to be there and was irritated by questions. Our super jeep broke down on the way to the ice cave, so another vehicle got a rope and towed us to the site. We started an hour late at the cave. I thought they would have replaced our vehicle during the tour, but we were again pulled by rope all the way back to Vik. I believe this is a company issue and not the guide. We consistently had terrible experiences with Arctic Adventures. Stay away from this company when booking in Iceland.

Amazing

Amazing walk on the glacier, our guide Helke and his colleague are very friendly and supportive. the weather was perfect on the day ..

Incredible place

Unforgettable place !!! "Must see" for everybody who travel at the summer time. The guides came at the time, everything was correct and safety. Just short drive by car and you are in the cave! Hope you will lucky with sunny weather))

Spectacular !

Amazing experience ! The guide Helgi was really nice and fun. The cave was spectacular. We went through it then arrived in a crater in the glacier. We had plenty of time to take hundreds of pictures ! Even the ride to there through the sander and the fields of lupins was nice.

Unique experience

An experienced company, good information in a laid-back atmosphere. Entry to the Super Jeep would have been aided by provision of a step!!

Amazing

This was such an amazing tour! Highly recommend! We had Helgi and was the perfect guide on our journey through the cave. Loved every minute!

Awesome 🤩

Very well organised, special thanks to Hilmar (bus driver, extremely helpful & wonderful human) & Thor (our ice cave guide), it was a memorable day 😇

Recommend for a glacier and ice cave tour

Amazing scenery in and on a glacier. Super jeep ride to site was fun as well. Definitely recommend. Left from Vik from very central location

Absolutely stunning!

Arni was the best! Very knowledgeable, technically adept and funny! #dadjokes Seriously amazing tour that will be remembered for years to come!

Once in a lifetime experience

This was an incredible tour. The van ride up was a little less than comfortable (don’t sit in the back) but well worth it once you arrived. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and ensured all of our safety,especially mine. I was very fearful crossing the foot paths and walking on the ice. He held my hands and I was able to experience it with pleasure and excitement. Trust the crampons they really do keep you secure on the ice. Don’t miss this opportunity to walk into an ice cave. For our group ( four adults) it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Fun 3 hours at Katla.

We met at the pick-up spot and set off pretty soon after. The ride is very bumpy and lasts about 40 minutes. Your guide will provide crampons and a helmet (you can fit a hat under them). Dress warm and in waterproof pants. Don't wear white or light colors as you will get dirty as well as wet. Make sure to wear hiking boots and pants- this is not a place for jeans and sneakers (or for you to try to look "cute" rather than practical- you'll regret it). And also bring good gloves. The tour of the cave is a bit precarious with small boards over crevices so if you are afraid of heights, this might not be for you. Our guide (John) was very knowledgable and gave us ample opportunity for photos. Worth the money.

Glacier

It was a great experience! Nice guide. Cool jeep. Impressive to see the decline of the glacier over the years. Hope that my grandchildren still can experience the beauty of nature.

Awesome experience

I had a best experience with Arctic adventures. The tour guides were fantastic! Funny and knowledgeable Super jeep was awesome :)

Awesome adventure

The tour guides were fantastic! Funny and knowledgeable. Even in the rain and wind it was a great experience to over ice and through the cave!

Excellent but needs to spend more time in Kalyan Cava

It was a good trip. Amazing Adventure Mr. Christopher made it really special. He made effort to ensure all of us enjoyed well. Well done !!

Great Katla Ice Cave Adventure

Long drive but our Artic Adventures bus driver Besi kept the ride interesting by sharing information on places we drove by, like volcanoes, eruptions, floods, and lava fields. After switching to a SuperTruck at Vik, ride to the base of the glacier was bumpy but exciting. After putting on crampons and helmets, we started for a 15 min walk to the ice cave. We walked single file through beautiful frozen, raw, wild landscape. Once we entered the cave, we faced ice in multi-shades of blue, streaked with black bands of ground volcanic material. Surreal, other-worldly environment. There is no substitute for being there. Although an ice cave is an inherently risky place, ropes were strung to assist traversing potentially dangerous areas and our guides kept out a watchful eye on us. Upon exiting the cave, our guide chipped off pieces of the glacier so we could taste 800 year old ice. Iceland has the purest, best tasting water and glaciers are the source. Definitely worth the long day!

Amazing experience

Amazing experience. We met in Vik and then traveled to the Katla glacier. Most of the trip was off road and very bumpy, so those with back problems be aware. We spent a little over a hour hiking toward and in the ice caves. Went with another couple and we all agreed it was one of the highlights of our trip. Please note that they were closing tours to some of the caves in April. This tour is a winter activity.

Waste of money and time!!!

Loved everything in Iceland except this . Miserable!!! The majority of this was riding in a nasty van with big tires on an over used rutted out trail that was unnecessary to take us to a small cave that we were rushed into and rushed out of! Forget having time to take photos! Had to hurry thru so we would have time to ride back on this ridiculous journey that was just a time filler. Big mistake. Big waste of money ! Big disappointment! It is so fabricated to be this wonderful adventure ….not!

Adventure in February

Really skilled drivers and guides. We had difficult road conditions and they navigated through them easily. The caves are breathtaking. Highly recommend!

Ice Cave tour

Amazing experience! Our guide was knowledgeable and very entertaining (even to our jet lagged/sleepy group). The whole family agreed this was the BEST part of our whole trip. And a big Thank You to the men in the ice cave for keeping the path/bridges maintained!

A "Must Do" on your Trip to Vik!

My husband and I went back and forth many times over whether to do an ice cave tour or not - this is your sign to definitely do it! The Katla Ice Cave tour ended up being one of the highlights of our trip! The guides, Skooly and Hawk, were awesome and the caves are unlike anything I'm sure we'll see again. The photos are some of my favorites we've ever taken. Also was great to learn a bit of history about Katla. My husband and I had conveniently gone to the Lave Show, also in Vik, the night before where we learned a bit about Katla's volcanic eruption and it gave a whole new perspective to the ice cave tour the next day. Highly recommend doing both if you can, but either way, the guides on the tour give you plenty of history and info while making sure you're safe and having fun - definitely don't miss the ice caves!