Iceland Glacier Walk

Iceland is a country of exceptional beauty and the sharply increasing number of visitors proves that. One of the most memorable experiences of my Iceland visit was the glacier tour. You can do it in several places in Iceland and my choice was the Sólheimajökull glacier in South Iceland. This glacier is located about 160 kilometres and a two hour drive from Reykjavik. Experienced Icelandic Mountain Guides have been leading tours there since 1994. If you don’t have a car, do walk as part of your South Coast and Glacier tour by Reykjavik Sightseeing and also visit other top sites on the South Coast.17iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340754

About the Sólheimajökull Glacier

Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier that flows from main Mýrdalsjökull glacier where the mighty Katla Volcano rests. It last erupted in 1918, therefore, the glacier is partly covered by a volcanic ash. The glacier tongue boasts a surface area of about 8 km in length and 2 km in width. The spectacular surroundings are marked by rugged and majestic rock formations thoroughly shaped by the glacier.

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Preparations for the walk

For a walk on the glacier, you will need special crampons on your shoes. They are provided by the Icelandic Mountain Guides. So the first part of the tour is fitting crampons on your shoes. When it’s done, you are ready to go bring your crampons to the border of the glacier.

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Walk

The first part of the walk is from a meeting point to the edge of the glacier.14iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340734Not so long ago the glacier was located next to the Sólheimajökull Café parking area but as it is constantly melting and therefore getting smaller now you have to walk some 15 minutes to the edge of the glacier. Here is a sign made by local primary school children measuring by how many meters the glacier has stepped back each year. 16iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340744When you reach the edge of the glacier you have to put your crampons on your shoes, listen to the safety instructions by an experienced guide and the glacier walk can start.19iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340940The first part of the actual glacier walk is uphill, sometimes using the ice stairs to get up. The ice is covered by almost a hundred years old volcanic ash in many places, therefore, it’s black.20iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134076821iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340769While enjoying all the features of the glacier and its spectacular surroundings, the guide tells more about the behaviour of glaciers and their impact on nature. The experience is definitely one of those that are unique to Iceland and we only had to hike for about 20 minutes to find ourselves standing on top of a few hundred meters of ice.22iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134077523iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134077925iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134078727iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134080828iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134080929iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134081230iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134082732iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134084033iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134084734iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 134085137iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340864The sad thing about the glaciers is that they are melting fast in Iceland, for example this Sólheimajökull Glacier has lost about 9 meters from May to November 2017. It’s about 150 metres thick in total, so it may disappear in some 10 years. Our guide shows how measurement of that has been done by drilling the ice and putting a cable inside the ice. Sometime later you can measure how long the part of the cable outside the ice is because the ice is melting.42iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340881After exploring the glacier we got back to our starting point. I must admit that weather changed a few times from a clear sky to snowfall and back to a clear sky during the few hours of our walk. I very much enjoyed the tour and the stories told by our professional guide.

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Tour duration: 3 - 3.5 hours in total, about 2 hours on the ice.

What are the requirements for the glacier walk?

The walk is easy to moderate level. There are no technical requirements for the tour as an experienced glacier guide will teach you how to use basic glacier equipment such as crampons and an ice axe that are provided. For crampons you need to have at least shoe size 35.

What to bring

This is an outdoor activity. In winter it’s recommended to dress warm. In Iceland it is always smart to wear warm and waterproof clothes. Weather changes are swift so prepare to expect the unexpected. Bring a waterproof jacket and pants, headwear and gloves. 54iceland glacier tour thesanetravel.com 1340727Hiking shoes are recommended but if you can’t pack yours for some reason you can rent them from the guides (1500 ISK per person, advance booking recommended to assure availability). Raincoats can be rented as well. So better be prepared and bringing right clothes to wear in Iceland with you. No jeans and flip flops, please!

Departures: All year round, every day at 10:00, 12:00, and 14:00 (except December 24th and 25th)

Note: I was invited by Icelandic Mountain Guides and Reykjavik Sightseeing tours but all opinions are my own.

Have you been to Iceland? Share your favorite impressions in the comments section!Glacier

  • Published by Anita on 18 November, 2017
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    Author: Anita Sāne

    Anita 03 18

    About the author
    Anita is a part-time traveller, passionate photographer and a retired career woman from Latvia, 
    travelling mostly solo for more than 15 years. She is a skilled travel planner who plans and executes her travels by herself. Anita wants to show you how to travel the world and open your mind to new experiences. Follow her on FacebookInstagramPinterestTwitter and Bloglovin.

     

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    I am truly grateful to the holder of this website who has shared this fantastic paragraph at at this time.
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    I loved visiting the Sólheimajökul glacier when I visited 4 years ago, but there were no tours, we actually discovered it by seeing it from the main road and trying to venture with our hire car. We eventually got out and walked the rest of the way and had it to ourselves - pretty amazing. Looks like I should definitely go back to do this though and it's completely different and you definitely need the specialist equipment to go and explore.
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    This walk looks absolutely amazing! So remote and beautiful. I definitely have to try this when I visit Iceland.
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    Iceland is such an incredible and surreal environment, we didn’t have time to walk the glacier. Thanks for sharing your tips and photos maybe next time we will get to do this
    Gravatar
    Wow! Such a wonderful experience! Iceland is on my bucket list and your post has motivated me to plan my trip soon. Your pictures are simply breathtaking! 100 years old volcanic ash seems quite fascinating.. Nature has a charm of its own, especially the glaciers and volcanos. Thanks for the helpful tips. :)
    Gravatar
    This looks amazing! What an incredible experience
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    Great read! It looks really beautiful. I hope to visit it one day.
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    What a gorgeous walk! Iceland just looks totally amazing but we’d love to do this walk!
    Gravatar
    oh, my God!!! Amazing experience!! its one of my dreams to visit Iceland! It must be bloody freezing indeed!

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