My dream trip to Iceland’s Ice Cave in Breiðamerkurjökull glacier

Have you ever seen a photo of an ice cave from somewhere in the world and wondered where to find them. Iceland is one of the most popular places to visit ice caves, but did you know that you can’t visit them on your own?

Below I’ve outlined how you can book a private Iceland ice cave tour with a professional guide, what gear you need to bring for the ice cave tour and how much it will cost you. 

I had been dreaming about this experience for two years and now I am here to tell you about the best day of my life and inspire you to make your own Iceland ice cave trip.

Where are the ice caves in Iceland located

When most people speak of ice caves they’re picturing a large blue glacier ice cave. That’s what you’ll see circulating online and that’s what people have in their minds when wanting to visit an ice cave, but an ice cave and a glacier ice cave are not the same. An ice cave is a regular cave partly covered with ice and a glacier ice cave is formed from a complete block of ice found only in glaciers – I will mainly be talking about glacier ice caves but I will continue to use the ‘ice cave’ term.

As I’ve mentioned, ice caves are only located in glaciers, so when you start your search you’ll need to identify the glaciers on the map. In Iceland, there are 7 glaciers but not all are the beautiful blue ice caves. The biggest one is Vatnajökull. You’ll also find ice caves in Hofsjökull, Langjökull, and Myrdalsjökull. The ice caves located under Breiðamerkurjökull (part of the big Vatnajökull glacier) are the ice caves I was lucky enough to explore.

Forever changing environment

This unique environment is in forever change due to Iceland’s microclimate. The glaciers are melting down in summer and creating new ice in winter. The ice caves are created by the melting water so every season water can create different types of caves all unique and extraordinary ones. Therefore those caves I visited are all gone and they never come back, so be aware of it and do not expect the same pictures as it’s shown in this blog post. Don’t worry I am sure that you will experience also very marvellous views as I did.

Sadly, global warming hits this the environment too, due to increasing average world temperatures the glaciers constantly disappearing, more than 100m every year, unfortunately. If you are not a local and do not experience this change on your skin it’s hard to say if it’s even happening, but believe me, the change is real. We all can do better.

How to get to an Iceland ice cave

The first thing to know, if you haven’t had any experience hiking glaciers, climbing, or similar activity, you will not be able to get into ice caves on your own. There isn’t a controlled entrance to the ice cave, but it is seriously dangerous attempting to hike to the caves without experienced guides and the correct safety gear with you.

How to book a tour of the ice caves

So now that you know you need to hire a guide to get you to the ice caves, which company is the best to go with? There are a lot of companies that provide this service, with different tours and conditions. For me, it was very important to have a smaller group of people to be able to capture the full beauty of the ice cave.

After researching the companies online, I decided to trust Localicelander. It is a small family business that provides a private tour, which means you can visit these beautiful caves basically alone. Of course, your guide GUILLAUME or SOLLA, will be with you and you can have up to 3 friends with you too. They are very helpful and versatile about your customisation of how you imagine your private tour. They’re incredibly informative, providing a lot of interesting information about the ice caves and glaciers and can even take professional photos for you.

What gear do you need for the tour 

Now that you’ve booked your own ice cave tour, what gear should you pack to make sure you have the best time? Localicelander will provide you with some of the equipment, but of course, there are some items you will need to bring yourself.

Personal equipment

Hiking boots with good ankle support are the most important items you’ll need. You’ll be walking on a glacier with special crampons, so it must be possible these can attach to your boots. Then you’ll need the basics that you’d normally take on a hike such as base layers, hiking pants, and a jacket or similar. It’s good to bring a waterproof jacket and pants if you can. Also a warm jacket, hat and gloves.

Since this is a full-day tour, be sure to take some food for lunch and snacks as well as plenty of water and a small backpack to carry it all in. You should also pack some sunglasses in case it’s sunny, and a camera to document the spectacular scenery is also a good idea. For enthusiastic photographers, I recommend bringing your tripod.

Provided Equipment

The Localicelander team will provide you with crampons, ice axes, microspikes (if needed), a helmet, headlamps (if needed), and a harness. Don’t worry if you’re not a photographer, as I mentioned they are very helpful and can take professional photos of your ice cave adventure for you.

My Iceland ice cave experience with a professional AIMG glacier guide

I had been dreaming about this experience for two years, now I’m about to tell you about the best day of my life to inspire you to make your own Icelandic ice cave adventure. If you’re not interested in the full breakdown of my tour with localiclander, feel free to skip this section and watch the full video of my tour on youtube.

The meetup

We met with Guillaume on route number one between Höfn and Jökulsárlón which was close to our accommodation at 7:00 am. He took us with their white Landrover Defender on the bumpy route leading to a parking lot near the glacier. A highlight of the drive was passing by a herd of Icelandic reindeers.

Ice cave tour

The first ice cave

Guillaume gives us all necessary instructions and crampons and we take a walk into the ice cave. After walking for a few minutes, we spotted the end of the glacier and after that, we were almost there. The first look at the entrance was magnificent, a dream come true, then after walking inside suddenly we were under tons of crystal clear ice. We were here alone for 40 minutes, which was plenty of time to take pictures without any people and record video scenes of what we wanted. Then came the first group of 12 people so we decided to go up.

The ice cave tunnel

Our next ice cave required preparation as we were about to walk onto a glacier. Guillaume explained to us how to walk safely on the glacier by first teaching us how to put on Crampons, then how to step onto a glacier and walk. With everything explained, I took my first step onto the glacier full of confidence.

After a few minutes of walking, we were at the start of a long, deep ice tunnel surrounded by a beautiful scenery of crystalised ice. After a few minutes of taking photos and more video footage, we passed through it and again walked up the glacier to another cave.

The keyhole ice cave

After 20 minutes of walking, we were in front of another ice cave – the “Keyhole” is what Guillaume called this one. It is a very narrow cave in the shape of a keyhole, where only one person can fit through at a time. It is about 10 meters long and at the end, there is a smaller part where you can turn around and go back. As we walked downwards, I felt cramped, but the amazing crystal theater around me calmed me down and kept me moving. We took some great pictures there and then made our way back up.

The last exploration

After the keyhole ice cave, we had time for a lunch break on the glacier itself. Then we walked down from the glacier where we passed 2 or 3 groups making their way to the keyhole. These places are very popular in the afternoon, so I recommend taking a tour as early as possible to avoid the crowds.

Once we descended down the iceberg, we took the crampons off and headed on foot to Glacier where we saw a few more ice caves and explored them as well.

We found a low cave that led further into the glacier and at the other end discovered a large open space surrounded by large walls of the glacier with the only access being through the cave we’d passed through. After the last breathtaking icy views, we headed back to the parking lot. It was a beautiful experience that I am so thankful for. Thank you Localicelander.

Prices for Iceland ice cave tours on Iceland

To give you an idea of the companies operating tours to Iceland’s amazing ice caves. I’ve put together a comparison of some of the companies by price and number of people. All of the companies provide more than one type of tour, so I’ve tried to compare the ones that are in the same category as the hike I did around Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. For more details about their tours, please visit their websites.

As you see prices are very similar for all local companies. Which one you will choose is up to you, but if you are interested in a private tour without many people around I highly recommend choosing Localicelander.

Local Icelander page Local Icelander on Instagram More photos from tour

I hope you guys enjoyed reading about Iceland’s ice caves and that you’ll one day visit this place on your own. If you like what you read, please leave a comment and see ya in the next blog post.