What are the best things to do in Skaftafell?

So glad you asked. Try this lineup: Trekking Falljökull — because walking on ancient moving ice is a normal vacation activity. Visiting Svartifoss, the waterfall that looks like it belongs in a gothic cathedral. Hiking trails that range from scenic to “I need a breather but it’s worth it.” Dropping by the visitor center, where maps, advice, and indoor heating live in harmony.

What should I wear to hike a glacier without regretting it immediately?

Layer like you’re prepping for a hike on the moon: Waterproof hiking boots (not sneakers, not flip-flops, not dreams) Thermal layers (base, fleece, and a waterproof outer shell) Gloves + warm hat = good life choices Sunglasses and sunscreen (because glaciers bounce back sunlight like disco balls) Gear like crampons, helmets, and axes-that-make-you-feel-cool are provided on the tour.

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Skaftafell National Park: Glacier Hikes, Waterfalls & Wild Trails

Q: When’s the best time to visit Skaftafell?

Skaftafell doesn’t have an off-season — it just has moods. April to October is prime time for glacier hikes and mellow weather. Winter? It’s magic… but also cold, dark, and moody. Like Iceland itself. Plan ahead and pack smart.

Q: Are Skaftafell tours family-friendly?

Absolutely—if they’re 8+ and have an adventurous streak. Some hikes are family-friendly and perfect for making “Remember when we walked on a glacier?” memories. Just check the difficulty level before you book.

Skaftafell is a scenic wilderness area located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) east of Reykjavík, roughly a 4.5 to 5-hour drive along Iceland’s stunning South Coast. Now part of Vatnajökull National Park, Skaftafell is known for its dramatic landscapes shaped by glaciers, volcanic activity, and centuries of erosion — a place where black sand plains meet lush birch forests and towering glacial tongues spill down from Europe’s largest ice cap. Despite its remote setting, Skaftafell is a well-developed base for outdoor activities like hiking, glacier tours, and nature photography, making it a must-visit stop on any South Iceland itinerary.

Glacier Hikes Near Skaftafell

Glacier hiking is one of the most popular activities in the Skaftafell region, with most tours taking place on the striking outlet glaciers Falljökull and Virkisjökull—both part of the mighty Vatnajökull ice cap. Skaftafell, Hof and Freysnes are the most common meeting points for guided glacier tours near Skaftafell. These tours will range from easy two- to three-hour excursions to longer, more adventurous treks.

Falljökull, known as the “Falling Glacier,” is especially popular for its dramatic icefalls and ever-changing formations, while Virkisjökull offers sweeping views and a more peaceful setting with fewer crowds. Tours are led by certified glacier guides and include all necessary equipment, making it easy and safe for visitors of all experience levels to explore this stunning frozen landscape.

Popular Skaftafell Glacier Tours

Skaftafell Nature Reserve is one of the best places in Iceland for glacier hiking thanks to its accessibility, safety, and stunning surroundings. Located within Vatnajökull National Park, it sits right next to several outlet glaciers, especially Falljökull and Virkisjökull, which are ideal for guided hikes. These glaciers are relatively stable and easy to reach without long or difficult approaches, making them suitable for both first-timers and experienced hikers.

Guided hikes on Falljökull and Virkisjökull are run in all seasons, with special ice cave hikes being available from October to April (depending on conditions).

Troll.is Original

Explore the unique ice formations of Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier, on a guided walk. This tour offers a direct experience with a constantly changing landscape. You will see deep crevasses, vertical shafts known as moulins, and potentially an ice cave. Your guide will also point out rare features like glacier mice, a type of moss found on the ice. This hike provides an opportunity to witness the immense scale of the glacier and its uniquely carved landscapes up close.

Join a guided glacier hike on Falljökull, an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull National Park. The tour begins at our comfortable meeting point in Hof, located very close to the glacier. Our indoor facility is cozy and offers free parking, which allows you to avoid the parking fees charged at the Skaftafell Visitor Centre. Please arrive 20 minutes before departure to meet your highly qualified English glacier guide. All essential safety gear is provided, including a helmet, crampons, harness, and ice axe.

After a short ride on the "Tröll Bus," you will walk a short distance to the edge of the glacier. Your guide will demonstrate how to use the equipment and how to safely walk on the ice. During the walk, you'll observe how the receding ice has shaped the surrounding landscape, noting visible marks on the bedrock and a lagoon formed by meltwater.

The tour guarantees 1 hour and 30 minutes on the ice, with an additional 10-minute shuttle ride each way. The remaining time is allocated for a safety briefing and a 20-minute walk on a gravel path to the glacier tongue. Your guide will provide information about the glacier's geology and its impact on the Icelandic environment. This tour is designed to be an educational experience, offering a factual look at a natural phenomenon.

This hike is suitable for most individuals with a reasonable fitness level. Participants should wear warm, layered clothing and sturdy footwear.After returning to the meeting point, enjoy a complimentary hot drink (coffee/hot chocolate) and a candy bar.

Skaftafell 3 hours Easy Level Glacier Hike

Embark on a long hiking adventure on Falljökull, an outlet of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier. This tour is an opportunity to explore deep into the ice and witness magnificent features. The higher elevation provides panoramic views over Skaftafell National Park, known for its spectacular scenery featured in major movies and TV shows such as such as James Bond, Interstellar, Batman, and Game of Thrones. This extended experience allows you approximately 3 hours on the ice itself for a truly immersive and unforgettable exploration.

Join our advanced guided hike on Falljökull ("The Falling Glacier") in Skaftafell National Park, Southeast Iceland. This 5-hour tour is designed for guests with a good fitness level who want a longer, more detailed, and demanding adventure on the ice.

Why choose this 5-hour tour? This option is for the adventurous traveler with more time, as it includes extra time on the ice, grants access to wilder terrain, and provides a deeper insight into the glacier’s unique features compared to shorter tours.

The tour begins at our comfortable meeting point in Hof, located very close to the glacier. Our indoor facility is cozy and offers free parking, which allows you to avoid the parking fees charged at the Skaftafell Visitor Centre. Please arrive 20 minutes before departure to meet your highly qualified English glacier guide. All essential safety gear is provided, including a helmet, crampons, harness, and ice axe.

The total tour time includes a guaranteed 3 hours of hiking on the glacier, a 10-minute shuttle ride each way on the “Tröll Bus,” and approximately 20 minutes for the walk on a gravel path to the glacier’s edge, which covers the safety briefing time. Your guide will demonstrate how to safely use the equipment and walk on the ice.

As you hike your guide will explain the geology of Falljökull. You will encounter dramatic ice formations like deep cracks (crevasses) and vertical shafts (moulins). In winter, you may even look into small ice tunnels. From the highest point, you will get to observe, panoramic views of the Skaftafell National Park. Your guide will provide a factual and educational overview of how glaciers are formed, discuss safety, and explain the current impacts of global warming. After returning to the meeting point, enjoy a complimentary hot drink (coffee/hot chocolate) and a candy bar.

Skaftafell 5 hours Adventure Glacier Hike

Embark on a long hiking adventure on Falljökull, an outlet of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier. This tour is an opportunity to explore deep into the ice and witness magnificent features. The higher elevation provides panoramic views over Skaftafell National Park, known for its spectacular scenery featured in major movies and TV shows such as such as James Bond, Interstellar, Batman, and Game of Thrones. This extended experience allows you approximately 4 hours on the ice itself for a truly immersive and unforgettable exploration.

Join our advanced guided hike on Falljökull ("The Falling Glacier") in Skaftafell National Park, Southeast Iceland. This 6-hour tour is designed for guests with a good fitness level who want a longer, more detailed, and demanding adventure on the ice.

Why choose this 6-hour tour? This option is for the adventurous traveler with more time, as it includes extra time on the ice, grants access to wilder terrain, and provides a deeper insight into the glacier’s unique features compared to shorter tours.

The total tour time includes a guaranteed 4 hours of hiking on the glacier, a 10-minute shuttle ride each way on the “Tröll Bus,” and approximately 20 minutes for the walk on a gravel path to the glacier’s edge, which covers the safety briefing time. Your guide will demonstrate how to safely use the equipment and walk on the ice.

Skaftafell 6 hour Adventure Hike

Join an adventure tour to experience the majestic features of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier, in the Skaftafell area. The highlight of this tour is the chance to enter a naturally formed blue ice cave, offering a stunning view of crystalized ice. During the guided glacier walk on Falljökull, you will also explore other breathtaking ice formations, including deep crevasses (cracks in the ice) and vertical shafts known as moulins. This expedition allows you to witness the dramatic, carved landscapes of the glacier and learn about its continuous change.

This adventure offers a direct encounter with one of Iceland's most spectacular natural phenomena: a glacier and its crystal blue ice cave. The tour takes place on Falljökull, an accessible outlet glacier of Vatnajökull National Park in Southeast Iceland.

After gearing up, you will walk for approximately 20 minutes toward the glacier's edge. Along the way, your guide will point out the visible effects of the receding ice, such as marks on the bedrock and a meltwater lagoon. Once at the ice, your guide will provide a full safety briefing and instruct you on how to walk safely with your equipment.

You will spend about 3 hours hiking on the glacier, exploring the uniquely carved landscapes of the Falljökull outlet. Your guide will lead you to the most magnificent parts of the ice, including fascinating geological formations like deep crevasses and moulins. The most memorable part of the tour is the opportunity to walk inside the naturally formed blue ice cave, giving you an up-close look at the dazzling blue ice. Throughout the excursion, you will learn about the formation and geology of glaciers and their constant change.After returning to the meeting point, enjoy a complimentary hot drink (coffee/hot chocolate) and a candy bar.

Skaftafell Blue Ice Cave & Glacier Hike

Skaftafell Combo Tours

Glacier hikes are ideal to combine with tours that run from Jökulsárlón. The driving time from Skaftafell to Jökulsárlón is about 45 minutes, making those two attractions ideal for same day stops. From Hof, where the Troll meeting point for Skaftafell tours is located, the driving time to Jökulsárlón is even shorter, only 30 minutes.

During summer, a Skaftafell glacier hike and glacier kayaking is an ideal combination for those seeking activities. Glacier hikes on Falljökull also come with a Ice Climbing combo in one tour. Highly recommended for the adventurous.

Troll.is Original

Come on this comprehensive ice climbing and glacier hiking tour, perfect for those seeking that extra bit of thrill. The only thing you need to bring is patience and endurance to climb to the top of a glacial ice wall on Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier. Your glacier guide will introduce you to the basics of ice climbing and much more!

Skaftafell Ice Climbing & Glacier Hike

Embark on a full-day combo tour that takes you deep into the wild beauty of Southeast Iceland with two unforgettable glacier experiences. You can either start your day paddling through the surreal iceberg-dotted waters of Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon on a guided kayaking adventure. Then, lace up your hiking boots and set out for an exhilarating glacier hike in the heart of Skaftafell Nature Reserve, where you'll explore the frozen landscape of an outlet glacier from Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest ice cap.

This adventure is split into two separate tours, each led by certified glacier and kayaking guides, with all safety gear and instructions provided. Travel between the two locations is self-drive, giving you time to enjoy the scenery along Iceland’s stunning South Coast.

You’ll select which adventure to begin with.

If you start with kayaking, meet our guides at Troll.is Glacier Lagoon in Jökulsárlón 20 minutes before departure at 10:00 am and make sure to reach Troll.is - Skatafell 20 minutes before departure time set at 2:00 pm

If you start with the glacier hike, head to Troll.is Skaftafell 20 minutes before departure time set at 09:00 AM and make sure to reach Troll.is Glacier Lagoon 20 minutes before depature time set at 1:30 PM (Exact locations are easily found by searching “Troll.is Glacier Lagoon” or “Troll.is Skaftafell” on Google Maps.)

Experience two epic adventures in one day. Book now and experience two of Iceland’s most breathtaking activities in one epic journey!

Jökulsárlón Glacier Kayaking and Skaftafell Glacier Hike Combo Tour

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Skaftafell & Jökulsárlón

Skaftafell Private Tours

A private glacier tour on Falljökull offers a more personal, immersive, and flexible experience on one of Iceland’s most scenic outlet glaciers. Unlike large group tours, a private tour allows you to move at your own pace, ask all the questions you want, and explore quieter areas of the glacier with your own expert guide.

Troll.is Original

Come and join us on this once-in-a lifetime-experience, a chance to explore Iceland’s largest glacier.

As glaciers continue melting at an alarming rate – roughly more than 1.2 trillion tons per year around the world, we would like to invite you to this unforgettable tour, where you will experience a rare phenomena of how half of our world used to look like, just 12 thousands years ago.

Like all other glaciers in the world, Vatnajökull glacier continues to melt, which will eventually lose half of its current ice by the year 2100 (which currently covers 9% of Iceland). It is estimated that by 2200, most of the glacier ice in Iceland will be forever lost.

Individual glacier outlets have already seen 15-50% of ice loss since the year 2000.

Private

Skaftafell 3 hours Glacier Hike- Private Group

Join us for a walk on the glacier, one of Iceland's most popular outdoor activities. Hike into the magnificent ice world of Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe. Your certified glacier guide will show you stunning scenery and astonishing ice formations.

Private

Skaftafell 5 hours Glacier Hike- Private Group

Skaftafell Ice Climbing & Glacier Hike- Private Group

Glaciers Near Skaftafell

Skaftafell isn’t just next door to glaciers — it’s basically roommates with some of the most dramatic ice formations in the country. These frozen heavyweights may have unpronounceable names, but they more than make up for it by being outrageously photogenic, adventure-ready, and mildly intimidating in the best way.

Falljökull – The Feisty One

Nicknamed the “Falling Glacier” (because it literally tumbles down the mountain), Falljökull is a dynamic beauty—think towering ice walls, deep crevasses, and the kind of scenery that makes your phone storage weep. It’s a top pick for glacier hikes, and you’ll feel like you’re trekking across frozen thunder.

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Virkisjökull – The Hidden Gem

Slightly more shy, but no less majestic. Virkisjökull shares its ice cap with Falljökull but is often less crowded, giving you that "I discovered this" explorer buzz. Its dramatic icefall and pristine ridges make it a quiet favorite for guided hikes and glacier photography. Basically, it’s Iceland’s frosty introvert—and we love that.

Svínafellsjökull – The Cinematic One

The Skaftafell area is surrounded by some of the most accessible and impressive outlet glaciers in Iceland, making it a prime destination for glacier exploration. These glaciers—most notably Falljökull, Virkisjökull, and Svínafellsjökull—flow down from the massive Vatnajökull ice cap, Europe’s largest glacier, and are all within easy reach of the Skaftafell Visitor Centre. Shaped by centuries of ice movement and volcanic activity, they offer a dramatic landscape of crevasses, icefalls, and striking blue ice formations. Svínafellsjökull, in particular, has gained fame as a filming location for blockbuster movies like Interstellar, Batman Begins, and Game of Thrones, thanks to its otherworldly, frozen terrain. While Svínafellsjökull is currently closed to hikers due to safety concerns, Falljökull and Virkisjökull remain popular for guided glacier tours. Whether you’re joining a hike or simply soaking in the views, the glaciers near Skaftafell provide a breathtaking window into Iceland’s cinematic and geological wonders.

Skaftafell FAQs: You Ask, We Glacially Answer

Planning a trip to Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park? Smart move. But before you lace up your waterproof boots and charge your camera, here are some answers to the most common (and occasionally odd) questions travelers ask about this icy playground.

Frequently Asked Questions

Skaftafell is a chunk of southeast Iceland where nature went full overachiever. We're talking glacier tongues, trails that flirt with mountain edges, and waterfalls like Svartifoss that look hand-carved by some moody Norse sculptor. If you're into hiking, ice, or epic photo ops that make your friends jealous, this is your spot.

Roughly 4.5 hours (327 km) from Reykjavík if you’re driving the Ring Road like a responsible adult. It’s wedged between Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and Vík — basically halfway between “woah” and “wait, is that a glacier goat?”

So glad you asked. Try this lineup:

Trekking Falljökull — because walking on ancient moving ice is a normal vacation activity.
Visiting Svartifoss, the waterfall that looks like it belongs in a gothic cathedral.
Hiking trails that range from scenic to “I need a breather but it’s worth it.”
Dropping by the visitor center, where maps, advice, and indoor heating live in harmony.

Totally safe—as long as you’re with a legit guide (like the pros from Troll.is) and not wandering out solo with a selfie stick and poor life choices. Crampons, helmets, and certified guides are part of the deal.

Layer like you’re prepping for a hike on the moon:

Waterproof hiking boots (not sneakers, not flip-flops, not dreams)
Thermal layers (base, fleece, and a waterproof outer shell)
Gloves + warm hat = good life choices
Sunglasses and sunscreen (because glaciers bounce back sunlight like disco balls)

Gear like crampons, helmets, and axes-that-make-you-feel-cool are provided on the tour.

Skaftafell doesn’t have an off-season — it just has moods. April to October is prime time for glacier hikes and mellow weather. Winter? It’s magic… but also cold, dark, and moody. Like Iceland itself. Plan ahead and pack smart.

Absolutely—if they’re 8+ and have an adventurous streak. Some hikes are family-friendly and perfect for making “Remember when we walked on a glacier?” memories. Just check the difficulty level before you book.

Got More Questions?

Our team of Iceland experts is just a message away. Whether you’re curious about tour details, weather prep, or which adventure suits you best, we’re here to help. Chat with us or Contact our support team and let’s plan your perfect Iceland experience.

Troll.Is: 24/7 Service...Almost

You can call us just about anytime. Our customer service team works around the clock. You can reach us by phone anytime, except from 10 pm and 6 am on Saturday and Sunday nights, Icelandic time. Contact info@troll.is or call us at +354 519 4455 and our dedicated team will help you out.