Planning a trip to Iceland and looking to explore the most beautiful glaciers? You’re in the right place!
In this article, you’ll discover four of Iceland’s most breathtaking glaciers – from stunning blue lagoons to dramatic ice fields including accessible ice tongues, each glacier in Iceland offers its own unique experience. Whether you’re looking to hike across ancient ice, observe the seals and birds on ice blocks or simply soak in these natural wonders, there’s a glacier here for everyone!
Let’s dive in and find your perfect Icelandic glacier!
Sólheimajökull is a beautiful glacier tongue located on the South coast, accessible for hiking and guided ice walks. If you are planning on booking a tour to hike on the glacier, there is a short walk from the parking area to the glacier viewpoint. This was the first glacier we saw and after this one we kept on levelling up, so keep reading!
Walk: 10-15 minutes from the parking lot, BUT follow the directions for Sólheimajökull parking lot on Google Maps.
Parking fee: 750 ISK (5,3€). But there are a few free spots a few meters before the entrance, usually full but worth looking for before entering the parking lot.
Svinafellsjökull is an outlet glacier of Vatnajokull, the largest ice cap in Europe. With its impressive formation, it has often be used in films and you can also spot it in Game of Thrones.
Walk: 10 minutes from the parking lot.
Parking fee: Free.
Svinafellsjokull is a great representation of how glaciers transport ice from the heart of the ice cap through those narrow mountain corridors you can see in the pictures.
Fjallsárlón is a glacier lagoon with floating icebergs, smaller and quieter than Jökulsárlón (located a few minutes after on the road, see next paragraph). Because most of the people are at Jökulsárlón, you can be completely alone in front of this breathtaking landscape of ice blocks floating in front of the glacier.
Walk: 10 from the parking lot.
Parking fee: 1000 ISK (7€).
Lastly, Jökulsárlón : this iceberg lagoon is quite renowned because it is very accessible (a few steps from the parking lot). However, there are two locations where you can observe this glacier lagoon as you can see on the map below. The big parking lot on the right side of the map, east of the bridge, is where all the bus tours and most people stop. So it can be crowded. BUT, the parking on the left of the map, with the yellow circle, is completely empty. If you park here and hike on this side, you will be guaranteed to be almost alone if not totally. This is also where I saw the best icebergs (picture 1 to 3 below). The busy location will allow you to see seals more easily as you are closer from the lagoon. So in my opinion: Hike at the location on the left, make a quick stop on the right if you want to see seals.
Walk: 5 minutes from the parking lot on the left, the hike however continue for 2 kilometers (not a loop). 1 minute from the parking lot on the right.
Parking fee: Free on the left, 1000 ISK on the right (7€).
And that wraps up the best glaciers to see in Iceland !
Make sure to visit some of these glaciers and lagoons (if not all!) as it is an unforgettable experience and remarkable landscape.
It was truly a magical and wonderful trip, if you plan on going there check out my article about the 10 best waterfalls or this one about the best beaches in Iceland.
If you need a personalized itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll find you the best accommodations, flights and itinerary !
