Reykjavik: Katla Ice Cave & South Coast Waterfalls Super Jeep Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.51 (334 reviews) 78% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/28

Duration12h

GroupUp to 14

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Inside Iceland's Blue Ice Cave: Katla Glacier Day Trip from Reykjavik

You get hotel pickup from Reykjavik, stops at two major South Coast waterfalls with time to walk behind Seljalandsfoss, a Super Jeep ride across volcanic plains, and a guided visit inside the Katla Ice Cave with all safety equipment and a certified glacier guide. The whole day runs roughly 12 hours, and you return to Reykjavik in the evening. Book this if you want to see the glacier without renting a car and arranging your own guide — the fixed itinerary and transport take the logistics off your hands.

12h

Step-by-step itinerary

South Coast and Katla Ice Cave Tour

Morning pick-up in Reykjavík
Travel along scenic South Coast
Stop at Skógafoss waterfall
Visit Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Arrive in Vík and transfer to Super Jeep
Off-road ride to Katla Glacier
Gear up and explore Katla Ice Cave
Return to Reykjavík in the evening

The Experience

The Super Jeep doesn't show up at the minibus stop in Vík — or at least not the one you're standing at. Your guide texts to say it's parked two hundred meters down the road, and suddenly the whole group is walking across gravel with crampons already in hand, laughing a little nervously because this is the moment it stops being a tour and starts being real. That's when you realize the ice cave isn't going to look like the photos. It's going to look like whatever the glacier decided to carve out this week, and that's the whole point.

The day starts early from Reykjavik with a minibus ride along the South Coast, and the first two hours are mostly driving and talking — which is fine, because the landscape does most of the talking for you. Skógafoss hits you first: 60 meters of water dropping straight down a cliff into a pool of mist, and on a clear day there's a rainbow sitting in the spray like it's been waiting for you. You stop long enough to walk up close, feel the cold air coming off the water, and take the photo everyone takes. Then it's back in the bus toward Vík, where Seljalandsfoss does something different — you can actually walk behind the waterfall, which sounds simple until you're standing in the spray with the whole landscape framed through a curtain of falling water. Both stops take maybe 45 minutes each, so you're not rushed, but you're not lingering either.

At Vík you swap the minibus for the Super Jeep, and that's when the road stops being a road. The drive across the volcanic plains to Mýrdalsjökull takes about 30 minutes, and the landscape gets stranger the closer you get — black sand, no trees, just the glacier sitting there like something from another planet. Once you're geared up with crampons and a helmet, your certified glacier guide takes you onto the ice. The Katla Ice Cave itself is the reason you came, and it's blue in a way that doesn't quite translate in photos — layers of volcanic ash run through it like dark veins, and the whole thing shifts and changes depending on light and weather and how much melt has happened since last week. You're inside for maybe an hour, moving carefully, listening to the guide explain how the cave forms and reforms, how the ice is actually moving. It's not comfortable, exactly, but it's real in a way that matters.

The return to Reykjavik takes the evening, so you're back in the city by around 9 or 10 p.m., depending on traffic and how many photo stops the group needs. Bring warm layers, waterproof jacket and pants, sturdy hiking boots, and gloves — the weather on the South Coast changes fast, and you'll be grateful for the gear. Food and drinks are available to buy along the route if you didn't pack enough. The tour works for anyone over 6 years old and any fitness level, though you do need to be comfortable walking on ice with crampons and climbing in and out of a cave.

What’s included

Roundtrip transportation from Reykjavik with hotel pickup, sightseeing stops at Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss with time to explore, Super Jeep transport from Vík across volcanic plains to the glacier, guided visit to the Katla Ice Cave with a certified glacier guide, all glacier safety gear including crampons, helmet, and headlamp if required, and WiFi on the minibus during the drive.

Good to know

Easy physical level

Operated by Arctic Adventures

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the Katla Ice Cave and South Coast waterfalls without arranging your own transport, renting a car, or hiring a separate glacier guide — the fixed schedule and included gear mean you show up and the day unfolds around you.