Book your Into the Glacier tour!
If walking through an ice tunnel inside of a glacier in Iceland sounds fun, well, then I have the tour for you.!
Today I am so excited to share the continuation of my tour planning series. We’re talking about Into the Glacier, so if you are thinking about adding this excursion to your itinerary, then I’m going to talk to you all about the tour, what to expect, and all of the things. So let’s get into it!
About Into the Glacier
Into the Glacier is a unique experience because it is a manmade tunnel that’s open year-round. In fact, Iceland is the only place in the world that built a tunnel specifically for visitors. During this tour, you literally walk into a glacier, down these beautiful tunnels, there’s blue everywhere. It’s absolutely amazing!
Now, this is different from the natural ice caves. This is actually a tunnel that was carved out of a glacier. The natural ice caves are caves that have been hollowed out from the melting of the glaciers. We’ll talk about that in a totally different video.
What to expect on the tour
You’re going to be meeting at Húsafell in West Iceland. It’s here that you’ll check in and get suited up for your adventure.
Next, you’re going to hop onto an eight-wheel truck that is huge and specially modified to drive on top of the glaciers. This glacier-mobile is going to carry you all the way over this ice field and let me tell you, the scenery along the way isn’t bad either.
As you’re driving along, the English-speaking tour guides are telling you about the glaciers in the meantime. It’s a really good opportunity to learn about the glaciers in Iceland and some of the environmental impacts that are happening as a result of the melting glaciers.
When you finally pull up to the entrance of the tunnel, you get out, walk down the tunnel, and put on your crampons. This is also when the guide is debriefing about the safety inside the tunnel, and you also get a chance to ask any questions or concerns that you have.
Next, you get to explore around the tunnels. The tour guide takes you down different tunnels and hallways, and you’re surrounded by ice 360 the whole time. You’re also see that, inside the glacier, they have a couple of rooms that are designed for special events. For example, there’s a small chapel! There’s also a part of the glacier that caved open, and so you can actually see inside in one of the natural parts of the glacier as well.
While you’re walking through, the guide is teaching you about the glaciers, about the making of the ice tunnel, and you have complete freedom to ask questions about the experience or any of the glaciers in Iceland.
After plenty of time of walking around, you take off your crampons and hop back on the glacier-mobile. To top it off, on the drive back, they hand out one of my favorite Icelandic treats: Kleina and chocolate milk! In total, the tour time from start to finish is about three to four hours.
Pro-tips for the best experience
First of all is this tour is for everyone: kids, people of all ages, and really the walking around part inside the glacier is not only really, really safe because you have the crampons on, but that part only lasts about an hour. As long as you’re comfortable walking around during that time, then you should be fine.
Obviously, dress warm. You’re going into a glacier, so you’ll be surrounded by ice. It’s extra cold down there. You want to make sure to have wool socks, hats and gloves, and sturdy footwear. Hiking shoes or hiking boots would be perfect.
You want to make sure to bring your camera to document your experience. Something as basic as a smartphone is fine, or you might want to bring a GoPro, something to document your journey.
READ MORE: Camera essentials for Iceland
There is a café at Húsafell where you start and get dropped off, so if you need to grab a drink or a quick snack before or after the tour, that is available. Open hours obviously depend on the season.
Book your tour
Into the Glacier experience offers a few different tours. I myself personally did the classic tour, but they also offer combination tours such as snowmobile onto the glacier or Golden Circle.
Lastly, I just wanted to give a special thanks to Into the Glacier for having me on your tour. It was such a great experience, and I highly recommend it!
Happy planning,
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