Our Ice Cave and Glacier hike with Local Guide of Vatnajökull

Looking for the most amazing crystal blue ice cave tour in Iceland? Our favorite is Local Guide of Vatnajökull. And with our exclusive 10% Local Guide Iceland discount code EPICICELAND, you’ll save on all of their ice cave tours and glacier hikes.

Local Guide has been operating on Vatnajökull since 1991 as a small family-run business, and they say they were the first company in Iceland to offer an ice cave tour. The current team is the third generation of the family, and they’re the people we want taking us into the crystal blue ice caves of Breiðamerkurjökull near Jökulsárlón.

Why Local Guide of Vatnajökull

Several operators run tours in the Vatnajökull area. So why pick Local Guide? Here are the 4 reasons that made it for us.

Most beautiful blue ice caves in Iceland

This is the big one for us. Local Guide operates on Breiðamerkurjökull, the outlet glacier of Vatnajökull that sits right next to Jökulsárlón. The naturally formed ice caves of Breiðamerkurjökull are the bluest, clearest, and most famous in Iceland. Think Sparkle, Sapphire, Crystal, and Blue Diamond, just to name a few past ones.

Many of the big tour buses leaving Reykjavik go to ice caves in the Katla volcano, which is a different experience, or Langjökull, which is a man-made ice tunnel. The naturally formed blue ice caves that make Iceland famous on Instagram are in Breiðamerkurjökull, and Local Guide operates right there.

Small groups

Local Guide runs small group tours only, which isn’t the norm for ice cave operators in Iceland (many of the big Reykjavik-based operators run groups of 20+). Their longer Ice Cave Discovery is capped at 8 guests per guide, and the classic Ice Cave Tour keeps groups low too.

Really Local guides

Their guides live in the Öræfi community and are trained locally. You’re walking with someone who knows the surrounding mountains by name, the full history of how the glacier has retreated in their lifetime, and real glaciology, not a script.

Every season guides scout the glacier to find the safest and brightest features available. Because the ice moves constantly, the exact cave changes from year to year, and sometimes from week to week. Local Guide also features regularly on major productions (BBC, Netflix, Icelandair), which tells you something about how trusted they are locally.

Local family since 1991

They are a family business that started guiding on Vatnajökull in 1991, and the current team is the third generation. They were also the first company in Iceland to offer an ice cave tour that has kept doing it up to this day.

So when their guides say they know the glacier, they literally grew up on it. They know which ice features are safe this week, which ones closed two days ago, and where the best blue ice is hiding today.

Ice Cave Tours

Local Guide runs 2 ice cave tours, both departing from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. The shorter one is the classic, quickest way to see the Blue ice caves.

The longer one goes deeper for even more remote and bluer ice caves, and adds a proper glacier hike on top.

Here’s a quick comparison of all their main tours:

Don’t forget you can slash these prices by 10% with our Local Guide of Vatnajökull promo code EPICICELAND, which stacks on top of any other promo they’re running.

Ice Cave Tour (shorter)

The Ice Cave Tour is Local Guide’s signature and their most popular option. It takes around 3.5 to 4 hours, depending on Icelandic weather and group pace.

You meet at Jökulsárlón, and their modified 4×4 cars drive you for about 25 minutes across rough glacial terrain to the edge of Breiðamerkurjökull. From there it’s a 10-15 minute walk on uneven ground to the glacier, then a short glacier walk into the ice cave of the day.

Caves are usually 30-70 meters long. You’ll have time to walk through, take photos, and ask the guide about the ice. Minimum age is 10, difficulty is easy to moderate, and you can rent hiking boots on site if needed.

Good pick if you have half a day and want the real blue ice cave experience without a full-day commitment. Just be ready to share the cave with other groups during peak hours, that’s unavoidable at this point.

It’s important you understand that ice caves CHANGE constantly! This means different looks, different shapes, different locations, different safety conditions. What looked best today might not look the same a week later. All our pictures are from various years to give you a sense of what they look like.

Ice Cave Discovery (longer)

The Ice Cave Discovery is the full-day version. 5 to 7 hours in total, with around 2 hours of actual glacier hiking on top of the ice cave visit. This is our favorite we took during our first winter visit of Iceland.

You start with the same type of blue ice cave as the classic tour, then continue up Breiðamerkurjökull to see more of the glacier and eventually even more ice caves! Bigger views, deeper crevasses, ice features off the beaten path. The small group format (max 8 per guide) really pays off once you’re up there, away from the main cave crowd.

Minimum age is 16 and the rating is moderate. Bring layers, waterproof clothing, and a packed lunch. This is the tour we’d pick if you have the time and energy.

Glacier Tours

From May to September, ice caves close due to meltwater. Local Guide switches to glacier hiking tours on Falljökull and nearby outlet glaciers, meeting at Freysnes service station near Skaftafell.

The Glacier Encounter is a 3-hour easy glacier hike, a solid intro for first-time glacier walkers and families who want a short taste.

The Glacier Discovery is 4 hours and heads higher onto Falljökull, the glacier famous for its dramatic icefall full of blue ice formations. Our pick if the weather cooperates.

The Glacier Ice Climbing combines glacier hiking with basic ice climbing. No prior experience needed, just decent fitness and willingness to try. It runs June to September, 4 hours long, and is the right call for anyone wanting more than a walk. For more summer ideas, check our best summer tours in Iceland.

All summer tours are small groups, use the modified 4x4s, and are fully carbon offset.

Local Guide of Vatnajökull Discount Code

Since we’ve known Local Guide for years and love what they’re doing on Vatnajökull, we decided to partner with them.

Our exclusive Local Guide of Vatnajökull discount code EPICICELAND gives you 10% off all ice cave tours and glacier hikes booked through localguide.is.

The Local Guide of Vatnajökull coupon code works on every public tour, winter ice caves and summer glacier hikes alike.

How to Use the Local Guide of Vatnajökull Promo Code

Using the Local Guide Iceland promo code at checkout is quick:

1. Go to localguide.is and pick your tour.
2. Select your date and number of participants.
3. On the booking page, find the promo code field.
4. Enter EPICICELAND and click apply.
5. The 10% discount will show in your total before you pay.

Our experience with Local Guide

When first time in winter in Iceland, we were searching for the combo ice cave and glacier hike tour and didn’t know which company to choose. Finally, we opted for the Local Guide of Vatnajokull. They were promising a day full of adventure, a small group, and a local Icelandic guide. And now I know we made no mistake with them!

Combo tour – ice cave + glacier hike

If you want to fully enjoy ice caves and glaciers and escape the typical crowded tours, this is a great tour for you! We’ve seen several ice caves, done a glacier hike, admired ice formations and had a lunch (alone!) at a secret corner of a glacier lagoon – all in one amazing day! And all that thanks to the Local Guide.

Firstly, I have to say that we were very lucky with the weather. Finally no weather alerts! We woke up to a beautiful sunny February day. We met our local Icelandic guide Reynir at a basecamp of the Local Guide of Vatnajokull at Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon.

It is located right at the car park. Reynir helped us pick all the necessary equipment – right mountain shoes (which you can borrow onsite), little walking crampons, big glacier crampons, harness and helmet. He also carried an axe and some more glacier equipment for us himself.

Drive to glacier

After buying our picnic lunch in cafeteria, soon after 10:00AM we got into a huge super jeep. The super jeep operated by them is one of the biggest you can get. Reynir then drove carefully on a bumpy and icy road full of huge snow-holes. At that point we all started to understand why you need such a huge car when driving to the glacier. Any smaller car than a “huge super jeep” could easily get stuck.

Just a few minutes of drive passed by when Reynir saw a group of reindeer pretty close to our car. He immediately slowed down the car so that we could admire these cute Icelandic inhabitants. A few minutes later, another group of reindeer were welcoming us on our road to the glacier. And as a bonus, we were even able to take beautiful pictures like these of reindeer standing in front of the magnificent glacier!

Glacier hike

Around 11AM we arrived at the “glacier car park” where more than 10 different tour companies parked their super jeeps as well. All of them were heading towards the most popular and touristy attraction – sapphire ice cave. We, however, didn’t go their way. Reynir took a totally different route to avoid all other groups.

We started our trip by a 45-minute long glacier hike. The sun was shining and everything around was silent. It was just us, the glacier and a beautiful day. The hike was fairly easy and not very demanding, it was more of a walk. Reynir finally brought us to a remote part of the glacier lagoon, right next to the amazingly beautiful huge glacier chunk! Right at this spot we ate our picnic lunch and admired the view.

Ice surprises

Around 12:30 we continued to our first “surprise” stop. Another ice cave, the one not visited by tourists at all! We explored the ice cave for about 30 minutes and Reynir told us all the interesting things about have ice caves are being created and how it is possible we can walk there. Already happy with what we’ve seen, we were now supposed to be heading towards the most popular ice cave – the sapphire ice cave – the one all these masses of tourists usually visit.

All the time, we were hiking a glacier. Reynir was making checks of all different kinds to ensure our safety – checking the depth of the ice below us, doing the sound checks or manually examining the surface. You cannot go on a glacier yourself if you don’t want to die and this is what the guide is actually for. To lead you safely around the area. Guides like Reynir actually even go out every year to scout for the new cool places to visit, so this is the ever-changing environment!

On our way towards the sapphire ice cave, another “surprise” awaited us. Reynir took us to an amazing blue-ice tunnel! This was probably the true highlight of our entire trip! This ice formation is fully natural and we had it all just to ourselves. We’ve never seen anything not even remotely similar to this. This place was really breath-taking and virtually made our day.

Sapphire ice cave

Finally, after a few more minutes of hiking, we made it to the most famous and visited place – the blue ice cave, also called the sapphire ice cave. The sapphire ice cave is the ice cave where all these masses of tourists flow constantly. Why? Because it’s beautiful and easily accessible. It’s the closest spot from the jeep car park out of all spots we’ve visited.

So, is the sapphire ice cave worth visiting then? Yes, it definitely is. It’s still probably the most beautiful ice cave in Iceland available to public. The only downside is – expect crowds. But this wasn’t exactly the case for our trip, because we’d already spent hours alone on the glacier and other breath-taking places before we came into sapphire ice cave.

We spent around 1-1.5 hour exploring the ice cave and Reynir gave us all the time we wanted. The cave is pretty big (and long) and he took us all the way to the end of the cave. There were multiple brilliant spots for amazing pictures. These were the final moments of our day full of glacier adventures which we enjoyed to the fullest. Thanks to both Reynir and also a great weather.

We arrived at the jeep car park around 4 PM and back at Jokulsarlon after 16:30. A long day but more than just worth the time! Local Guide of Vatnajokull has proved to be a great choice!

Local Guide of Vatnajökull FAQ

What is the most beautiful ice cave in Iceland?

The most beautiful (REALLY blue) ice caves now are the blue Vatnajokull ice caves in Jokulsarlon, and you have to drive there for 5 hours from Reykjavik. They are typically open since October until April.

What is the Local Guide of Vatnajökull discount code?

Our Local Guide of Vatnajökull discount code is EPICICELAND and it gives you 10% off all ice cave tours and glacier hikes. The code works on every public tour on localguide.is, and it stacks on top of any other discount Local Guide is currently running.

How do I use the Local Guide Iceland promo code?

Enter the code EPICICELAND in the promo code field at checkout on localguide.is. The 10% discount will apply to your total before you pay. The code works year-round.

Why are Local Guide’s ice caves so blue?

Local Guide operates on Breiðamerkurjökull, the outlet glacier of Vatnajökull next to Jökulsárlón. The ice caves there form naturally every winter and include the famous Sapphire, Crystal, and Blue Diamond caves. The deep blue colour comes from old, very dense glacial ice that absorbs all other colours and reflects only blue. Read more on our guide to Iceland winter.

When is the Local Guide ice cave season?

Ice cave tours run from October to March, sometimes into April, depending on weather and glacier conditions. From May to September ice caves are inaccessible due to meltwater, and Local Guide runs glacier hiking tours instead.

What’s the difference between the Ice Cave Tour and the Ice Cave Discovery?

The Ice Cave Tour is around 3.5 hours and focuses on the ice cave itself. The Ice Cave Discovery is 5-7 hours, adds about 2 hours of glacier hiking on top, and caps groups at 8 guests per guide. The longer tour also has a higher minimum age (16 vs 10).

Are Local Guide tours suitable for kids?

The Ice Cave Tour has a minimum age of 10 years old. The Ice Cave Discovery requires a minimum age of 16. Summer glacier hikes tend to be more family-friendly for older kids. For younger kids, Local Guide offers private tours that can be tailored.

Where do the tours meet?

Winter ice cave tours meet at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, at the main bus parking lot. Look for the black Local Guide van marked with their logo. Summer glacier hikes meet at Freysnes Service Station near Skaftafell. For safety updates before you head out, always check safetravel.is.