Sólheimajökull Glacier - Iceland

Quick Facts

Time Spent1 hour 15 minutes

Best Time to Visit?Morning or Midday

Bathroom Available?Yes

Cost for EntryFree

Worth It?Must Go

Seasonal?Year-Round

Attraction Tips

Walk on the Glacier!

Sólheimajökull offers the amazing opportunity to walk directly on a glacier. While it is highly recommended that you have the proper equipment and a guide to hike on the glacier, there is an area at the very beginning where anyone can stand on the glacier and experience it up close.

If you're planning to do a glacier hike, book in advance

Walk beyond the warning signs

Most people stop at a certain point where there are a few disclaimer signs, but feel free to walk right past them down to the water and onto the glacier. You aren’t overstepping any boundaries as you pass these signs, but getting a closer view of the majestic glacier. Just respect the area and be careful.

How to Get There & Parking

Address:

Sólheimajökull, Iceland

Directions via Google Maps

Parking: Free

Attraction Details

Sólheimajökull is a glacier in southern Iceland and popular attraction that draws tourists not only for its spectacular views, but also offers guided walking tours out on the glacier itself. While we opted to not do a walking tour, we definitely have it on our list for when we return!

When you arrive, there is a very spacious parking lot with plenty of room to park. There are a few trailers / buildings that offer bathrooms, food, a small gift shop and are also home to the handful of guided tour companies. The path that leads out to Sólheimajökull is well marked, only a short distance from the parking lot, and it’s a very leisurely walk up to the glacier. Along your walk, the scenery only gets better as you move along and it only takes about 20 minutes before you’re at one of the best scenic points to grab photos.

Although there are a few warning signs (seen below), we recommend walking past them, going all the way down to the water’s edge. We also recommend even slightly walking up onto the glacier to take photos and admire how truly amazing it is that, well, you’re literally standing on a glacier. Be extremely careful though – you should really only be on the glacier with the appropriate snow shoes that the tour operators provide because the ice is very slippery. We only walked about 30 steps up onto the glacier, where it’s still pretty level and safe, to take some close up shots before turning back around.

This was one of our favorite and most unique stops during our visit, and we have nothing but amazing things to say about Sólheimajökull. Definitely add it to your list of must-see attractions!

Attraction Details

This was one of our favorite and most unique stops during our visit, and we have nothing but amazing things to say about Sólheimajökull. Definitely add it to your list of must-see attractions!