Vatnajökull: Glacier Snowmobile Tour & Secret Ice Trails

4.88

(133 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“If you listen close, you’ll hear the glacier creak under us,” our guide Jón said, grinning as he handed me the helmet. I didn’t expect to feel nervous — but there was something about the wind biting at my cheeks and the way the light bounced off endless white that made my heart thump. We climbed into insulated overalls at base camp (they’re surprisingly warm), then piled into a van that zigzagged up toward the edge of Vatnajökull. The drive itself felt like a preview: windows fogging up, everyone quietly watching as snowy peaks slid by outside.

I’d never driven a snowmobile before — turns out it’s less like riding a bike and more like steering a stubborn horse that just happens to roar. My partner and I shared one (they checked our weight first, which made us both laugh), and Jón rode ahead, waving us onward. There’s this moment when you first hit the open glacier where it goes silent except for the engine and your own breathing. The air tasted sharp, almost metallic. At one point I caught a whiff of something cold and mineral — hard to describe but definitely not city air.

We stopped halfway, engines off, just standing in the middle of nowhere with nothing but blue sky and white ice stretching out in every direction. Jón started telling us about volcanoes hidden under our feet — apparently there are several right beneath Vatnajökull — and how sometimes you can hear water moving deep below if you’re quiet enough. Someone tried to make a snow angel; their laughter echoed weirdly far across the ice. I still think about that view sometimes when I can’t sleep.