Katla Ice Cave Tour Prices 2026: Every Tour from Vík

Booking choice: The Arctic Adventures super jeep tour, from $189 per person. Check dates Compare the options below

There is no ticket for the Katla ice cave: you can only visit with a guide, and the track across the black sands needs a modified 4x4. So the price you pay is the price of a tour. Six tours leave from Vík, from $177 to $292 per person, and two day trips start in Reykjavík.

Below: every tour side by side, what the cheapest and the most expensive have in common, what the extra money buys, the Reykjavík options, and a cheaper way onto the same ice cap.

The quick answer

The cheapest Katla ice cave tour is $177 with Gravel Travel from Vík; the most booked, with Arctic Adventures, is $189. Tours costing $250 to $292 add coffee, smaller groups, a second tunnel or an extra hour in glacier canyons, but they visit the same kind of ash-striped cave. From Reykjavík, a full-day tour costs $268 to $279. Every tour includes crampons and a helmet, and cancels free up to 24 hours before.

A lifted super jeep with huge tyres fording a shallow glacial river on black sand, with a green mountain behind — A super jeep crossing a glacial river: the ride is part of what you pay for.

How much does a Katla ice cave tour cost?

From $177 to $292 per person from Vík, and $268 to $279 from Reykjavík. Prices are GetYourGuide from-prices in USD and move with the exchange rate.

Every tour below includes the super jeep, a guide, crampons and a helmet, and every one cancels free up to 24 hours before.

Tour	Price	Rating	Time	Min. age	What you get extra
Gravel Travel small group	$177	4.4 (1,358)	3 hours	8	A cave kept for its own guests, 2 to 8 minute walk
Arctic Adventures super jeep	$189	4.6 (2,605)	About 3 hours	6	Seven departures a day, cheaper 12:00 and 15:00 slots
Katla FastTrack	$250	4.9 (29)	3 hours	6	Glacial river crossings, headlamps
Tröll with coffee	$268	4.7 (1,521)	3 hours	8	Glacier walk, coffee and biscuits afterwards
Southcoast Adventure	$271	4.6 (252)	3 hours	6	Gloves and headwear; guests report two tunnels
Tröll extended	$292	4.8 (8)	4 hours	Not stated	Glacier canyons and hidden waterfalls
Gravel Travel from Reykjavík	$268	4.7 (781)	10 hours	8	Super jeep all day, two waterfalls, beach
Arctic Adventures from Reykjavík	$279	4.7 (1,358)	12 hours	6	Pickup, WiFi, two waterfalls

What is the cheapest Katla ice cave tour?

The Gravel Travel small-group tour from Vík, at $177: 3 hours, a 4x4 super jeep, a local guide, helmet and crampons.

Gravel Travel says its cave is kept for its own guests, and the walk from the jeep is only 2 to 8 minutes, which suits anyone who does not want a long hike on ice. It is rated 4.4 from 1,358 reviews, the lowest score of the Vík tours, but still well above average. It meets at Austurvegur 20 in Vík, behind the Icewear shop. It is not for children under 8, people with heart problems or anyone afraid of the dark.

A dark ice cave arch with daylight shining in from beyond — The Katla caves are dark, ash-striped ice: the cheapest tour visits the same kind of cave.

The lowest price into the Katla ice cave, with a short walk and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

Check dates for the Gravel Travel small-group tour

Is the Arctic Adventures tour worth a little more?

For most people, yes: at $189 it is the most booked Katla tour, rated 4.6 from 2,605 reviews, with seven departures a day and a minimum age of 6.

The departures are the point. Arctic Adventures leaves Vík at 8:30, 10:00, 11:30, 13:45 and 16:30, plus cheaper departures at 12:00 and 15:00, so you can fit the cave around the rest of the south coast. The jeep crosses Mýrdalssandur to the edge of the Katla glacier, then a guide leads a beginner-friendly walk on the ice to the cave. Food and drinks are not included.

Seven departures a day from Vík, so the cave fits your south coast plans, with crampons and helmet included.

★ 4.6 2,605 reviews · 3 hours · from $189

Explore the Arctic Adventures super jeep tour

What do you get for $250 to $292?

Extras around the same cave: coffee and biscuits with Tröll, glacial rivers and headlamps with FastTrack, a second tunnel with Southcoast Adventure, or an extra hour of canyons with the extended Tröll tour.

Tröll Expeditions: a route through Katla Geopark past Mount Hafursey, a glacier walk, and coffee and biscuits at the Vík Inn afterwards; the best rated of the big three.
Katla FastTrack: black sand and glacial river crossings, just under an hour each way, with headlamps; rated 4.9, but from only a few reviews so far.
Southcoast Adventure: gloves and headwear provided, and guests report going into two tunnels; some days need a few steps or ladders.
The extended tour: about 4 hours, with extra hiking time, glacier canyons and hidden waterfalls.

Clear blue ice with sharp horizontal black stripes of volcanic ash frozen inside — The ash-striped ice that every Katla tour visits.

Do the expensive tours visit a better cave?

Not a different kind of cave: every tour visits ash-striped ice at the snout of Kötlujökull, and operators say the caves change week to week, so no photo is a promise.

Operators visit different caves, and a cave can be a tunnel one month and an arch the next. What you pay more for is the time around it: a longer walk, a smaller group, a second tunnel or canyons. Guests report the cave itself is small, and one 5-star reviewer wrote that the cave was 'the least impressive' part, while 'the route and the scenery were breathtaking'. If the cave is the only thing you want, the cheaper tours do the job.

An ice cave opening framing the mountains outside — The view out of a Katla ice cave: the landscape is half the experience.

Tröll's tour adds a glacier walk past Mount Hafursey and coffee at the Vík Inn afterwards.

Check dates for the Tröll super jeep tour with coffee

How much is a Katla ice cave tour from Reykjavík?

$268 with Gravel Travel (10 hours, super jeep all day, maximum 14) or $279 with Arctic Adventures (12 hours, with pickup).

Both stop at Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss on the way, and neither includes food. Compare that with a Vík tour from $177: if you have a car, driving the 2.5 hours to Vík and joining a local tour costs less per person, and gives you more time in daylight. The full comparison is in our guide to the Katla ice cave from Reykjavík.

A black 4x4 van on black sand with a green mountain behind — A modified 4x4 is the only way across the last stretch of black sand.

South Coast & Katla Ice Cave Small Group

A small super jeep group from Reykjavík, two waterfalls, a black sand beach and the cave in about 10 hours.

★ 4.7 781 reviews · 10 hours · from $268

Explore the Gravel Travel super jeep day from Reykjavík

Is there a cheaper way onto the same glacier?

Yes: the Sólheimajökull glacier hike costs $105 and walks about 6 km on another outlet glacier of the same Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, with the same black ash layers, but no ice cave.

It is rated 4.7 from 1,486 reviews and includes crampons, an ice axe, a helmet and a harness; the minimum age is 8, and boots can be rented for 1,500 ISK. If you want time on the ice more than a cave, it is the better value. If you want to step inside the glacier, only a Katla tour does that near Vík. For the season question, see the Katla ice cave in summer.