2-Day Jökulsárlón Tour: Boat, Glacier Hike and South Coast

Included in the Ticket

The listing includes hotel pickup and drop-off, WiFi on board, the boat tour on Jökulsárlón, the glacier hike with safety gear, a professional English-speaking guide, breakfast, pickup and drop-off from designated bus stops, and one night of accommodation. That makes this one of the few listings where the boat ride is already inside the fare rather than an add-on. The one thing it does not state is which boat you sail on, amphibian or Zodiac.

If the boat type matters to you, ask the operator before booking or read how the two differ in the Jökulsárlón Zodiac boat tour guide.

What You May Pay on the Day

Budget for lunches and dinner, since only breakfast is included. If you do not own waterproof boots and a rain shell, the listed rentals are hiking boots at 3,000 ISK (about $25), a waterproof jacket at 1,750 ISK (about $14) and waterproof pants at 1,750 ISK (about $14), at about 122 ISK to the US dollar. Luggage rules are strict: one suitcase up to 24 inches per person, no multiple bags, and anything extra or oversized goes into paid storage.

None of the rentals are mandatory, so you can bring your own kit and pay nothing beyond meals.

Morning Pickup in Reykjavík

Pickup starts at 8:00 and might take 30 minutes, so the listing tells you to be ready at your selected location. Because of traffic regulations the bus cannot stop at all downtown hotel entrances, so some travellers are picked up at the nearest designated bus stop, usually no further than a couple of minutes walk. Once aboard there is WiFi on the bus and the drive east begins.

• Pickup from 8:00, allow up to 30 minutes for the window
• Hotel or designated bus stop, check busstop.is for walking distances

South Coast Stops and the Overnight

The route covers the famous waterfalls and Reynisfjara black sand beach on the way east. The listing does not print a minute-by-minute schedule or a return time, so treat the day as flexible and ask the guide on board. The night's accommodation is included, which is the real difference from the one-day trips that push the whole 370 kilometre drive to Jökulsárlón into a single 14-hour stretch.

• Reynisfjara black sand beach
• The main South Coast waterfalls
• One night of accommodation and breakfast included

Jökulsárlón, the Boat and Diamond Beach

Day 2 brings you to Jökulsárlón, the lagoon, where icebergs from Breiðamerkurjökull drift toward the sea. The boat ride among the icebergs is included in your fare, and the listing does not name the boat type or state the time on the water. Across the road sits Diamond Beach, where waves polish stranded ice onto black sand.

The tour then turns back toward Reykjavík at the end of day 2, with no return time stated in the listing.

Bags, Weather and Late Starts

You get one suitcase up to 24 inches per person and no multiple bags. Anything extra or oversized goes into paid luggage storage at 1,750 ISK (about $14). The tour operates in all weather conditions and asks you to dress for it, yet the listing also marks it as cancelled in bad weather, so read both lines as: it runs in rain, but the operator can pull the plug if conditions turn.

Be at your pickup point before 8:00, because the listing says pickup might take 30 minutes. If your dates fall in winter, remember that boat tours on the lagoon do not run in that season, so check that your date falls in the May to November boat season. For season timing see the guide to Jökulsárlón weather.

• Ages: child 0 to 12, adult 13 and over
• Up to 18 travellers per departure
• Wheelchair access is not stated, ask the operator

Who Should Book Something Else

If $698.07 is over budget or you would rather decide on the boat on the day, the 2-Day South Coast with Amphibian Boat at $590 includes the same two-day rhythm with the amphibian boat as a selectable option. If two days is too much, the one-day Glacier Lagoon Boat Ride Day Trip keeps it to 14 hours with the amphibian ride included. And if the hike matters more than the coach miles, the Fjallsárlón Boat Tour and Glacier Hike does a Zodiac cruise and a 2-hour hike in 4 hours at the lagoon itself.

The Drive on Route 1

Jökulsárlón is about 370 kilometres from Reykjavík, roughly 4.5 hours of driving. Vík sits 187 kilometres out at about 2.5 hours, Kirkjubæjarklaustur at 257 kilometres and about 3 hours 15 minutes, and Skaftafell at 327 kilometres and about 4 hours. The last stretch from Kirkjubæjarklaustur toward Höfn runs about 205 kilometres with few fuel stops, limited to Freysnes and Fagurholsmýri, so fill up before you commit.

In winter, four wheel drive gives better traction and road closures are possible, and SafeTravel Iceland notes that weather and road conditions can change fast.

• Fuel: Freysnes and Fagurholsmýri on the eastern stretch
• Emergency number in Iceland is 112

Parking, the Café and Toilets

If you drive to the lagoon yourself, the Vatnajökull National Park fee for a car with 5 seats or fewer is 1,110 ISK (about $9), a 6 to 9 seat car pays 1,440 ISK (about $12), and you pay at machines in the lots or online through the Parka system. The fee is valid until midnight on the day you pay and allows unlimited entry and exit that day, and you get a 50 percent discount if you already visited another fee area of the park on the same date. On site there are public toilets, a café with sandwiches, lobster soup, cakes and vegetarian and vegan options, and a souvenir shop.

The café opens 09:00 to 19:00 from June to September and 09:00 to 17:00 from November to February, closing only around the holidays.

• Amphibian boat at the shore: 7,100 ISK (about $58) for adults, 30 to 40 minutes, May to November
• Zodiac at the shore: 16,600 ISK (about $136) for adults, 1 hour 15 minutes, May to October

What to Add Before or After

Diamond Beach is just across the road from the lagoon with a 2 to 5 minute walk from the parking areas, so it costs nothing to add. Common seals gather there in large numbers in winter, and the northern lights season runs from late September to early April. For a place to sleep, see the guide to hotels near Jökulsárlón, and for the neighbouring lagoon read about Fjallsárlón glacier lagoon.

Alternatively, browse more glacier lagoon boat tour options to build your own itinerary.